Huawei confirms slim P series handset for MWC

As CES 2013 comes to a close companies are not wasting any time with teasing their Mobile World Congress lineups, as Huawei reveals it will have a slim new smartphone ready for the show.

Consumer Business Group CEO at Huawei, Richard Yu, confirmed to Engadget today that the company will unveil a new addition to the P series of Android smartphones, which includes the Ascend P1.

Yu also hinted that the new handset will have a "beautiful metallic body" and thinner form factor than the newly announced Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra, the world's thinnest smartphone at 6.45mm.

At Huawei's CES press conference Yu had already confirmed that the Chinese firm will launch two "exciting innovative products" at MWC, so those playing tech bingo at home can now check one of those devices off the list.

Other rumors, like the leaked Ascend W3, suggest that Windows Phone 8 announcements could make up the other half of Huawei's MWC lineup.

Octo-cores for everyone

Yu also revealed that Huawei is not giving up on its race with Samsung, and will launch its own eight-core processor this year.

At CES Samsung announced the Exynos 5 Octa, an eight-core chip said to be 70 percent more efficient than quad-core CPUs. It is based on Cortex A15 CPUs using ARM's big.LITTLE processing technology.

Huawei will have its own chip based on the same technology, which the Chinese company plans to launch in the second half of 2013 with an unspecified device.

Yu did not, however, confirm that the eight-core chip will make an appearance at MWC. Samsung may beat Huawei to the punch in that regard, as Exynos 5 Octa chips are suspected to power the Galaxy S4.

Whatever Huawei brings to the table next month, TechRadar will be in attendance at MWC 2013 in Barcelona to bring you all the news from the Huawei camp.

Via Engadget