Huawei has just announced what they’re calling the first mass market Android 2.2 device, the Ideos. Earlier this week I linked to an article from The Wall Street Journal that said Huawei would be releasing their first high end smartphone at IDF. Looks like they, and in turn I, got it all wrong. The Ideos is the exact opposite of high end. It’s got a 2.8 inch screen that has the ancient resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, but hey, at least it’s capacitive. It’s also got a 3.2 megapixel camera, 528 MHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, 7.2 Mbps HSPA, 802.11n WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot.
Huawei is also proud to point out that this is the only Android 2.2 device with Google branding on the back. That means the Chinese firm didn’t pull an HTC or Samsung and put their own customized user interface on top. The Ideos runs stock Android. It’s also going to get upgrades to newer versions of Android as they become available.
Huawei hopes that Ideos will become a popular brand name, because they admit that their own name, “Huawei”, is extremely difficult for English speakers to pronounce. As if Ideos isn’t? Anyway, expect to see this puppy on store shelves in mid October for around $150. For that price, it’s stunning. These specifications cost you over $600 only 3 years ago. Remember the N95?
Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, you better pay attention. If the Ideos proves to be a success, then Huawei is going to start eating your lunch. Chinese components, Chinese labor prices, Chinese management, and even a bit of help from the Chinese government, may mean that Huawei could potentially slip into the list of the top 5 handset manufactures in as little as half a decade.
If you can get by on that low resolution, then there’s no reason not to recommend this device.
[Via: The Inquirer, Pocket Lint, C|Net]
Update: Promotional video below!