Huawei teases cheap quad-core Android thrills with the Honor 2

Huawei has announced the Honor 2 Android smartphone, a quad-core device that could cost between $300 and $370 if it makes it to US shores. Its predecessor did, so there's a good chance it will do too.

Huawei has recently had more headlines dedicated to it allegedly posing a threat to US national security than its cut price, great spec Android smartphones for which it was once best known. With the announcement of the Honor 2, it could turn this around, provided it sees an international release sometime soon.

News of the Honor 2 seems to have originated from Huawei’s Weibo account, where the phone is named the Glory, a name repeated on the Chinese version of the manufacturers own website, where just to confuse matters it also listed as the “Glory Quad-core Love Shared Exclusive Edition.” Now that’s a memorable name for a smartphone.

So why are we calling it the Honor 2? Well, the original Huawei Glory U8860 was renamed the Honor in the USA and other regions (as well as the Mercury if you grabbed it from Cricket, or the Honour if you live in the UK), and Huawei’s CEO has also referred to the phone under this name, when he hinted at its impending release late last week.

Hopefully that’s cleared up any confusion over the name, so on to the most interesting part — the specification. Inside the Honor 2 is a 1.4GHz, quad-core Hass K3V2 processor of Huawei’s own design, plus 2GB of RAM. The screen measures 4.5-inches and has a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, providing an excellent 326ppi pixel density.

Android 4.0 is its operating system, and there is also an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video, 8GB of internal memory and a 2230mAh battery that could offer 72 hours of standby. This does make it a little larger than its competitors, as it measures 10.5mm thick and weighs 145 grams. Some may consider this to be a small price to pay for the bigger battery though.

Talking of small prices, there’s confusion over the Honor 2′s possible cost, with Engadget.com saying it will come in at a little over $300 — a bargain if so — while pocketdroid.net says it will be around $370. Whichever turns out to be correct, the Honor 2 will go on sale early next month, and given that the original Glory/Honor made it out of China, there’s a good chance its sequel will do as well.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

UK government also probing Huawei, says it currently has no security concerns

Following the House of Representatives damaging report, the UK has revealed it has also been examining Huawei amid security concerns.

The story following the House of Representatives report that Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to US national security continues, as international governments examine their involvement with the Chinese companies and look for their own evidence of security risks.

In the UK, it has been revealed that a parliamentary committee has also been examining Huawei’s presence in the country for a while, as it’s a major supplier of network equipment to British Telecom, Vodafone, O2 and most other network providers, plus it’s responsible for much of the infrastructure behind EE’s 4G network.

Should any discrepancies be identified, the continued rollout of both fiber and 4G broadband could be slowed or halted. Both projects, and the relationship with Huawei, are well established, and disruption would be costly. The report is due to be published at the end of the year.

Quite apart from the network disruptions, there’s a political aspect at work too, as Prime Minister David Cameron had a meeting with Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhengfei last month, where a £1.3 billion deal was reached. One of the first stages is for Huawei to move its UK workforce into a new 140,000 square foot office building in April next year.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson, Derek Smith, has been talking to the UK press about the government’s view on both Huawei and ZTE ahead of the final report, which is notably different to that of the US House of Representatives.

Cyber Security Evaluation Centre

Smith told TechRadar.com that “the Cabinet Office is confident that there are no security concerns,” and “comparisons with the US don’t hold up with what we’re doing here. We have a very strict evaluation process for products from any country, not just China, coming into the UK.”

He then referred to Huawei’s Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, which opened in 2010, where hardware and software are tested to, according to Huawei “ensure its ability to withstand growing cyber security threats.” The closest the blurb gets to admitting the centre is more about checking Huawei’s equipment is the admission that it’s there to “build mutual trust in the area of cyber security.”

A 2011 report covering the center’s opening from notorious scare-mongers The Daily Mail is far less subtle, starting with the headline “New cyber attack fears over the Chinese ‘Red Army Lab’ being used for BT tests.” The piece goes on to quote numerous security experts who warn against using Huawei’s services, plus it reveals that Huawei has an identical copy of BT’s computers and telecoms system back in its Shenzhen head office, so it can evaluate new hardware. Thankfully, the system isn’t connected to the UK network.

For now, it seems Huawei’s operations in the UK are safe, but things will take a turn for the serious — not to mention politically embarrassing — should the forthcoming report not back up the Cabinet Office’s statements, as Huawei is already sitting at the table with its slippers on in the UK, instead of only knocking on the door in the US.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Huawei’s Windows Phone 8 challengers could be announced later this week

Huawei could be ready to announce its first Windows Phone 8 devices later this week, currently known as the Ascend W1 and Ascend W2.

Later this week Huawei could launch its first Windows Phone 8 devices, currently known as the Ascend W1 and Ascend W2, joining offerings from three other top-name manufacturers to complete Microsoft’s Windows Phone release line-up.

Huawei didn’t join the Windows Phone 7 party, and was the single new name announced at the Windows Phone 8 unveiling in June, so it’s going to be interesting to see how its phones compare with Nokia, Samsung and HTC’s.

The company promised its “first smartphone running on the Windows Phone platform” would be part of the Ascend range, and that it would be out “at the end of the year” so it looks like this timescale will be about right.

Huawei’s CEO has taken to the Chinese social network Sina Weibo to talk about the first device, saying that the Ascend W1 will come in a variety of colors — black, blue, white and pink — and that it will go on sale in the USA, Asia and Europe. The phone could be announced as soon as September 25, and will go on sale in November or December.

The Ascend W1 is likely to be a mid-range phone along the same lines as the HTC 8S and Nokia’s Lumia 820, but it could be joined by a flagship model, the Ascend W2. There are no firm specs for either device, but they could repeat what we’ve seen on previous Ascend Android phones, meaning a 4.3-inch screen or larger, an 8 megapixel screen and a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor are all possible.

Where Huawei is likely to differ from its competitors though, is price, and the Ascend W1 has been rumored to sell for the equivalent of $317 when it goes on sale. An early pre-order price for the HTC 8S puts it at £225 in the UK, which is $365 at current exchange rates.

We hope to know more this Wednesday, September 25.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com