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VIRTUALISATION Huawei's Android handset heading down under
VIRTUALISATION Huawei's Android handset heading down under | Huawei's Android handset heading down under |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 | |
  
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Little is known about the device, which made its debut as a non-working dummy at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. However there are suggestions that it will go beyond the standard Android interface to be more like the iPhone in relying almost solely on touch. According to one report from Barcelona, "The touch phone hardware is decidedly iPhone-esque, and almost seems too button scarce to work with the traditional Android interface." When it announced the product, Huawei said it was working with an "established design consultancy" which it did not name, "to develop a robust and user-friendly interface, creating a powerful customer experience that is able to evolve with operators' differentiation requirements." This would fit well with Telstra's recent initiative, the Telstra OneExperience, offering cellphones with user-customisable interfaces. It was also announced last month that Huawei is to include LocatioNet's amAze GPS navigation software on future GPS-enabled mobile handsets, and the Android version is likely to be one of these. The advertising funded service is provided at no charge and is claimed to run on more than 500 handsets. It comes in Java and Windows Mobile versions, and BlackBerry. LocatioNet plans to release Android and iPhone versions later this year. Huawei's terminals division, Huawei Communications, already supplies devices to Australian cellular operators and according to Zhang, the division generated $US110m in revenue from Australia in calendar 2008. Its main revenue earner is USB 3G HSPA dongles, supplied to Optus, 3 and Vodafone, and fixed-mobile convergence 3G modems that have a WiFi and/or ethernet interfaces and route a customers' broadband traffic over the 3G network. Zhang said that Huawei already supplied mobile handsets to Australian operators for sale under their own brand name, and that Optus would introduce the entry level Huawei U1580 model in the third quarter of 2009. |
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