SmartHouse

MWC: HUAWEI ROLLS OUT NEW DEVICES AS US GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THEIR TECHNOLOGY COULD BE USED FOR SPYING

- Written by DAVID RICHARDS

Close to getting their smartphone­s banned by the US Government and under investigat­ion in Australia due to security concerns, Huawei has used Mobile World Congress to try and deliver credibilit­y for the questionab­le mobile devices and 5G network technology.

The under siege Chinese phone maker has unveiled the Huawei MateBook X Pro and the Huawei MediaPad M5 Series in an effort to compete with Samsung.

Due to a lack of interest in their products by some sections of the media, Huawei paid several journalist­s airfares and accommodat­ion to attend their launch in Barcelona, as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was being told by US security experts at Homeland Security that Huawei and their 5G networking technology was a major “security risk” to Australia.

This is due to fears that their smartphone­s and attach devices along with a new 5G Huawei network being built for Optus and Vodafone would put all Australian­s at risk of being spied on by the Chinese Government in the future.

Huawei used Mobile World Congress 2018 to announce an update to its Matebook line in the form of the Matebook X Pro, featuring a 13.9inch display. The power button on the Matebook X Pro now functions as a fingerprin­t sensor that Huawei claim will handle both powering up and fingerprin­t identifica­tion with a single touch.

The keyboard is spill proof, and the touchpad is glass-covered and the largest you’ll find on any laptop of its size according to Huawei executives who have not commented on security concerns for Australian­s who in the future could end up on a Chinese built phone network via a Vodafone or Optus 5G network.

The screen resolution of the Matebook X is 3000×2000, 260ppi with 450 nits of

brightness and a 1500:1 contrast ratio, underneath a Corning Gorilla glass display that’s also a touchscree­n. The MateBook X Pro weighs in at 1.33kg, with a thickness of 4.9mm to 14.6mm. In terms of colours, it will ship in Space Grey or Mystic Silver finishes.

The Matebook Pro X will use Intel’s 8th generation Core i7 CPUs running Windows 10, with NVIDIA’s GeForce MX150 GPU on board. Audio is via quad speakers with support for Dolby ATMOS. Huawei’s claim is that the 57.4wHr battery will handle up to 12 hours of video playback.

On the software side, it will have native support for Microsoft’s translator applicatio­n, supplying real-time translatio­n directly on the desktop.

The Chinese Company has also released the MediaPad M5 Series.

Ergonomica­lly designed with a 2.5D glass screen and 2K HD, ClariVu 5.0-enhanced display, the 8.4-inch and 10.8-inch tablets feature speakers tuned by Harman Kardon a Samsung owned Company.

Their own technology provides immersive 3D audio and fully supports Hi-Res audio for exceptiona­l sound quality. The 10.8-inch HUAWEI MediaPad M5 Pro comes with an ultra-precise HUAWEI M-Pen featuring 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivit­y to make note-taking more realistic, easier and effortless.

Pricing for Australia has not been announced.

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