What is AI? Watch our explanation, brought to you by Honor.
Although many of us interact with our smartphones hundreds of times a day, for most it can seem like a one-way process. We document our lives onto our devices, but for many, a supposedly “smart” device often feels like it is missing a certain spark of intelligence.
Dubbed, “your first AI phone”, the Honor View10 is the only device from the company to sport the Kirin 970 chipset with an embedded NPU, or Neural-Network Processing Unit. Much like the CPU and GPU hardware inside your current smartphone, tablet or laptop, the NPU is able to power a number of high-end machine learning algorithms that provide AI smarts far beyond anything else on the market today.
The NPU works in tandem with the EMUI 8.0 software running in the Honor View10, creating a profile based on a person’s usage habits and behaviour when using the device. It might be able to recognise what times you use your phone the most, and focus computing power towards those times, or perhaps spot which apps are your favourites, ensuring that you can log in and access these without delay. The more you use your device, the more it learns more about you, working to create a smoother, more efficient user experience.
Your smartphone camera is also about to get much smarter, as the Honor View10 brings a number of AI tools to make sure you always capture the perfect shot. The device’s rear lens now features the ability to recognise certain scenes and situations, before automatically adjusting the camera’s setting to ensure you get top-level images. There are thirteen scene recognition settings in total ranging from sunsets and snow, to low-light situations where capturing a sharp image can be tough. Social media wizards even have the settings to make sure their food photos look good enough to eat.
That’s not all though, as selfies also get a boost from AI. The Honor View10’s front-facing camera now sports immediate portrait recognition settings, meaning you will be able to frame yours and others’ faces to get the perfect snap, with a sharp focus on the subjects, and a suitably blurred background. But this advanced facial recognition also has a vital security benefit, as it allows users to unlock their device without the need to enter a PIN or passcode, as a quick facial scan will suffice to authenticate access to the phone, offering greater protection than traditional devices.
AI is also looking to make it easier to understand the world around you, and the Honor View10 comes with several new additions to help this happen. For keen travellers and tourists who may feel lost in a new country, Honor has teamed up with Microsoft to launch a new translation tool that can provide answers in real-time.
So, whether it’s working out exactly what’s in that local delicacy dish, or finding the right way to the airport, just point your camera at the text and the View10 will provide the answer. The tool isn’t just limited to text however, as Honor says it can provide live translation results from voice chats up to 300 per cent faster than other competing devices, analysing the speaker’s words instantly to make sure you never get left behind.
From efficiency, to translation, to super-sharp selfies, Honor’s AI capabilities will greatly boost your smartphone experience. Bringing users closer to their mobile devices than ever before, it’s clear that the AI tools in the View10, which will undoubtedly be seen in future devices, will mark a turning point for how we interact with the world around us, making smartphones truly smart.
TechRadar Pro's AI Week is brought to you in association with Honor.
