Huawei has launched the Ascend P2 today, its new flagship Android smartphone equipped with a 4.7-inch HD display and running version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) of Google’s popular mobile operating system.
The new flagship device, revealed at the first official keynote of Mobile World Congress 2013, sports an in-cell touch display with a resolution of 1280×720, topped with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for extra protection.
It will be available in France at €399 sometime in June, through mobile network operator Orange. It will then be launched globally throughout the second quarter of 2013.
Huawei claims that the Ascend P2 is the world’s fastest smartphone, pointing to a hi-silicon K3V2, quad-core 1.5 GHz processor as evidence. It’s coupled, however, with a much more modest 1GB of RAM, as well as LTE Cat4 support for mobile Internet speeds of up to 150 Mbps depending on the area.
The Ascend P2 is also equipped with an impressive 13 megapixel camera on the back, which can be used to shoot video in 1080p high definition and high dynamic range (HDR) photos, as well as a more lackluster 1.3 megapixel shooter on the front.
Huawei is targeting this new high-end device as a cheaper alternative to other flagship Android smartphones on the market, such as the newly unveiled HTC One, the Samsung Galaxy Note II and in all probability, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4.
The Ascend P2’s 2420 mAh battery is well above most of its competition, and it’s also running the latest version of Android, complete with its own Emotion UI skin.
Huawei’s new smartphone will be available in both black and white, and weighs in at 122g, which feels notably light in the hand compared with other high-end Android smartphones. Specifically, the device also has the following physical dimensions – 136 x 67 x 8.4mm.
“Ascend P2 is the perfect combination of elegance and power, and further proof that there’s no need to compromise when desiring a perfect smartphone,” Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group said. “It is evidence of the outstanding smartphone experiences and great technology that we are committed to bringing to consumers globally.”
Check out our hands-on and first impressions of the Ascend P2 here.
Philips Hue smart LED bulbs now available exclusively on the US Apple Store for $199.95
Philips Hue , the new smart LED light bulb capable of connecting to your home network and intelligently automating your home, has gone on sale on the US Apple Store , costing $199.95 for a three bulb starter pack.
Yesterday, we announced that the lighting product was to hit Apple Stores exclusively, shipping today with a bridge that connects the bulbs to your wireless router (and with each other) using the open ZigBee Light Link standard.
Once connected, the bulbs can be set up in minutes to link with the Hue smartphone and tablet apps. Using the apps, users can personalise their lighting settings, program times and utilise “LightRecipes” which can match the mood of the house or the room at a specific time.
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Philips Hue supports up to 50 bulbs, integrates with both iOS and Android devices and offers up to 80 percent less power than a traditional bulb (lasting as long as 15 years or 15,000 burning hours).
Apple is yet to list the Hue products on its European websites but we imagine that it will only be a matter of time until they appear. Once the starter pack has been purchased, each additional bulb will cost $59.95.
Quora’s fastest Android app yet improves search and adds tablet support, including its new blogs
Less than a week after launching blogs , Quora on Tuesday announced it has updated its native Android app, improving search and finally adding tablet support. You can download the latest version now directly from the Google Play Store (4.2MB).
Even if you don’t care about the new features, this part will make you want to get the update anyway:
Quora says this is its “first step toward creating a better tablet experience.” So far though, the landscape view on tablets (only available on Android 3.1 and up) appears to take advantage of the extra space pretty decently, thanks to a split panel.
Quora lists three examples how you can take advantage of this new view on your Android tablet:
You can browse through your feed and scroll through notifications while viewing full answers and blog posts at the same time (screenshot above).
You can answer questions, write posts, and comment while referencing the original questions or posts.
You can find the right person to answer your question by referencing their previous answers.
The company has also improved search with more results, making it easier to both ask and look for questions to answer:
Last but not least, as already mentioned, Quora recently launched a blogs feature. Clearly the company was waiting until after this feature was out before updating its Android app, saving itself from pushing out two new versions rather closely together:
The full Quora version 1.1.0 for Android changelog is as follows:
Tablet-optimization in landscape and in portrait on 10″ devices, with Android 3.1 and higher.
Load more search results and drill down and search for related items in an improved search interface.
Clear way to ask questions.
Best performance yet and improved stability.
Support for blogs.
Bug fixes.
See also – Quora expands into a blogging platform, promises rich text mobile editing soon and Online Now: Quora’s new real-time answer service that matches users with experts for its 250k topics
Image credit: Adam Ciesielski