Smartphone? How about an intelligent phone?
Move over, smartphone. There’s a new mobile in town — and an intelligent one at that. Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) announced the official Middle East and Africa rollout of its new flagships, the Huawei Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro and special-edition Porsche Design Mate 10, promising that these devices go ‘beyond smart’ with the introduction of the world’s first artificial intelligence-powered system-on-chip. Shenzhen-headquartered Huawei — which is among the world’s top three smartphone vendors — flaunted the new devices, which aims to challenge Apple and Samsung not just in AI but in every area possible.
“We all know that the Mate series is the most powerful product in our portfolio,” Gene Jiao, president of Huawei CBG Middle East and Africa, said in his opening re- marks at the event in Dubai. “And the reason... [is because] we put the latest technologies in it.”
Huawei, which gained a following thanks to its devices with large screens and powerful cameras, aims to take its popularity several steps further — with the new Mate 10 series and a lot of help from AI.
“Why do we consider AI a significant product in the future?” David Wang, UAE country manager at Huawei CBG, started off during his interview with Khaleej Times before the event began.
“It’s because we believe that, in the future, mobiles will become the unique interface to communicate with the digital world.”
Consider AI as something that would also unite things for us — there may not be any need for using several apps for specific functions, he added.
“Right now we have to use different apps to achieve different tasks,” Wang pointed out, “but I believe in the future AI features will help us unite anything.”
The Mate 10 series features the new HiSilicon Kirin 970 chip, which comes with not just a graphics processing unit, but also a neural processing unit (NPU) — the brain behind its AI capabilities. The NPU allows the devices to perform 25 times better and 50 times more efficient than a standard CPU.
The NRU is also responsible for more intelligent features, including that in its dual-lens camera — once again powered by Leica — which recognises scenes and images better, and in its 4000mAh
I believe in the future AI features will help us unite anything
David Wang, UAE country manager, Huawei CBG
battery — Wang says it can last up to two days — which has smart power management and saving capabilities.
The Mate 10 comes with a 5.9inch display, while the Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design version have a six-inch screen, all of which are quad-HD Amoled displays. Their RAM/storage configurations are 4GB/6GB, 6GB/128GB and 6GB/256GB, respectively.
The new smartphones are also the world’s first devices to come pre-loaded with the Dubai Font, which signifies the commitment Huawei has to the region, particularly here in the UAE.
“Dubai Font is the latest in a number of innovations... in the global digital agenda,” Eng Ah- mad Al Mahri, assistant secretary general for the Executive Council and General Secretariat Affairs Sector, said at the event.
He said that the font sets itself apart from other fonts because it was designed based on the core principles that have made Dubai very successful.
“Through this collaboration with Huawei, we are aiming to introduce this to the world,” he added.
AI nowadays is a ‘hot topic’, Wang says. And with the way it’s transforming the way people go about certain tasks, he says it’s already ‘a winner’.
“In the future, [AI] could make humans more powerful,” he quipped. Wang says that AI is nothing new and is widely talked about. The challenge, then, is how to make have it useful right off the bat.
“We don’t want users to learn [how to use AI]; we want them to feel it, and how it has evolved,” he said, referring to the ease of use of the Mate 10 line-up.