Huawei finally launches Ascend W1 with Windows Phone 8

After launching Huawei Ascend Mate and Ascend D2 at the CES 2013, the Chinese handset maker is now showing some Windows Phone 8 love.
Huawei had long been mentioned as one of the four original Windows Phone 8 manufacturers and while we've seen Windows Phone 8 offerings from Nokia, HTC and Samsung, Huawei had been missing in action until now.
Huawei has finally launched its Ascend W1 smartphone, which comes with a 4-inch IPS LCD screen and a resolution of 480x800. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8230 dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM. There is 4GB on-board memory, which can be expanded to up to 32GB with a microSD card.
Huawei Ascend W1 runs on Windows Phone 8 and comes with 1,950mAh battery that claims to give 470 hours of standby time,. There is 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash on-board.
The company has announced that this smartphone will be first available in China and Russia markets from January 2013. Later it will be available to UK customers through operators Telefonica O2. It will come in two colour options - blue and ruby-pink. So far, Huawei has not indicated the price for this smartphone.
Huawei Device UK and Ireland Executive Vice President Mark Mitchinson said: "Windows Phone 8 is tremendously exciting in terms of both its functionality and the practical benefits it delivers. With the Ascend W1, Huawei has created a product to put this fresh smartphone experience within reach of a much wider audience. O2's record of championing innovative brands and technologies is remarkable, and we are delighted to partner with it for launch of the Ascend W1 in the UK."


Key Specs of Huawei Ascend W1

• 4-inch IPS LCD screen with 480x800 resolution
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8230 dual-core 1.2GHz processor
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB internal storage, can be expanded up to 32GB
• 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera
• Windows Phone 8
• 1,950 mAh battery

6.1-inch Huawei Ascend Mate showed off before the official CES launch

Huawei seems to getting into action for launching big-screen smartphones. The company is said to be working on a 6.1-inch Ascend Mate. This device is expected to be unveiled at the forthcoming CES 2013.
However, it was showcased at a Huawei store in Guangzhou, China by the company's Chairman, Richard Yu Huawei.
Huawei Ascend Mate sports a 6.1-inch full-HD display at 361PPI pixel density and is powered by a 1.8GHz K3V3 quad-core processor. It is 9.6mm thick and has a 4000mAh battery. So far, there is no news about which version of Android this smartphone will be running.
According to Chinese website Sina Weibo, Ascend Mate will be priced under CNY 3,000, which translates to approximately $480.
Another Huawei device that might see the light of the day at CES is the 5-inch Ascend D2.
As of now, Samsung Galaxy Note II has the title of the smartphone with the biggest screen size. It sports a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD display and is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. It has a 3100mAh battery and has 16GB internal storage expandable up to 64 GB via microSD card.

The device features a 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front camera. Samsung Galaxy Note II comes with the S-Pen stylus for taking notes on the device. It was launched in India in September for Rs. 37,990.

Image Courtesy: Engadget

sam4sammy :: Fake phones getting less popular in China

Cheap mobile phones that closely resemble high-end globally-recognised devices are slowly fading out from markets across China, and are being replaced by brands looking to break into the budget phone market.
In south China's Shenzhen city, known as the "birthplace of counterfeit phones", shops with "for rent" signs can be seen everywhere, the China Daily reported Monday.
Although the city has long been known as one of the country's top sellers of electronic products, government data indicates that more than 3,500 shops, most of which were mobile phone dealers, have closed and retreated from the market.
This year's Canton Fair, the country's largest small commodities expo held in Guangzhou, featured a small number of counterfeit phones, an "unthinkable occurrence in previous years".
Industry experts said manufacturers of counterfeit phone do not have the technological know-how to compete with global brands like Apple and Samsung.
However, domestic brands have made breakthroughs that have allowed them to offer inexpensive smartphones, thus cutting into the counterfeit phone market.
Among the 10 biggest phone manufacturers in China last year, domestic brands ZTE, Huawei and TCL were ranked third, fifth and ninth respectively, in terms of smartphone sales.
Domestic smartphones cost less than 1,000 yuan ($160).
Tang Ruijin, director of the Shenzhen Federation of Mobile Communication, said counterfeit manufacturers have retreated to underdeveloped overseas markets like southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
At this year's Mobile World Congress, Huawei unveiled a quad-core mobile phone processor. Huawei is one of few companies that develops its own computer chips, while many foreign brands still use Intel chips.

Nokia Siemens to sell optical networks unit to Marlin Equity Partners

Mobile telecoms equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) said on Monday it is to sell its optical fibre networks unit to Marlin Equity Partners.
NSN didn't give any financial details for the sale but said it would be completed in the first quarter of next year.

As a result of the deal as many as 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal, will be transferred to the new company, NSN said in a statement.

Nokia Siemens Networks, which competes with Ericsson , Huawei and Alcatel Lucent , is undertaking a cost-cutting plan, which includes laying off a quarter of its staff and selling product lines to focus on mobile broadband.

The joint venture between Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG has been a drain on profits for owners Nokia and Siemens but it reported record profits in the third quarter, helped by sales of equipment for fourth-generation high-speed LTE networks in Japan and Korea.

The restructuring is expected to result in 1 billion euros of cost savings by the end of next year.

© Thomson Reuters 2012