It was inevitable, I suppose, but the time has come for a showdown. People are about to face each other in meetings around the world and claim, ‘Mine is bigger than yours.’
Smart phone, that is.
Until now owners of Apple iPhone 5s (4-inch display) and Samsung Galaxy Notes (5.5-in display) have had bragging rights, but a newcomer unveiled at CES on Monday will go beyond.
Huawei Technologies said its upcoming Ascend Mate will have a 6.1-in display. Not only that, it will have 1280 x720 resolution.
Bigger also means the marketing rhetoric that comes along with the device is the same size.
The handset “breaks barriers to deliver a supercharged entertainment, communication and creative experience for all your personal and professional needs," Richard Yu, CEO of the company’s consumer business group said in a statement.
There was no word on pricing or when it will be available in Canada (or what pocket is big enough for the unit), but it will start selling in China next month.
The handset, powered by a Huawei 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and available in black or white, runs Android 4.1 and has an 8 MP rear facing camera and a 1 MP front facing camera.
Also at CES, SiliconValley.com reports that other smart phone makers are touting their handsets’ abilities to remotely control ovens, steer toys, lock home doors and other wizardry short of controlling a broom.
Meanwhile, in the continuing quest for lighter and more energy-efficient laptops, Noel Randweich of Reuters reports that Intel said devices with all-day batter life are about to be released thanks to its upcoming fourth generation Core Haswell processor.
These CPUs, aimed at Ultrabooks with touch screens, will use about 10 watts of power and expected to deliver up to 9 hours of continuous use. To show the potential an Intel exec showed reporters a reference design laptop that converts into a tablet which can run 13 hours while docked.
Looking way ahead, Intel said by the time of the December holiday season tablet makers will be releasing units running a quad-core Atom processor with twice the computing power of its current tablet CPU.