Bucket Tech: Upcoming products from HUAWEI

Following last weeks launch of their new GT4 wearable to the local market, HUAWEI have released a list of new devices that they are planning to rollout to the South African market. If you are into smart, healthy, and fashionable living, Huawei has just announced its new line-up of wearable products at an event held in Dubai. Huawei unveiled a range of new devices that will make your life easier and smarter. Most notable among them is the HUAWEI WATCH GT 4 – the newest smartwatch in the popular GT Series, the HUAWEI WATCH Ultimate Design – a high-end luxury smartwatch with a stunning new design, HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3 – high-fidelity TWS earbuds, HUAWEI Eyewear 2 – smart glasses that let you stay connected and stylish, and the HUAWEI MatePad 11-inch PaperMatte Edition and MatePad 11.5-inch PaperMatte Edition tablets that offer a paper-like reading and writing experience with reduced light interference.

Huawei is redefining the design, health and sports experience with its new range of wearables. They let you embark on your health and fitness journey without compromising style. Huawei has been a leader in wearable technology for 10 years, and now it is taking it to a whole other level. Whether you want to track your health, monitor your workouts, listen to music, or stay connected with your friends, Huawei has the perfect device for you.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 4

The latest generation of the WATCH GT flagship series introduces elevated design features with powerful health and fitness functionalities. Coming in 46mm and 41mm sizes, the new flagship smartwatch takes a bold Fashion Forward step up from classic GT Series designs, introducing inventive design elements while retaining the aesthetic signature of its predecessors. The 46mm version features a unique octagon-shaped watch body, a tribute to the classic luxury watches but with a modern twist. The 41mm version boasts a pendant-like design that exudes grace and sophistication. The watch also offers a variety of colours and watchbands to choose from so that you can match your mood and outfit.

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 4 has an exceptional battery life of up to 14 days on the 46mm and up to 7 days on the 41mm. This extended battery life ensures that you can always rely on your watch without frequent recharging. It also debuts the all-new Stay Fit app, and upgraded GNSS tracking, all made better with the new TruSeen™ 5.5+ that brings AI-powered accuracy to health measurement, inspiring you towards a better, fitter self. By utilising the smartwatch's LED sensors, PPG measures changes in blood volume and alerts users of irregular heartbeats using Pulse Wave Arrhythmia Analysis. The watch also supports over 100 sports modes and workout types, including Padel, a popular racket sport that combines elements of tennis and squash.

HUAWEI WATCH Ultimate Design

The HUAWEI WATCH Ultimate Design is Huawei’s first-ever gold smartwatch. The luxury smartwatch with a sailboat-inspired design comes with a gold bezel, and a gold crown is inlaid with six segments of 18K gold to form a rudder-shaped ring design. The six-segment gold bars are designed according to the golden ratio, combining the calmness of black and the brilliance of gold to achieve a harmonious and balanced design aesthetic. It adopts the diamond-cut engraving process, where a 3D trapezoidal pattern is carved onto the surface of the gold. The watch comes with a gold and black Three-Compartment Chain Strap.

*The HUAWEI WATCH Ultimate Design launch timings to be confirmed.

HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3

The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3 are a new generation of flagship TWS earbuds that balances design aesthetics with class-leading audio technology. The new earbuds bring Pure Voice 2.0, Intelligent ANC 3.0 and Triple Adaptive EQ, as well as smart connectivity experience for seamless listening, delivering an ultimate all-rounding earbuds for the modern, connected consumer. The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3 supports the L2HC 2.0 and LDAC™ codecs, and is certified by both HWA and Hi-Res Audio Wireless.

*The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3 SA launch timings to be confirmed

 HUAWEI MatePad 11” PaperMatte Edition & MatePad 11.5” PaperMatte Edition

The event also marked the launch of the brand-new HUAWEI MatePad 11-inch PaperMatte Edition and MatePad 11.5-inch PaperMatte Edition, bringing consumers the HUAWEI PaperMatte Display that minimises reflection and glare. It uses nano-level anti-glare etching technology that eliminates 97% of all light interference, bringing a paper-like visual experience. So that you can read or watch videos with less eye strain. Colour eBook mode allows you to read your favourite comic books on the tablet screen like paper books.

HUAWEI MatePad 11” PaperMatte Edition

Both the MatePad 11” PaperMatte Edition and MatePad 11.5” PaperMatte Edition pack a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which enables smoother viewing, more responsive touch control, and low-latency handwriting input.

 *HUAWEI MatePad 11” PaperMatte Edition and HUAWEI MatePad 11.5” PaperMatte Edition SA launch timings to be confirmed

HUAWEI Eyewear 2

The HUAWEI Eyewear 2 comes in stylish designs and a comfortable fit that allows you to wear it all day long and packs class-leading audio technology. It also has a long-lasting battery life that can support up to 11 hours  of listening time or 9 hours of calls[1]. Moreover, the HUAWEI Eyewear 2 features an Open Acoustic Design that delivers high-quality audio that prevents sound leakage and enhances listening privacy. Thanks to built-in sensors, the smart glasses supports a range of smart touch controls.

*HUAWEI Eyewear 2 SA launch timings to be confirmed

Bucket Tech: CES 2021

Consumer Technology Association CES is hosting their annual global show, this time virtually and going with the current times we're seeing some interesting devices and concepts that form part of the "new normal". With the worlds landscape changing dramatically over the past year, it forced people to work remotely and also adapt to new ways of living, brands have noticed this and have acted accordingly to bring through technology into their products that will help us adjust to the new way of living. Of course the show isn't just about what will help us live in a pandemic and some pretty cool new devices have been launched too, so here's our picks so far. 

Gaming accessories manufacturer Razer unveiled their "Project Hazel" N95 facemask protoype, which they call the first ever "smart face mask". Razer did launch their own variant of reusable cloth masks last year which featured cool designs and patterns, but Project Hazel takes it up a notch with a dual filtered ventilation system that allows cool air in and hot air out. These cylindrical vents also featured LED halo lights which Razer says has up o 16.8 million colours, so there's a colour for any occasion. The mask also features a soft silicon guard which fits over the cheeks and nose, promising an airtight seal as well as comfort for your face. The main design feature is the transparent plastic of the mask, which allows anyone to see the mouth of the mask wearer. Razer say this design feature was critical as all masks make it difficult for individuals to understand each other with the mouth being hidden and thus will allow users to read the lips as well as hear them perfectly. The Razer Project Hazel comes in a pretty cool box which serves as a wireless charger for the mask as well as a built-in ultraviolet disinfectant case for the mask. Is the future for masks? 

Smart glasses were a big talking point over the past two years and then it sort of died off but Lenovo have resurrected the topic by launching their ThinkReality A3, which they say is the most versatile smart glasses ever designed. the ThinkReality A3 is a lightweight smart glasses offering to deliver intelligent transformation in business and bring smarter technology to more people. From customized virtual monitors and 3D visualization to Augmented Reality assisted workflows and immersive training, the ThinkReality A3 helps transform work across many levels of the enterprise. The ThinkReality A3 fits like sunglasses and can be enhanced with industrial frame options for safer and more durable use, its powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 platform for high-quality performance and feature stereoscopic 1080p displays presenting the user with up to 5 virtual displays. An 8MP RGB camera provides 1080p vide for remote expert use cases while the dual fish-eye cameras provide room-scale tracking. This is some serious Sci-Fi movie stuff and something that will be put into good use for the right industries. 

One of the biggest talking points so far has to be about LG's rollable smartphone, for years we've seen brands tease the concept of a screen that you could roll up like a piece of paper but since then we've only seen folding screen technology, LG have gone one up and given us a glimpse of their latest smart device which has a rollable screen, the video teaser shows a tablet device being reduced in size to that of smartphone but my a method similar to that of a rolling garage door. LG insist that this isn't just another teaser but and actual device will be made available to purchase this year. This is massive in-terms of screen technology, as maybe we'll finally see it being adapted to other areas, like TV's and so forth. 

Technology in cars, Mercedes-Benz showed off their MBUX Hyperscreen which will be debuting on the EQS electric luxury sedan, it's the brands first all-electric production vehicle. The massive 55.5-inch widescreen display spans the entire dashboard and is made up for three haptic OLED touchscreens under one continuous piece of Corning Gorilla Glass. The driver and front passenger each get a wide 12x13 inch screen with and 18inch screen in the center for general controls such as ventilation, entertainment and navigation. The passenger can display video and the drivers side has all your general gauges and instrument cluster. A cool feature shown in the press briefing was a UFO graphic that zooms around the display to demonstrate the g-force the car is undergoing in real-time. Not quite sure why Merc is giving the option to display G-Force in an electric luxury sedan but hey, its there if you want it. 

Some other noteworthy gadgets that were worth a mention are, L'Oreal's smart shower head which not only regulates the amount of water you use per shower but also uses a technique called "fractioning" that forces water droplets to collide and reduce in size, while simultaneously accelerating their speed. Lenovo showcased their ThinkBook Plus 2 which is a normal laptop but with an added 11inch black and white E-Ink display on the top. Giving you a Kinde like display on top for you to work from when the device is closed. Dell launched their 40inch Ultrasharp monitor, its the biggest model for 2021 from Dell and has an astonishing 5,120 x 2,160 pixel resolution. 

There's still a lot more to lookout for at CES in these upcoming days, including news from Samsung which many are presuming is the new Galaxy S Series flagship device, the S30, but we are going to have to wait till tomorrow for that.