Huawei debuts Android 2.2 IDEOS smartphone

Huawei has launched the IDEOS, or U8150, smartphone, which will cost between US$100 and $200, depending on the market, the company said on Thursday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.

The price is what operators pay Huawei for the device, and it will then be up to them to decide what they charge their subscribers, the company said.

Huawei is convinced that more affordable smartphones will help expand the market, and the IDEOS smartphone will also change what a product in this category should come with. It has a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and GPS. Users will also be able to access the Internet using 802.11n, which is quickly becoming a more common network feature on high-end smartphones. The Qualcomm processor is clocked at 528 MHz, according to Huawei.

Android version 2.2 will allow users to turn the phone into a wireless hotspot. Users will connect to the smartphone with Wi-Fi and the device will then connect them to the Internet using HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) at up to 7.2M bps (bits per second).

The phone will start shipping in the next couple of weeks, and will become available in "a number of countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America", according to Huawei.

The company is also getting ready to ship the U8800, which is a more advanced smartphone model. The phone was first announced at Mobile World Congress in February, and it too comes with Android version 2.2. However, its standout feature is HSDPA at 14.4M bps. The phone will start shipping in October, and will become available in both Western Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Going forward, the IDEOS name will be used on several other smartphones, as well, according to Huawei, and a tablet isn't out of the question, it said.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

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