Huawei shows off new devices, sets up UK design centre

Chinese telecoms solutions provider Huawei has unveiled two new devices as it attempts to establish a stronger foothold in the smartphone and tablet markets.

The Vision smartphone runs on the Android Gingerbread OS and has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8255 processor. It supports 720p video recording and playback, and features a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash. The phone also has a customisable 3D carousel user interface.

Meanwhile, the Huawei MediaPad is the firm’s new 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet. It has a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, a HDMI port and 1080p full HD video recording and playback. It features a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and 5 megapixel autofocus rear-facing camera with HD video record and playback. It allows 14.4Mbps HSPA+ and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity, and has a six-hour battery life, according to the firm. The tablet also supports Flash 10.3.

The firm has chosen the UK as its primary market for its device push and the Huawei Vision handset will be launched there in time for the traditionally lucrative Christmas period. It is expected to be available for free on contracts in the region of £25 ($40) per month.

The Huawei MediaPad will be available in the UK through retailers and operators from Q1 2012, with the Wi-Fi version expected to sell in the region of £275.

The firm also announced that it will open a dedicated European design centre for its mobile device business in Londonin Q1 2012.

Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum, commented: “There is currently an opportunity in the tablet market to bring high-quality devices to a mass-market audience. Huawei, given its scale and expertise, is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity.”