Huawei banks on AI
Huawei banks on AI

Huawei banks on AI

Huawei unveils faster phone chip it says can beat Apple, Samsung.
REUTERS
Huawei aims to use artificial intelligence-powered features such as instant image recognition to take on rivals Samsung and Apple when it launches its new flagship phone next month, a top executive said on Saturday.

Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business, on Saturday revealed a powerful new mobile phone chip Huawei is betting on for its upcoming flagship Mate 10 and other high-end phones to deliver faster processing and lower power consumption.

Huawei will launch the Mate 10 and its sister phone, the Mate 10 Pro, in Munich on October 16, Yu confirmed. He declined to detail new features, but the phones are expected to boast large, 6-inch-plus full-screen displays, tech blogs predict.

Artificial intelligence (AI) built into its new chips can help make phones more personalised, or anticipate the actions and interests of their users, Yu said.

As examples, he said AI can enable real-time language translation, heed voice commands, or take advantage of augmented reality, which overlays text, sounds, graphics and video on real-world images phone users see in front of them.

Yu believes the new Kirin 970 chip's speed and low power can translate into features that will give its phones an edge over the Apple iPhone 8 series, set to be unveiled on September 12, and Samsung's range of top-line phones announced this year. Huawei is the world's number three smartphone maker behind Samsung and Apple.

“Compared with Samsung and Apple, we have advantages,” Yu said in an interview during the annual IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin. “Users are in for much faster (feature) performance, longer battery life and more compact design.”

The company asserts its newly announced Kirin 970 chip will preserve battery life on phones by up to 50%.

Huawei describes the new chip as the first Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for smartphones. It brings together classic computing, graphics, image and digital signal processing power that have typically required separate chips, taking up more space and slowing interaction between features within phones.

Most importantly, Huawei aims to use the Kirin chips to differentiate its phones from a vast sea of competitors, including Samsung, who overwhelming rely on rival Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm, the market leader in mobile chip design.

Among major phone makers, only Apple and Huawei now rely on their own core processors.

The 970 is designed by Huawei's HiSilicon chip design business and built using the most advanced 10 nanometre production lines of contract manufacturer TSMC.

NAMPA/REUTERS

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 894.98/OZ DOWN -0.0013 | Copper US$ 4.62/lb UP +0.95% | Zinc US$ 2 867.00/T UP 1.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.25/BBP DOWN -0.0127 | Platinum US$ 1 033.73/OZ UP +0.67% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 27° Rundu: 19° | 26° Eenhana: 18° | 22° Oshakati: 19° | 24° Ruacana: 19° | 22° Tsumeb: 19° | 25° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 28° Omaruru: 20° | 31° Windhoek: 19° | 30° Gobabis: 19° | 28° Henties Bay: 18° | 22° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 09:43, High tide: 03:43, Low Tide: 21:49, High tide: 15:55 Swakopmund: 17° | 18° Wind speed: 17km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 09:41, High tide: 03:41, Low Tide: 21:47, High tide: 15:53 Walvis Bay: 17° | 21° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 09:41, High tide: 03:40, Low Tide: 21:47, High tide: 15:52 Rehoboth: 20° | 32° Mariental: 23° | 35° Keetmanshoop: 26° | 36° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 19° | 35° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 36° Oranjemund: 16° | 26° Luanda: 25° | 27° Gaborone: 20° | 28° Lubumbashi: 17° | 21° Mbabane: 17° | 31° Maseru: 16° | 28° Antananarivo: 17° | 24° Lilongwe: 19° | 27° Maputo: 21° | 37° Windhoek: 19° | 30° Cape Town: 18° | 22° Durban: 21° | 27° Johannesburg: 16° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 31° Lusaka: 18° | 23° Harare: 17° | 23° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.98 | EUR to NAD 19.19 | CNY to NAD 2.53 | USD to NAD 18.52 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.29 | EGP to NAD 0.36 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.65 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.2 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 135.45 | USD to AOA 912 | USD to BWP 13.86 | USD to EGP 50.64 | USD to KES 129.22 | USD to NGN 1498.78 | USD to ZAR 18.52 | USD to ZMW 27.95 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 87562.75 Down -0.23% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1776.45 Down -1.17% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 16272.94 Down -0.46% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 29564.21 Down -1.14% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 10080.51 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 894.98/OZ DOWN -0.0013 | Copper US$ 4.62/lb UP +0.95% | Zinc US$ 2 867.00/T UP 1.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.25/BBP DOWN -0.0127 | Platinum US$ 1 033.73/OZ UP +0.67%