Event Coverage

CommunicAsia 2011 - Huawei

By Sidney Wong - 20 Jun 2011

Huawei MediaPad - The Show Stopper

Huawei's Showtime

While Huawei has traditionally kept its presence contained within the showfloors of CommunicAsia, the Chinese company took a different approach in 2011 with a global press conference held a day before CommunicAsia 2011 goes into full gear. Huawei definitely did not surprise us with its new 7-inch tablet, the MediaPad. But it did shed some light on its features, some of which includes an as-yet unseen Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. So what makes Huawei MediaPad so special? Check out our hands-on coverage below:

Victor Xu, Chief Marketing Officer, was on stage to introduce the MediaPad.  

The Huawei MediaPad will be the first tablet to ship with Android 3.2.

Huawei MediaPad

The MediaPad achieves three milestones for Huawei. One, it is the world's first 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet. According to Huawei, the current Android 3.0/3.1 OS is only optimized for 10-inch screens. The company also believes that the 7-inch screen size strikes the balance between design, functionality and performance. Hence, Huawei collaborated with Google Android to develop the Android 3.2 OS to enhance the full potential of the tablet-centric OS on a 7-inch screen. With Android 3.2, users can see a better optimized user interface with improvements in Google Maps and graphics performance.

Chief Marketing Office Victor Wu explains the significance of MediaPad having the Android 3.2 OS.

The MediaPad units on display were loaded with Android 3.1, but we were informed that this would retain a similar look to what you see on the Android 3.0 / 3,1 variants.

Two, most tablets today run on 1GHz dual-core processors, hence the MediaPad trumps the rest of the tablets in the market by being the first to ship with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. While we did not have the luxury of time to properly test the tablet at the event, the overall user experience was snappy. Page scrolling was smooth and fluid.

Three, it is Huawei's slimmest and lightest tablet so far, measuring just 10.5mm thick and weighing approximately 390g. Despite being slim and light, the MediaPad actually feels quite solid in the hands, thanks to the uni-body aluminum alloy construction.

The Huawei MediPad is the company's slimmest tablets, measuring in with a thickness of only 10.5mm.

The volume controls and Power button looks comfortable to press. Notice the premium look of the aluminum chassis.

The MediaPad has a 3.5mm audio jack at the top of the device, together with a pair of speakers.

You can find the charging, HDMI and USB ports at the bottom of the MediaPad.

A unibody design, with a two-tone color combination makes the MediaPad aesthetically appealing.

The other key highlight of the MediaPad is its high resolution display. It has a slightly higher pixel density compared to its competitors.

Chief Marketing Officer Victor Xu explains the superiority of the MediaPad's screen over its competitors.

The resolution of the screen is dense enough to deliver great clarity and vibrant colors albeit reflective.

We put the HTC Flyer side by side with Huawei MediaPad, and found colors to be richer on the MediaPad.

The MediaPad is also supported by Huawei Device's Hi-Space cloud solution, which aims to bring together localized content and apps for easy access to its users. Huawei also calmed our concerns about Hi-Space competing with Android Market by stating that its cloud app store will coexist with the latter. The company will also screen through any apps before putting them on Hi-Space.

Huawei has announced that the MediaPad will see a Q3 2011 availability. The company also mentioned that there will be a Wi-Fi and 3G variant for the MediaPad. Depending on the market viability, we might see just only one or both variants selling side-by-side. Huawei wasn't able to provide an estimated price range of the MediaPad, though they did mention that it is a different market segment from the affordable IDEOS lineup that was launched recently. This could place the MediaPad beyond the usual competitive prices adopted by Huawei. For now, we'll be keeping a close watch on more upcoming news from the MediaPad and its Android 3.2 OS.

Huawei MediaPad

  Key highlights of the Huawei MediaPad

  • Google Android 3.2
  • 7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
  • Dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor
  • Up to 32GB microSD (external)
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
  • 5-megapixel rear camera 
  • Adobe Flash 10.3 support
  • Light sensor
  • Gravity sensor 
  • eCompass
  • 4100mAh battery
  • 390g
  • 190 x 124 x 10.5mm
     
  • Available from Q3 2011
  • Available in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions
     

 

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