Well that was quick. Just eight months ago, Google announced plans to acquire Motorola, and all the patents they own, for $12.5 billion. In that time, Google has gone from country to country getting the acquisition approved with great success (China is the only country that hasn’t approved the deal). But for what? To keep [...]]]>

Well that was quick. Just eight months ago, Google announced plans to acquire Motorola, and all the patents they own, for $12.5 billion. In that time, Google has gone from country to country getting the acquisition approved with great success (China is the only country that hasn’t approved the deal). But for what? To keep Motorola afloat, pumping money into the once-mobile-giant until they can get back on their feet? To eventually totally merge the two companies, creating real, honest-to-goodness Google manufactured Android devices? (Rubin promised this wouldn’t happen, so don’t bet on it). Or is Google simply looking to off Motorola as soon as the acquisition is complete? If the latest rumors out of Asia are right, Motorola might be a Huawei-owned company before long.

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal today, no one at Google really knows what to do with Motorola. Or the 20,500 Motorola employees working in 92 facilities across 97 countries.

While Andy Rubin says the two will operate as entirely different companies, Larry Page is “excited about the opportunities” Motorola would bring to Google. Other rumors suggest that Google might be looking to sell Motorola to Huawei, who has been hell bent on breaking into the smartphone market in a big way. Which one do we think makes the most sense? If the price is right, Motowei is a definite possibility.

It’s no secret why Google really wanted Motorola:  for the patents. It’s also no secret that Google makes their money by giving out free software to distribute their ads. Google couldn’t give out free software to make money on ads if they were being sued into oblivion. So they bought a bunch of patents to use as a security blanket. The way they see it, the patents alone are worth $12.5 billion. If Google is able to sell Motorola, while still keeping the patents, it’s a theoretical win-win.

Not only do they not have to worry about managing a sinking ship, they get back some of the money they spent on patents. Of course if Google’s real intentions are to use Motorola’s hardware division to make their own handsets, selling wouldn’t make sense. But there’s a very slim chance that will happen.

We’ve been waiting for some kind of sign indicating what Google will end up doing with Motorola, and selling to Huawei makes quite a bit of sense. What would you like to see happen to Motorola?

The latest rumors around the interwebs claim that the next myTouch devices are in the works and are being manufactured by Huawei. The manufacturer is currently mostly known for its low- to mid-end affordable smartphones. But this is something Huawei is trying to change, and surely, this will be a great opportunity to clean [...]]]>

The latest rumors around the interwebs claim that the next myTouch devices are in the works and are being manufactured by Huawei. The manufacturer is currently mostly known for its low- to mid-end affordable smartphones. But this is something Huawei is trying to change, and surely, this will be a great opportunity to clean its name.

The company is currently trying to become a player in the high-end Android device market. Without much hype, Huawei is releasing devices like the Huawei Ascend D Quad and the Huawei Ascend P1, among others, which compete with the best smartphones in the market. But the lack of advertising is slowing down the company’s climb.

Becoming part of a successful, popular myTouch line will surely give the manufacturer a boost. (These devices include the U8680 and the U8730). It is also rumored that both devices are exactly the same, except one comes with a slide-out physical keyboard.

As for specs, we don’t know much, other than that the phones run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and have a WVGA (480×800) resolution. Let’s hope they have some good surprises, though, as the myTouch legacy has included some awesome devices in their time.

Surely, the devices will reap the fame and popularity the other manufacturers have sown. At the same time, Huawei will have to live up to certain expectations. We’ll have to wait and see what comes out of this, but based on aesthetics, these phones don’t look exactly like your dream device.

While the build quality looks rather solid, the screen looks smaller than 4 inches. Many users would be disappointed to see a WVGA, non-Android 4.0 device released. The devices are rumored to launch in late Spring. By then, the world will be filled with Ice Cream Sandwich goodness.

As always, we’re interested in knowing what our readers are getting out of this. What specs and features do you believe Huawei needs to incorporate in order to make these devices successful? Would you get a myTouch device built by Huawei?

Huawei took to the stage today at Mobile World Congress, unveiling the Huawei Ascend D quad which they claim is the world fastest smartphone. The Ascend D quad is the first phone running on Huawei’s new K3V2 quad-core processor which is clocked at 1.5 GHz. Not much is known about the K3 processor except that [...]]]>

Huawei took to the stage today at Mobile World Congress, unveiling the Huawei Ascend D quad which they claim is the world fastest smartphone. The Ascend D quad is the first phone running on Huawei’s new K3V2 quad-core processor which is clocked at 1.5 GHz. Not much is known about the K3 processor except that Huawei claims it is 49 percent faster than the worlds current fastest smartphones and features a 16 core GPU. The phone’s other specs include a 4.5-inch 720p HD display (330 ppi), 1GB of RAM, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, 1800mAh battery and a 8.9mm thick body.The Huawei Ascend D quad will be running on Android 4.0 and will also feature an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and 1080p full HD video-capture.

The Ascend D quad is also joined by the Ascend D quad XL which features identical specifications to the original except for its 2500mAh battery which should give the phone 2 to 3 days of battery life. The more budget conscious consumer will be able to pick up the Huawei Ascend D1 which features a dual-core processor, 1670mAh battery and all the same specs as the Ascend D quad.

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All three Huawei Ascend D smartphones will be available in China, Australia, Europe, Asia-Pacific, North and South America, and the Middle East during the second quarter of this year, though the Ascend D1 will make it to market as early as April.

Huawei is in the process of redefining its brand and has been compared to the Hyundai of the smartphone segment quite a bit in the past few months. How many of you are willing to take a bit of a risk and buy a Huawei phone this year?

Update: It turns out that Huawei has created a real Ascend D quad clad Pegasus to match the digital version that’s found in the video above. The video below shows the making of the smartphone clad statue which will be on display at Huawei’s boot hat Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. The Ascend D quad Pegasus which took 720 man hours to construct is 5.7 meters tall, has a wing span of 4.8 meters made from 600 meters of iron rod and is covered with 3500 phones. Our conservative estimate of $500 per phone would give the Ascend D quad Pegasus a value of $1,750,000. Impressive.

Chinese manufacturer Huawei is mostly known for their low-end smartphones in the US, but the company has been revealing some pretty impressive high-end devices at recent trade shows. At CES they showed off the Ascend P1 S, which was billed as the thinnest smartphone at 6.68 mm thick and also one of the first [...]]]>

Chinese manufacturer Huawei is mostly known for their low-end smartphones in the US, but the company has been revealing some pretty impressive high-end devices at recent trade shows. At CES they showed off the Ascend P1 S, which was billed as the thinnest smartphone at 6.68 mm thick and also one of the first new phones to ship with Android 4.0.

Our very own Nick was so impressed with the Ascend P1 LTE that he said it was one of his favorite Android phones of CES.

Now new information has leaked out about Huawei’s upcoming Diamond series, which is said to offer the “smartest, fastest and most high-performing smartphones.” Japanese site Blog of Mobile is reporting that Huawei will unveil two devices at Mobile World Congress this month, called the Ascend D1 Q and MediaPad 10.

A lot of this is speculation, but some are taking the name Ascend D1 Q and interpreting “D1″ as Diamond series and “Q” as quad-core. Huawei has partnered with NVIDIA and used their Tegra 2 processor in previous tablets, so it’s not that surprising to hear they could also be using the quad-core Tegra 3 in some new devices.

We have already billed Mobile World Congress 2012 as the quad-core phone show, where we expect at least a half-dozen devices to be unveiled. It will be tough to stand out from the crowd of quad-core devices, but Huawei sounds pretty confident about their Diamond series.

Mobile World Congress is only two weeks away, and I will be on-site to report on the hottest devices, so check back soon to see if Huawei can live up to the pre-show hype.

Huawei has yet to make a real impact on the American market with the handsets they’ve released so far, but CES 2012 left us yearning for more. When Huawei unveiled the Ascend P1 S, they made it clear just how badly they want to break out of the prepaid, free-on-contract market in the [...]]]>

Huawei has yet to make a real impact on the American market with the handsets they’ve released so far, but CES 2012 left us yearning for more. When Huawei unveiled the Ascend P1 S, they made it clear just how badly they want to break out of the prepaid, free-on-contract market in the US, and into the high-end. Unveiling the world’s thinnest smartphone with Android 4.0, a qHD Super AMOLED display, and a dual-core Snapdragon processor is one way to do it, but even that may not be what Huawei considers high-end.

Huawei has scheduled a press event for February 26th, one day before Mobile World Congress kicks off, where they plan to detail their Diamond series high-end Android phones. Tagged as being the “smartest, fastest and most high-performing smartphone(s),” it’s not clear exactly how Huawei would build on the still unreleased Ascend P1 S or P1 LTE.

If Huawei wants to keep up with top manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and Sony, then there’s a good chance their Diamond series devices will feature quad-core processors, HD displays and some sort of advanced imaging technology.

With just over a month until Mobile World Congress kicks off, we’re finally starting to get an idea of what to expect at the show. Everyone from LG and HTC to Epson will have something running Android on display. Is there any particular device you’re really looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.

Huawei may not be a name you think of when you’re in the market for a high-end Android smartphone, but that could all change with the introduction of the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE. If you’re looking for a phone that runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and has all bells and whistles, the Ascend [...]]]>

Huawei may not be a name you think of when you’re in the market for a high-end Android smartphone, but that could all change with the introduction of the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE. If you’re looking for a phone that runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and has all bells and whistles, the Ascend P1 will probably fit the bill.

The Ascend P1 features both LTE and GSM connectivity and comes equipped with a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5 GHz processor (MSM8960), 1 GB or RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and a microSD slot that supports all the way up to 64 GB. The Huawei Ascend P1 LTE also sports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, 2000 mAh battery and a half dozen of the standard sensors included in today’s Android phones. The handset has an 8 megapixel camera with LED and is capable of shooting 1080p video at 30 frames per second.

Measuring in at 132 x 65 x 9.9mm, the Ascend is thin, but if you’re looking for the thinnest smartphone in the world, we suggest you check out the Huawei Ascend P1S. The handset’s thin body and curved edges give it a solid feel, the the plastic back and chrome finished edges make the Ascend P1 look a lot cheaper than it actually is.

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As we mentioned above, the Huawei Ascend is running on Android 4.0.1. Surprisingly, Huawei was the only large maufacturer at CES to show off phones running on Ice Cream Sandwich. The Ascend P1′s build of Android 4.0 is mainly stock, but Huawei has tweaked the lock screen a little, adding more direct launch applications to the unlock circle.

As usual, pricing and exact availability for the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE are not available, but we should have more details once we get closer to the handset’s spring launch

Handset makers are hard at work figuring out ways to bring Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) to their Android devices. While HTC and Motorola were quick to mention which devices would get the ICS update, both companies were beat to the punch when it comes to releasing the [...]]]>

Handset makers are hard at work figuring out ways to bring Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) to their Android devices. While HTC and Motorola were quick to mention which devices would get the ICS update, both companies were beat to the punch when it comes to releasing the much-anticipated OS upgrade to their devices.

Huawei has released a demo-build of Ice Cream Sandwich for the Huawei Honor smartphone onto its website. Though the Huawei Honor is not currently available in the United States, it is rumored to be coming soon to Cricket Wireless as the Huawei Glory, though no official announcement of the release has been made. Since Huawei doesn’t have their Honor phone available in the U.S., their Android 4.0 build did not have to go through carrier testing, a process which makes the upgrade cycle unbearably slow in the U.S.

Regardless, the fact that one company is releasing Android 4.0 could suggest that other companies will soon follow suit. Or, at the very least, that handset makers will soon be putting their finishing touches on their ICS builds to submit to the carriers for their approval.

Kudos to Huawei for getting it out so early, and being the first handset maker to offer an upgrade to their customers.

You would think Microsoft would be happy with the money it is taking from some of the bigger Android manufacturers – but no. Now they are trying to get some money from our little buddy, Huawei. While this company is not among the most recognized, it is gaining its place in the Android [...]]]>

You would think Microsoft would be happy with the money it is taking from some of the bigger Android manufacturers – but no. Now they are trying to get some money from our little buddy, Huawei. While this company is not among the most recognized, it is gaining its place in the Android atmosphere, and sadly, that can be a downside when it comes to Microsoft.

Claiming that Android devices are infringing on many of their patents, Microsoft has been taking $5-$15 per device sold from multiple Android manufacturers (now over half of them). Microsoft is currently making more profit out of Android devices than Windows Phone smartphones. It’s quite a shame.

This Chinese manufacturer’s growth has now come to Microsoft’s attention, and wants it to become part of its money-making trophy wall. Huawei representatives have stated that Microsoft has indeed reached out to them. Negotiations seem to be “in progress,” but Microsoft has already been winning these legal battles. We seriously doubt that Huawei can get away from this one without busting out its wallet for Microsoft.

We sure hope that this legal bullying will stop soon. Google is planning to acquire Motorola, and manufacturers are surely trying to protect themselves, as well. The patent wars should calm down at least a little bit once Google and its partners get stronger patent portfolios.

Last time we saw this device, it promised some pretty good specs. You may know Huawei as a low-to-mid-end manufacturer, but the Huawei Honor looks like quite a powerful smartphone. Huawei has just announced this device, and the Honor is actually better than we’d heard.

Last month’s leaked specs are still standing. The Huawei [...]]]>

Last time we saw this device, it promised some pretty good specs. You may know Huawei as a low-to-mid-end manufacturer, but the Huawei Honor looks like quite a powerful smartphone. Huawei has just announced this device, and the Honor is actually better than we’d heard.

Last month’s leaked specs are still standing. The Huawei Honor will come with a 1.4 GHz single-core processor, 4-inch FWVGA display (854 x 480), 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal memory with microSD slot (supports cards up to 32 GB), an 8 MP rear-facing camera, a 2 MP front-facing camera and a hefty 1900 mAh battery.

One of the main features on this device is something most of us really want: good battery life. By good battery life, we mean nearly as good as those Nokias we almost never charged. That 1900 mAh sure is big. And according to Huawei, this device will give up to 3 days of battery life. That’s simply unimaginable for anyone who’s been using Android smartphones.

That’s Huawei’s estimated battery life, which might not be what everyone will experience. We assume only those who use the device fairly lightly will get 3 days of juice. Heavy users should not expect such longevity. It’s safe to assume heavy users could definitely get through the day easily with one charge, though. If Huawei is going to make such a claim, the battery life must be substantially superior than average.

The Huawei Honor is comes with the bands GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and the WCDMA/HSPA+ 900/AWS/2100. This means the device is compatible with America’s T-Mobile 3g network. So if the device happens to not come around the US, you might be able to import it. Release is scheduled to come during Q4 of 2011 in China, Russia and the Middle East. For the Classic Black version, that is. If you want to add some color to your life, other colors are “to follow” soon afterwards.

What do you guys say? Would you go for this device? Are you surprised by the specs/battery life? Would you be willing to import it, if it doesn’t hit the US?

Side Note

Watch out for lawsuits, Huawei! Your device looks a lot like you-know-who’s…

Android could have not made it to 550,000 activations a day without the good ol’ low-end devices. In fact, most avid Android fans used a budget-friendly smartphone when getting their feet wet on the Android platform. Huawei is known for manufacturing affordable smartphones, and AT&T has a new one for you today.

The [...]]]>

Android could have not made it to 550,000 activations a day without the good ol’ low-end devices. In fact, most avid Android fans used a budget-friendly smartphone when getting their feet wet on the Android platform. Huawei is known for manufacturing affordable smartphones, and AT&T has a new one for you today.

The Huawei Impulse 4G is one of the most pocket-friendly devices available for AT&T customers. This little guy can be yours for the low price of $29.99 on a 2-year contract. And while it’s no superphone, it can probably take care of users without too many expectations. The specs are not too bad for $30. And it has HSPA+ bands, so it’ll have a speedy internet connection.

Huawei Impulse 4G Specifications

• Android 2.2 Froyo
• 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor
• 3.8-inch display
• 4G-capable (HSPA+)
• 5 MP rear-facing camera (with 720p video recording)

Not many details are provided, but we can expect this device to be as good as last year’s mid-range to high-end devices. Honestly, that’s not bad at all–especially with that price tag. What do you guys think? Anyone getting this? Maybe for your parents, kids, girlfriend, etc.? Do you like the idea of having a 4G device for only $30?