Huawei unveils Mate 50 phone that links with China's own GPS system

[steveluv]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Huawei-unveils-Mate-50-phone-that-links-with-China-s-own-GPS-system?utm_campaign=GL_asia_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=1&pub_date=20220906190000&seq_num=5&si=44594

Huawei unveils Mate 50 phone that links with China's own GPS system
Satellite feature aims to get around U.S. 5G curbs and outshine Apple

Huawei's Mate 50 smartphone line will allow users to send messages using China's BeiDou satellite system. (Photo from screenshot of Huawei launch event)
CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei Asia chief tech correspondentSeptember 6, 2022 15:51 JSTUpdated on September 6, 2022 17:24 JST

TAIPEI -- Huawei Technologies has included satellite communications capabilities in its latest flagship smartphone as the Chinese tech conglomerate attempts to get around U.S. restrictions on its access to 5G wireless technologies.

The Mate 50 series will allow users to send short messages and map out routes using the BeiDou navigation satellite system, the Chinese version of the more widely used Global Positioning System developed by the U.S. Air Force.

Huawei is the first major smartphone maker to roll out such a feature, beating out market leaders like Apple, which is also working on satellite connectivity.

The BeiDou network achieved worldwide coverage in 2020, a major milestone in Beijing's efforts to create its own system for future communications, navigation and scientific research that does not rely on GPS or other global navigation systems, which include Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo and the IRNSS program developed by India.

"It will be the world's first smartphone to support message links with the BeiDou navigation satellite network. We are set to open a new commercial era of the mass use of such satellite technologies," said Richard Yu, Huawei's executive director and CEO of its consumer business group.

Huawei, which has been operating under a U.S. crackdown since 2018, still has no access to the type of premium 5G mobile chips that are already standard in flagship phones from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi. Its smartphone shipments declined to just 37.5 million units for all of 2021, from 240.6 million in 2019, when it was the world's second-largest handset maker, after Samsung, according to IDC data.

The Chinese tech champion was forced to sell its budget phone line Honor in late 2020. The former unit has been betting big on global expansion, recently launching a series of smartphones, tablets and laptop computers during the IFA Berlin electronics fair. Honor also pledged to bring its premium foldable phone to Europe by early 2023.

Satellite communications have a long history in military and disaster management applications, as they can operate in remote areas such as deserts, jungles and open oceans that lack conventional communication or location services.

Wireless mobile internet, by comparison, relies on nearby base stations for data transfers and phone calls.

Huawei's latest phone will come with Qualcomm's 4G version of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile chipset.

Instead of Google's Android operating system, which the company can no longer use due to U.S. restrictions, the Mate 50 will come with Huawei's own Harmony OS. The company has also developed its own cutting-edge materials to a more shatter-proof glass cover make the glass cover of the phones more drop- and-crash resistant. Dubbed "Kunlun glass, Huawei developed the material an alterative to Corning's Gorilla glass.  

 Huawei's Yu said the Mate 50 models also have more advanced cameras and are equipped with smart text-to-voice features that allow users to answer phone calls by typing, as well as with instant interpretation functions.

Jeff Pu, an analyst with Haitong International Securities, said Huawei used a chip from developer CETC Acoustic-Optic-Electronic Technology to support satellite communications features. He said Huawei's move could open a new frontier in the commercial use of such technologies in electronics devices.

"Currently, only Chinese chip developers are allowed to design chips that link to China's BeiDou. It's a business unique to Chinese companies," Pu said. But Huawei's breakthrough does not necessarily mean that users will be sending messages or making calls via satellite all the time, he added. "That could consume a lot of battery power and could be very expensive."

Joey Yen, an analyst with IDC, told Nikkei Asia that Huawei has potentially opened up a new front in the global war for tech dominance. "The tech battleground has further advanced from 5G and AI to space and navigation satellite technologies."

[inlinesix]

Garmin

Coros

Wahoo
uses GLONASS and BeiDou

in addition to GPS

Edited September 9, 2022 by inlinesix

[Arogab]

This is the result of pushing the dog to the wall😅

[ER-3682]

Use this Phone,better don't send Anti China Messages,or else CCP can track you down.

[Maxus-MIFA9]

When will it be available in SG ? 

[ER-3682]

1 hour ago, Picnic06-Biante15 said:

When will it be available in SG ? 

If you buy it & use the GPS,you enter "Nankin St" in Chinatown,it will show Nankin St in Shanghai.

[Wt_know]

Mate60 lai liao ... and AMDK pees in their pants ...  

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Wt_know

[Wt_know]

SMIC can make 7nm advanced chips ... jit dong jeng liao !

Edited September 7, 2023 by Wt_know

[inlinesix]

On 9/7/2023 at 8:05 PM, Wt_know said:

SMIC can make 7nm advanced chips ... jit dong jeng liao !

Unlikely.

 

[Lala81]

On 9/8/2023 at 12:06 AM, Singa said:

 

These Taiwanese shows r damn annoying

[Lala81]

https://reddit.com/r/Android/s/NwIbZz9RpY

There's a Chinese Video in the link. 

Basically this smic made kirin 9000s is impressive given how much sanctions they are going through. It's slightly more powerful and efficient than a sd888/sd8 g1 at baseline use. But it becomes inefficient as u crank it out. That's where the sd8g2 shines compared to the prev generations. 

This is impressive even if it's not true innovation. 

[Sturtles]

On 9/8/2023 at 7:23 AM, Lala81 said:

These Taiwanese shows r damn annoying

Believable?

Akin to spreading fake news to me

[Lala81]

On 9/8/2023 at 7:53 AM, Sturtles said:

Believable?

Akin to spreading fake news to me

I don't really watch the whole thing. The heat sink spreader part is just annoying. 

Yeah the chip runs hot. But the sd888+ to SD8g1 all run hot. 

And the Chinese are using older and less refined methods of production. 

[Beregond]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:09 AM, Lala81 said:

I don't really watch the whole thing. The heat sink spreader part is just annoying. 

Yeah the chip runs hot. But the sd888+ to SD8g1 all run hot. 

And the Chinese are using older and less refined methods of production. 

I think the key is this HP is 100% make in China. 

But whether this phone will push hw to become 1 of the top hp maker again? I dun think so.

It will properly do will in China. Maybe some 3rd world country? 

But not in the west.

Will China eventually catch up in the chip making race? I think it's only a matter of time.

[Jellandross]

I read many headlines stating SMIC "violated US sanctions".

But it looks like this is a made in China chip so what is the violation?

Angmohs still thinking "far eastern dumb Chinese" cannot make advancements without angmoh tech?

Edited September 8, 2023 by Jellandross

[Lala81]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:01 AM, Jellandross said:

I read many headlines stating SMIC "violated US sanctions".

But it looks like this is a made in China chip so what is the violation?

Angmohs still thinking "far eastern dumb Chinese" cannot make advancements without angmoh tech?

I don't want to go into chinese/asian pride part.

But the vast majority of modern semiconductor technology is based off Western technology. 

I would liken the analogy that the taiwanese and the koreans are mostly the most efficient factories/producers and have the technical knowhow to manufacture them. 
But all the generational leaps in process manufacturing or improvements, most of the foundational technology comes from Europe/US IP. 

 

[Lala81]

On 9/8/2023 at 8:35 AM, Beregond said:

I think the key is this HP is 100% make in China. 

But whether this phone will push hw to become 1 of the top hp maker again? I dun think so.

It will properly do will in China. Maybe some 3rd world country? 

But not in the west.

Will China eventually catch up in the chip making race? I think it's only a matter of time.

Not really. SK Hynix chips are found in the phone. most likely memory etc.

Anyway it's pretty moot. Most countries in the world can't make a 100% made in 1 country phone due to the super outsourced nature of electronics/semiconductor business. 1 phone may have parts from dozens of countries to say the least. 

I'm sure all kinds of sanctions were circumvented in this phone.

Will china eventually catch up? I don't think they have the critical factor innovation to push the pace. But to catch up and make 80-90% copies, yeah sure just a matter of time.

I'm not dissing them or what. But this is something incredibly technically complex and difficult. So that's already very good liao. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Lala81

[Voodooman]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:23 AM, Lala81 said:

Not really. SK Hynix chips are found in the phone. most likely memory etc.

Anyway it's pretty moot. Most countries in the world can't make a 100% made in 1 country phone due to the super outsourced nature of electronics/semiconductor business. 1 phone may have parts from dozens of countries to say the least. 

I'm sure all kinds of sanctions were circumvented in this phone.

Will china eventually catch up? I don't think they have the critical factor innovation to push the pace. But to catch up and make 80-90% copies, yeah sure just a matter of time.

I'm not dissing them or what. But this is something incredibly technically complex and difficult. So that's already very good liao. 

I am a noob on semicon, but the processor apparently is 100% made using Chinese equipment (from what I read), so US and its allies are now shifting focus to the memory chips now that they have failed to stop the Chinese from getting to 7nm?