Huawei to unveil two Windows Phone 8 devices on September 25th


Samsung was the first handset maker to announce a Windows Phone 8 device, the ATIV S. They showed it off in Berlin in late August. Nokia was next in line a week later in New York with the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920. Then there was HTC with the 8X and 8S, again in New York. Now it’s Huawei’s turn. According to ITProPortal, the Chinese handset maker is going to hold an event on the 25th of this month, probably in China, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet, to announce the W1 and the W2. The latter is set to be the higher end device that will allegedly rival the Nokia Lumia 920, whereas the former is a “midrange” device.

When all is said and done, by this Wednesday we’re going to know about a total of seven Windows Phone 8 devices. It’s kind of funny when you think about, because Microsoft hasn’t told the world anything about their new operating system. Sure, we know it supports dual core processors, higher resolution screens, NFC, and removable memory cards, but what features does Windows Phone 8 have that are compelling enough to make someone consider picking up a Lumia versus something running either Android or iOS?

Anyway, you’re not going to be able to buy any Windows Phone 8 hardware until mid to late November, which is about a month and a half away. Rumor has it that Google is going to hold an event in October to announce the next Nexus device(s) and the next version of Android. If true, then that’s going to suck up any attention that Windows Phone would have received. Let’s also not forget about the Galaxy Note II launch. That’s also happening in October.

And as for current Windows Phone owners, you’ll be happy to know that your phones will get Windows Phone 7.8, meaning your device will look like it’ll run Windows Phone 8 … but that’s where the similarities stop. Sadly.


Author: Stefan

Stefan has been writing about the mobile phone industry since November 2006. He also spent 14 months at Nokia between 2008 and 2009, but has since purchased a Nexus One and an Apple iPhone. He's watching Windows Phone like a hawk, hoping it'll get better with time.