Huawei recently received the award of "Biggest Contribution to 5G Development" at the 5G World Summit for their efforts in creating the next generation in high-speed mobile Internet and networks. Standardization of 5G networks is expected to begin next year with the goal of reaching 10Kbps throughput and 1ms latency to become prevalent by 2020. Huawei is currently laying the foundation for this by introducing new networking technologies designed specifically to increase the effectiveness and speed of 5G networks. Since 2014, Huawei released the world’s highest throughput test bed in high band (above 6GHz) and low band (below 6GHz), with total throughput reaching 115Gbps and 10.32Gbps respectively. In the academic field, Huawei has contributed over 180 papers on 5G in close collaboration with leading universities such as New York University and Harvard University. Huawei also plays an important role in many standard organizations and industry alliances such as 5GPPP, IMT2020, 5GIC, 5GMF and NGMN, defining 5G together with all industry partners. Here's what Huawei had to say about it:

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the judging committee, all industry colleagues as well as Informa for this first 5G award. It’s a great recognition of Huawei’s efforts towards 5G innovation, standardization contribution and industry collaboration. Since we started 5G research in 2009, Huawei has achieved significant breakthroughs in end-to-end 5G system innovation, including the new air interface technologies, new architecture and the world’s highest throughput test bed. We promise to continue our efforts towards contributing to a global unified standard and achieving a win-win industry chain in close collaboration with the whole industry."Chaobin Yang, CMO of Huawei Wireless Product Line 

Huawei recently launched its first Regional Data Hosting Center called the Asia Pacific Digital Cloud Exchange in Iskandar Johor. The centre will aggregate and distribute digital music, mobile games, video and other multimedia services to telcos in Malaysia and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. Officiated by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, YAB Tan Sri Dato’ HJ Muhyiddin HJ. Mohd Yassin and Mr. Wu Zhengping, the Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Embassy of People’s Republic China in Malaysia, the centre marks Huawei's commitment to Malaysia's ICT vision of the future. Huawei envisions exponential growth in ICT across industries by 2020 and the Asia Pacific Cloud Exchange in Iskandar should provide a firm bulwark and hub for the upcoming "Digital Tsunami". Other initiatives announced include Memorandum of Understanding with Uzone games, Les' Copaque Production, M-Mode Mobile, Elite Entertainment and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for various digital content. Here's what Huawei had to say about it:

“As one of the fastest growing markets in the region, we are pleased to open our first Data Hosting Centre, the Huawei Digital Cloud Exchange, in Malaysia. Our investment in this facility is a major milestone in making Malaysia our regional business gateway. Malaysia’s investment-friendly policies, its skilled workforce and geographic advantages underline our confidence in the country’s potential as a Regional Digital Cloud Exchange. We hope that Huawei’s Digital Cloud Exchange will not only help nurture Malaysia's creative content and the vast pool of local talent and but also create a productive and innovative digital market worth billions of USD.  We are keen on partnering with the public and private sectors to turn this vision into reality. We are grateful for the enormous support from the Malaysian government that continues to encourage a partnership approach with investors. Their policies and approach to foreign investment make investing in Malaysia win-win proposition. We are happy to share our experiences with other investors looking to expand to Malaysia.” Abraham Liu, CEO of Huawei Malaysia.

Huawei and the Audi Group recently announced at CES Asia 2015 that they would be doing a partnership to explore interconnected car technology. Huawei will provide the LTE modules for the new Audi Q7 SUV. This will let the SUB connect via 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks for lightning fast data transfer of up to 100Mbps for an Internet-enabled driving experience on the go. While Huawei and Audi have not offered any detailed information on what features this may offer, it could include Internet enabled navigation and other smart features not just for the Audi Q7 SUV but for other Audi vehicles in the future. Here's what Huawei had to say about it:

“We see the unlimited opportunities available in the interconnected car market and we are excited about our partnership with Audi Group. By partnering with industry-leading automobile companies like Audi, Huawei aims to bring the best interconnection services and solutions to the next generation of cars, while actively promoting interaction between cars, smartphones, wearables and people, creating a seamless communication experience and driving environment.” Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, Huawei.

Huawei has a number of devices in its pipeline for 2015. In a recent event in China, the company teased a picture which shows off some of the devices that it will announce this year. The image reveals new updates in the Huawei Mate and Huawei P series lineup, both of them flagship devices featuring high end tech specs. There will be other smartphone releases too in the Huawei Honor and the Huawei G and Y series. The company also has some tablets in store for the year. According to the picture, the new Huawei X series tablet and M series tablets will debut in a few months. The former is targeted at providing the best experience on a large screen and the M series devices will be aimed at delivering the best audio visual experience. However, the highlight of the teaser will be the new smartwatch from Huawei. The company has confirmed its entry into the smartwatch industry this year and it will run on Google's Android platform optimized for wearables. There will be a new flagship smartband launch too. Both these wearable devices will focus on fitness apps and features. More details are expected at the upcoming MWC 2015 event to be held in Barcelona in March although other reports indicate that we could see the Huawei P8 later sometime in July. Stay tuned for more developments.

Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Meizu have gained international recognition lately. While Samsung and Apple are the top two smartphone makers worldwide, the third position is currently being battled over by Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo. Many consider them to be direct competitors in the industry. However, according to Huawei's Chief, Richard Yu, the company's real competitor is Samsung and not Xiaomi. According to him, the affordable smartphone maker Xiaomi has no chance against Huawei in the high-end segment. He claims that his company's flagship devices are much better than Xiaomi's offerings. This comment doesn't come as a surprise since he recently criticized both Xiaomi and Meizu for incorporating a Quad HD resolution display on their devices. Both the Xiaomi Mi Note Proand the Meizu MX4 feature quad HD ultra-high resolution displays. His recent comment indicates that Xiaomi's Mi Note flagship and Xiaomi Mi 4 doesn't offer the advantages of Huawei's devices like theHuawei Mate 7 and the Honor 6 Plus. The two Chinese companies are expected to unveil a number of devices later this year, including flagships like the Xiaomi Mi 5, Huawei P8 and even the next generation model of the popular Mate 7. So, it would be interesting to see which one actually comes out as the winner in 2015.

While initially Microsoft was rumoured to have approached HTC about loading Windows Phone on Android, it appears that HTC wasn't the only one Microsoft talked to. According to reports, Microsoft have also approached Samsung and Huawei with Windows Phone OS for smartphones and Windows RT for tablet for free as an incentive. They have also supposedly added on compensation for the required adaptation costs. While none of the above parties have really confirmed anything, a rumoured 12.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab which can dual-boot between Windows RT and Android is supposedly on the way. Tech specs for this device include very high pixel resolutions, a super thin plastic chassis made to look like metal (probably a chrome finish) and is supposedly very fast. Most of this info comes from Russion blogger Eldar Murtazin, who has mostly been accurate when it comes to Nokia - Microsoft related rumours. However, he was wrong about Tizen so take this rumour again with a pinch of salt. No Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet though.