Bezel busting Huawei Ascend Mate 7 poses once again

On September 4th, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is expected to be introduced at IFA in Berlin. We've already had the pleasure of seeing the razor thin bezels on the phablet, which carries a 6 inch screen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920.  On back of the device is a fingerprint sensor that quickly calls to mind the scanner on the back of the HTC One max.

A 6 inch FHD screen requires plenty of power to light up, which probably goes a long way in explaining the inclusion of a massive 4000mAh cell inside the device. 2GB or 3GB of RAM is included, depending on the version. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 will be powered by Huawei's own Kirin 920 processor. A quad-core 1.8GHz version of the chip is under the hood. There is 16GB of native storage packed into the handset, and the back and front-facing cameras weigh in at 13MP and 5MP, respectively.

The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 will be facing some competition from the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which will be introduced the very day before Huawei's high-end tablet sees the light of day.

source: Weibo, cnBeta (translated) via GSMDome

Continue Reading...

Ahead of IFA, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 pics leak to the web

While most of us are anticipating the Note 4, the Xperia Z3 and various new smartwatches that will debut at IFA, let’s not forget that there will be plenty of other interesting mobile announcements from companies like HTC, LG and Huawei. In fact, the latter of these companies is expected to announce its third-gen Ascend Mate at IFA next week.
With this in mind, a few photos of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 have now leaked to the web, showing off a large handset with thin bezels and what could very well be a fingerprint scanner. Not much else can be derived from the images, but it’s still nice to get a closer look at the phablet ahead of its formal announcement. As for the Mate 7’s specs? According to the rumor mill, the phone is expected to feature a a 1.3GHz Kirin 920 octa-core CPU, 2 or 3GB RAM, a 6.1-inch 1080p display, a 13MP rear cam and a 5MP front cam.
What do you think, based on what we know about the Mate 7, are you at all interested in this device? Conversely, does its massive display size turn you off completely?

Via:G for Games

Continue Reading...

Huawei says Tizen is doomed, Windows Phone - money down the drain

A Wall Street Journal interview with Huawei's top honcho, Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu, reveals the thinking and key strategic choices of a company that, along with several others, has been on the rise lately.

Perhaps most importantly, Yu said Huawei has absolutely no plans to push Tizen forward, despite spending research money on the Samsung-developed operating system and being concerned about a complete reliance on Android. According to Yu, Tizen "has no chance to be successful", which is likely the reason his company has been saying "no" to carriers when asked to design a Tizen phone.

"We feel Tizen has no chance to be successful. Even for Windows Phone it's difficult to be successful."

What's even more, Yu isn't feeling much better better about Windows Phone, either, specifically because the company has been losing money on its WP-based smartphones for some two years now. For that very reason, the exect says all Windows Phone devices are currently put on hold. 

The CEO also told the WSJ that it has no plans to build its own OS, even though "it's easy to design" one. The problem, as most of you will have realized already, is building the ecosystem around it -- a feat that even Microsoft is struggling with. The Huawei exec also said that his company is not planning on making a Lenovo-like acquisition (Motorola Mobility), and will instead focus on R&D. According to Yu, a bigger sales volume (that can be achieved through acquisitions, for example) can help with lowering costs, but it's R&D that will ultimately provide consumers with better value.

Huawei is now the third-largest smartphone vendor based on total device shipments and shipped 52 million handsets last year. According to Huawei, the company is also seeing higher profit margins than before, and is hoping to ship a whopping 80 million devices in 2014.

source: Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Continue Reading...

Android fragmentation report shows Samsung is still top dog

The guys at OpenSignal thrive on smartphone statistics and once agin they took the time to plot Android fragmentation. It was a mammoth undertaking as the dominant smartphone platform has splintered in many different ways.
First off is that Android devices are made by a myriad of manufacturers. Samsung was by far the biggest with 43% market share and 12 of the 13 most popular devices. Despite the domination, the company's market share has actually slipped, last year it had 47.5% of the market.

Continue Reading...

IFA 2014: here's what to expect from Samsung, Sony, Huawei, Microsoft, and Asus

mfvkvfm4243

In just a couple of weeks, geeks and journalists from all over the world will gather in Berlin for one of the year's largest tech events – the Internationale Funkausstellung, also known as IFA. As usual, it is going to be an event of massive proportions, and many of the top tech companies will take advantage of the hype by announcing their latest products. Here's a look at the gadgets that we're expecting to see there.

Continue Reading...