Tag: Huawei

I’ve been reviewing mobile devices for the better part of 15 years now.  I’m often asked, “What is the best phone to get?”  My answer is always the same:  The phone that works best for you.  For some, that’s iPhones.  For some, that’s Android.  But when it comes to any phone, rarely do you find one that ticks all the boxes when it comes to performance, a solid camera, good battery life and user experience.  I’ve found one of these rare phones in the Huawei P10.  It’s not perfect, but it is close and this 5.1″ phone is once to seriously consider.

I’ve had the opportunity over the past few weeks to use the Huawei P10 as my daily driver and it has not disappointed.  It has the power to get me through the day and the performance to do anything I need it to do – from email, to streaming music and video, to playing a game or two.  It is a device that I have no reservation in recommending.  Yes there are some things to get use to with it, most notably the multi-function fingerprint scanner, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll really unlock this phone.

In a ruling by Chinese mid-level court, Samsung has been ordered to play Huawei some $11.6 million for patient infringements that the Korean manufacture’s subsidiaries violated.  The ruling will likely be appealed but is a fraction of the over $12 billion that Huawei was asking for in the original filing.  In that filing, the Chinese manufacture claimed Samsung and more specifically, some of its subsidiaries that it uses to build their devices, used patented technology in up to 20 of their devices which had sold some 30 million units globally.

As part of the order, the subsidiaries in question, five in all, are ordered to stop using the patented technology in Samsung devices.  It is unclear what, if any, impact it will have on the soon-to-be released Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.

For those of you who have the Huawei Mate 9, there is a significant software update waiting for you today.  The update brings a lot of performance and battery improvements to the 5.9″ phablet that is recommended for all users.  Specifically, you are looking for build MHA-L29C185B172.  It is just over 500MB in size so you will want to make sure you can download it via Wi-Fi and have plenty of battery left on your phone if you are not connected to AC.

The update primarily focuses on performance improvements on the Mate 9, particularly around the touchscreen.  It also improves the battery optimization which, based on my review, were already pretty solid.  This update will only improve them.

The new Huawei P10 is just now hitting retailers for purchase and it has already received its first maintenance update.  The new 5.1″ phone has a small update that brings some improvements to the camera as well as general performance improvements.  Specifically, the camera app has been updated so it does not crash when launched or when you launch the camera from Google Assistant.  It also addresses an issue with the camera preview not rendering correctly.

Along with these camera improvements, the software update fixes some stability and performance issues on the phone.

Starting today, the Huawei Mate 9 will have Amazon Alexa on the device.  The flagship phablet is receiving an OTA update that brings Amazon’s personal assistant to the device.  Once you have the update and initiate Alexa, there are a wide range of things you can do from your phone with it.  According to the Press Release, this includes things such as:

• Home Automation: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa makes it possible to manage your smart home even when you’re on-the-go by controlling lights, thermostats, locks, fans, sprinklers and more.
• Games/Trivia: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa can make every trip more entertaining with games like Jeopardy, Magic Door and Twenty Questions.
• Shopping: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa makes it easy to get more done using just your voice — Quickly create lists, order items to be sent to your home, get food delivered or have your favorite coffee ready with Amazon voice shopping, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Amazon Prime restaurants, and more.
• Fitness/Health: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa helps travelers stay fit with access to skills like 7-Minute Workout, FitBit and Stop, Breathe & Think.
• News: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa is a convenient way to stay informed with access to news anytime via Flash Briefings from NPR, CNBC, Reuters, Fox News, The Skimm, WSJ, AP, BBC, CNN, and many more.
• Entertainment: Mate 9 with Amazon Alexa puts entertainment in reach with access to a wide array of podcasts and Audible content.

Huawei announced at CES in January that Alexa would be coming to the phone as the assistant battles between Google, Amazon and even Microsoft heat up.

One of the more popular and well designed Android Wear watches of the past couple of years has been the Huawei Watch.  The watch, which is still readily available, has outstanding specs, comes in a variety of styles and most of them were priced reasonably well (there are a few higher end luxury models too).  It seems fitting then that the Huawei Watch is one of the first watches already out there to get the Android Wear 2.0 update.  The update has started rolling out to owners and while it will take a few days (or even weeks) for everyone to get it, know that the update is coming and bringing all the new features of 2.0 with it.  It should be noted that the roll out is very limited right now and only a few people have reported seeing it.  The official statement from Huawei is that it will be out at the end of the month – but clearly it is either leaked or being rolled out slowly.

If you haven’t kept up, Wear 2.0 brings a lot of changes to the user experience, stand alone apps, Material Design, improvements in the use of Wi-Fi and sensors and Messaging.  It is a significant

update.