Honor will unveil a host of new flagship products in China in the coming days. The company is confirmed to introduce the next generation of foldable smartphones alongside a tablet and a laptop at a launch event in Shenzhen. It has now announced the date for the event and teased a few details about the upcoming products. The Honor Magic V3, Magic Vs3, MagicPad 2 and MagicBook Art 14 Notebook are confirmed to be launched during the event. Honor also unveiled AI-backed features at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC 2024) in Shanghai which are expected to launch with some of the upcoming products.

Honor Magic V3, Magic Vs3, MagicPad 2, MagicBook Art 14 Notebook launch

The Honor Magic V3, Magic Vs3, MagicPad 2 and MagicBook Art 14 Notebook are confirmed to launch in China on July 12 at an event in Shenzhen, the company confirmed via a Weibo post. The post announcing the date shows the sideways silhouette of one of the upcoming products, possibly one of the foldable smartphones. The body appears to be very slim with a slightly thicker camera bump.

Honor MagicPad 2 features

In another promotional poster on Weibo, the company confirms that the Honor MagicPad 2 will sport a 12.3-inch screen. It is also claimed to launch as the industry’s first vision relief tablet. This will entail the tablet employing the AI-backed defocus eye protection feature that the company showcased at the MWC Shanghai 2024 event. 

The image also teases the design of the Honor MagicPad 2. It appears with a slim body and a flat display with very slim bezels. The tablet is expected to succeed the Honor MagicPad 13 which was introduced in July 2023. 

Notably, the foldable smartphones, namely the Honor Magic V3 and the Honor Magic Vs3, are expected to succeed the Honor Magic V2 and Honor Magic Vs2.

Honor Magic V2, Magic Vs2 specifications

The Honor Magic V2 and Magic Vs2 were launched in September and October 2023, respectively. The former, powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, sports a 6.43-inch cover display and a 7.92-inch inner screen.

The V2 handset also has a 50-megapixel triple rear camera unit and a 16-megapixel selfie shooter. The book-style foldable smartphone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with 66W Honor SuperCharge support. While folded, the phone measures 9.9mm and unfolded it is 4.7mm in thickness.

Meanwhile, the Honor Magic Vs2 comes with a similar display, camera, battery and charging specifications. But it is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. While folded, it measures 10.7mm and unfolded it measures 5.1mm in thickness.

OpenAI is reportedly planning to build a native web browser powered by artificial intelligence (AI). As per a report, the AI firm is planning to take on Google Chrome with its browser platform and has started discussing its plans with several website and app developers. Separately, the AI firm is reportedly also in discussions with Samsung to integrate its AI feature into the latter’s devices. These developments, in addition to the recently released SearchGPT feature, could see OpenAI compete with Google on several fronts.

OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Develop a Web Browser

A report in The Information citing people familiar with the matter sheds some light on OpenAI’s plans. OpenAI is planning to develop a native web browser that can be integrated with ChatGPT to offer an AI-powered experience to users, according to the publication.

OpenAI has reportedly spoken with several website and app developers such as Condé Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite and Priceline to build the web browser. The discussions reportedly also included deals to power search features for travel, food, real estate, and retail websites. The latter is believed to be to expand the functionality of SearchGPT.

Why OpenAI Might Be Considering Developing Its Own Web Browser

The report also highlighted two more reasons why the AI firm is considering building its browser. First, it is said that OpenAI wants to control the primary gateway through which people use the web to increase the user base for ChatGPT. Second, the company is rumoured to soon release a feature dubbed ‘Operator’ — AI agents which can complete complex tasks on the web. The company does not want to rely on third-party browsers to grant permissions to the AI agent.

Separately, the publication claimed that OpenAI has also discussed the possibility of powering AI features on Samsung-made devices. The partnership on offer is said to be similar to the one it has with Apple. If this deal happens, the AI firm will be powering AI features on both the major competitors to Google Pixel smartphones.

Apart from this, the ChatGPT-maker is also competing with Google on the search engine front with SearchGPT. The feature is available within ChatGPT and is highlighted by the globe-shaped web icon. When activated, the chatbot generates responses by directly sourcing them from websites on the Internet instead of using its internal knowledge base.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 series was unveiled in December 2023. The lineup consists of the Galaxy Book 4 Pro, Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360, and an Ultra model. Now, at CES 2024, Samsung announced that these models will offer improved connectivity and AI features to users. In partnership with Microsoft, Samsung will allow Galaxy Book 4 users to connect their Galaxy smartphones or tablets to the laptops to enhance select features. The company is yet to confirm the availability of these features.

In a blog post, Samsung confirmed its collaboration with Microsoft that will help integrate new AI-backed connectivity features into the Galaxy Book 4 models. With Microsoft’s Copilot, Galaxy Book 4 users can connect their Galaxy smartphones to the laptops and use the handset’s camera as the PC webcam. This can be used in video conferencing applications like Microsoft Teams.

Connecting a Galaxy Book 4 with a Galaxy smartphone will enable users to access a higher image quality thanks to higher resolution rear and front cameras. It is also said to bring access to additional features like Background Blur and Auto-framing. Using the Galaxy smartphone camera as a PC webcam will also allow free switching between front and back cameras with a single click to accommodate any setup.

The new, smart connectivity features will also allow users to access all the applications of their Galaxy phones on their Galaxy Book 4 laptops. With integrated Copilot features, users can track, explore, and navigate different apps. This can allow them to create and send text messages directly from the PC. For instance, users can access a restaurant recommendation shared with them via text on the laptop, browse its location and reviews, make a reservation, and share its details with their friends from their laptop, without having to scramble through different applications on their phone.

Samsung also confirmed that Galaxy Book 4 users can connect an additional Galaxy device like the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra that can be used as an additional screen to help improve productivity. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can be used for clear, low-latency calls on PCs. Several Galaxy products are said to be compatible with these features. The company, however, noted that the availability of these features will vary by market and device. It added that users will need a mandatory Microsoft account login to access these features.

OnePlus is expected to reveal the Ace 5 series either by the end of this year or early next year. The BBK subsidiary is yet to confirm the existence of the OnePlus Ace 5 and Ace 5 Pro, but ahead of it, a Chinese tipster has suggested the key specifications of the vanilla model. It is said to come with a 6.78-inch display with 1.5K resolution. The OnePlus Ace 5 could be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, an upgrade from the OnePlus Ace 3 which came with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. 

OnePlus Ace 5 Specifications (Leaked)

Tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese) on Weibo suggested the key specifications of the OnePlus Ace 5. As per the post, the handset will feature BOE’s 6.78-inch X2 8T LTPO 2D display with 1.5K resolution. It is said to run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, alongside up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage.

OnePlus Ace 5 Leaked Specifications
Photo Credit: Weibo/ DCS

For optics, the OnePlus Ace 5 will have a triple rear camera unit comprising a 50-megapixel main sensor, an 8-megapixel secondary sensor and a 2-megapixel shooter. It could pack a 16-megapixel selfie shooter as well.

The OnePlus Ace 5 could ship with a battery that will be at least 6,000mAh in capacity. It is said to come with 100W fast charging support.

The OnePlus Ace 5 is likely to debut as a successor to the OnePlus Ace 3. The OnePlus Ace 3 was launched in January in China with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and a 5,500mAh battery. It is sold outside the Chinese market as OnePlus 12R. Therefore, we can expect the OnePlus Ace 5 to launch internationally as the OnePlus 13R.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition has been launched by the company in India, and the gaming laptop is available to purchase alongside the MSI Claw, the company’s first handheld gaming console that was launched in India back in March. The gaming laptop runs on a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 processor paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card. Meanwhile, the MSI Claw is available for purchase at a lower price that the one announced by the company earlier this year.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition, MSI Claw price in India

MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition price in India is set at Rs. 1,67,990 and the gaming laptop is available for purchase in a single Core Black colourway via the company’s website, Amazon, Flipkart, and authorised retailers.

Meanwhile, the company also says that the MSI Claw — launched in India in March — is available for purchase at Rs. 78,990 for the base model with an Intel Core Ultra 5 chipset and 512GB of storage. The Core Ultra 7 model is available in two variants with 512GB and 1TB of storage, priced at Rs. 86,990 and Rs. 89,990, respectively.

These prices are lower than the ones announced by the company earlier this year. However, the company says that the MSI Claw will be available at even lower prices — Rs. 10,000 off on all three models — for an unspecified period.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition specifications

The MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition features a 16-inch Quad-HD+ (2,560×1,600 pixels) IPS screen with a 240Hz refresh rate. It is powered by an Intel Core i7-14700HX CPU with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition

You get up 1TB of NVMe SSD storage on the MSI Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition laptop and the laptop runs on Windows 11 Home out-of-the-box. It is equipped with two 2W speakers tuned by Nahimic, a microphone array, and a webcam that can record video at 720p/30fps.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, three USB 3.2 Gen 1Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio port. The laptop has a 4-cell 90Wh battery and can be charged at 240W with the included adapter. It measures 359 x 266.4 x 27.9 mm and weighs 2.5kg.

MSI Claw specifications

The MSI Claw runs on the same version of Windows as the Crosshair 16 HX Monster Hunter Edition laptop, and sports a 7-inch Full-HD (1,920×1080 pixels) IPS touchscreen display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is equipped with up to Intel Core Ultra 7 (155H) processors, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and Intel Arc graphics and up to 1TB of NVMe SSD storage that can be expanded via a MicroSD card slot.

You get support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity on the MSI Claw, while the device also has a Thunderbolt 4 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Like other handheld gaming consoles, this device features RGB ABXY buttons and thumb sticks, a D-pad, triggers, and bumpers. The device has a fingerprint scanner and packs a 6-cell 54Wh battery that supports 65W fast charging with a USB PD 3.0 adapter. It measures 294 x 117 x 21.2mm in size and weighs 675g.