In one of its more peculiar marketing moves, Huawei has opted for an iPhone and Apple’s voice-controlled Siri assistant to tease a number of new devices that it’ll be launching at Mobile World Congress this year.
The video shows a white handset devoid of branding or buttons, although it’s pretty obvious what handset Huawei is referring to. The Siri typeface flashes across the screen and the smartphone owner, not seen, asks what he can expect at the trade show in Barcelona.
Huawei then refers to a new tablet, which it says will have a “huge battery” and “beautiful slim design”. A couple of images are shown on-screen, but it’s almost impossible to discern anything from them.
The Siri-like narrator moves onto a new smartphone with “an amazing front camera” and a second tablet centered on entertainment consumption. It will also support the “next generation LTE network,” according to the teaser video.
While it’s interesting to note that Huawei will be pushing at least three new devices at Mobile World Congress – all of which are likely to run Android – this teaser video gives away little in terms of specs, features or industrial design.
Nevertheless, it’s worth watching if only to see Huawei try to poke fun at Apple and Samsung, the current titans of the smartphone industry. Towards the end of the teaser video, the iPhone owner suddenly asks Siri: “Wow! What are they Fruit or Some song?” To which Apple’s software replies: “No. They are Huawei. It looks like Huawei is ready to amaze the world again.”
➤ YouTube (Via PocketLint )
Product teaser of the day: Wireless, computerless and paperless?
Since I discovered Evernote and bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner I’ve gone completely paperless. Every piece of paper that enters my house or office goes through the scanner first, and the shredder next. That includes mail and receipts but also the kids’ homework and even most of their drawings.
My only regret really is that I didn’t make this switch years ago.
This also means I keep a close eye on new developments in scanners and ways to digitize more stuff. And that’s why Neat , a digital document company, piqued my interest with its teaser email announcement today.
Everyone loves a good teaser, and this one is particularly smart. The device design alone feels enigmatic but with an awesome tagline and hope of a solution to a frustrating problem. And while we don’t usually write about stuff without knowing what it is, this looks intriguing:
It’s amazing what a mysterious photo and a few well-chosen words can do – making us excited about a product we know nothing about.
It might turn out to be ‘just’ another scanner, or the iPod of desktop scanners. Either way, I think people increasingly lust for products that don’t just perform, but perform very well, and look good too. We’ll have to see if this is going to live up to our expectations, but if it does, you’ve heard it here first.
I’ll keep an eye out on this and provide you with more details as soon as I know more.
What do you think this is and what would your ideal scanner look like?
ASUS plans to launch a $249 Chromebook in the first quarter of next year
In September of this year, Google promised we’d see Chromebooks from multiple device manufacturers over the months ahead. Google gave particular attention to newly-designed releases from Acer and HP , as well as new entrants ASUS and Toshiba. These Chromebooks would be powered by Intel Haswell’s microarchitecture to help improve battery life.
Well, it appears that ASUS will be making the first move. An announcement from CEO Jerry Shen to investors during an earnings conference confirms that the company plans to launch a $249 Chromebook model in the first quarter of next year, Focus Taiwan reports .
ASUS may also roll out models priced at $199, although Shen notes that the $249 pricing would help to generate “reasonable profit margins.”
➤ Asustek to Enter Chromebook Market in Q1 2014 [Focus Taiwan]
Thumbnail image via Kevin Jarrett/flickr