Airtel and Huawei unveiled a 4G LTE smartphone in India at Innovation Qualcomm India 2012. This is the first smartphone in the country that supports LTE network. But don’t’ get excited as except Kolkata and Bangalore none of the telecom circles in the country support LTE. Airtel launched 4G services in Kolkata and Bangalore this year.
Huawei Ascend P1 LTE is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm’s dual-core S4 Snapdragon processor, built-in Adreno 225 GPU, 1GB RAM and 4GB ROM. It comes with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection. Other specifications include an 8 megapixel snapper at the rear and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. The Android smartphone runs on the Ice Cream Sandwich OS skinned with Huawei custom UI. It has a 1800 mAh battery.
Ascend P1 LTE handles high speed data on the 4G network, and voice calls are handled by 3G network using Circuit Switched Voice Fall Back (CSFB voice) technology. The smartphone will be available for customers by the end of this month. Pricing information is not yet known.
Commenting on the occasion, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said, “Over the last 15 years, Airtel has been at the forefront of India’s telecom revolution and played an instrumental role in aligning the country’s technology trends with latest standards from across the globe. We took the lead in introducing India’s first 4G service in Kolkata and continue to commit towards driving the country’s broadband agenda.
“We are excited to collaborate with Bharti Airtel and Huawei to announce the first multi-mode LTE-TDD smartphone in India. With this significant milestone, consumers in India will have the choice of enjoying high-speed mobile broadband experience using an LTE smartphone,” said Dr. Avneesh Agrawal, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm India and South Asia. “Qualcomm Technologies continues to work with its partners to bring world-class technologies to India.”
“LTE is the future of mobile communications, and faster data access experience will become a key area of differentiation for consumers when choosing their mobile devices,” said Mr. Cai Liqun, CEO of Huawei India.
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