Huawei and Omlet Announce Partnership to Bring Open Social Platform to Huawei Devices

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, and Omlet, a spinoff from Stanford University to create an open social ecosystem, jointly announced their partnership today at CES 2015.

Coming pre-installed on upcoming Huawei Android devices, Omlet’s open social platform will unlock the unique attributes of the devices, providing a way for people chat and share photos with friends without losing ownership of the data they choose to share.

To protect users’ privacy, all photos and data are shared in real time using Omlet. Users have full control of their data — Omlet lets users decide where to store their data using services such as Box, Dropbox, or Baidu Cloud. In addition to data privacy and security, the partnership will also make the social experience on Huawei more fluid, freeing people to share messages, images, videos and themes from across the device with one click.

“Omlet is a unique platform that fits with Huawei’s mission to creating the world’s best mobile experience,” said Su Jie, Vice President of R&D, Huawei Consumer BG. “By creating more seamless and secure ways to share, Omlet helps create a more social, more connected experience on Huawei devices.”

The first feature from Huawei and Omlet will make photo sharing possible from a locked screen. Called Share-First, users would be able to snap a photo and share it, all without unlocking their device, making it the fastest way to take and share photos from a phone. At the same time, recipients will be able to view and save the photo from their locked device.

Also new to Huawei is the Theme Share feature, ideal for Huawei customers who enjoy downloading themes to personalize their devices. With Theme Share, it will be easy for them to share their favorite themes with their friends.

The integration of Omlet’s open social platform in Huawei devices will make it easy to quickly create and share collaborative photo albums. The Social Gallery feature built on the Omlet platform will allow users to build, share and comment on a photo album with friends without the use of any central data storage.

These features will start to ship with Huawei devices later this year, and mark the first innovations to come from the Huawei and Omlet partnership.

“Consumers will love how Omlet on Huawei smartphones will simplify sharing,” said Monica Lam, Co-Founder of Omlet and Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University. “Partnering with Huawei gives Omlet an opportunity to further expand the open social, privacy-enhancing ecosystem, the primary mission for all of us at Omlet.”

Huawei Showcases Full-Range of Integrated Mobile Offerings at CES 2015

Las Vegas, U.S.A., January 6, 2015: Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) today showcased more than one hundred products at CES 2015 including its latest flagship smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, mobile access devices, home access devices, smart home devices, OTT and vehicle-mounted modules. The company also introduced the start of the Hilink era - its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world – as part of its commitment to bringing the latest technology to consumers and creating extraordinary connected experiences for people everywhere.

“2014 saw our greatest achievements to date. Our strategy of focusing on premium mid- to high-end products has borne fruit, with year-on-year smartphone sales increasing by 30% to over US$11.8 billion. Flagship smartphones Huawei P7 and Huawei Mate7 have proven popular with consumers the world over. Meanwhile, the global influence of our brand has continued to grow with Huawei becoming the first mainland Chinese company to successfully enter Interbrand’s Top 100 Global Brands of 2014 list,” said Mr. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG.

“Looking ahead, we are committed to further consolidating and strengthening our smartphone business, and will continue to bring people an integrated, intelligent experience. Leveraging Huawei’s strong capabilities and advantages in mobile broadband connectivity, we will continue to focus on exploring opportunities in car networking and Internet of Things and strive to create better overall smart experiences (such as driving plans, driving preferences, safety analysis, etc.) through the integration of big data and cloud services,” concluded Mr. Yu.

Huawei’s Flagship Handsets Lead The Way

Reflecting the success of Huawei’s mid- to high-end flagship phone strategy, the company’s smartphones have been well-received by consumers all over the world, leading to a surge in shipments throughout the year. As a result, Huawei’s brand awareness rose from 52% in 2013 to 65% in 2014, and brand recommendation value reached 43% according to IPSOS.

Both Huawei and Honor flagship products were showcased at CES 2105. These included Huawei P7 (the Sapphire, Arsenal, and standard editions), Huawei Mate7 (both the premium and standard editions), as well as Huawei Honor 6 and Honor 6 Plus.

Following the success of Huawei P6, the Huawei P7 smartphone achieved shipments of 4 million units only six months after it was launched at a standalone event in Paris in May 2014. The Huawei Mate7 meanwhile was well received worldwide since its launch in September last year. Further consolidating Huawei’s position as a leading vendor in the high-end smartphone market, the premium G7 (also launched at IFA) shipped more than one million units within two months of its launch.

Huawei Consumer BG Unveils “Hilink” Era

In addition to its flagship smartphones, the exhibition included Huawei’s vision of the Hilink era, its strategy to offer fully integrated mobile internet solutions to consumers all around the world. Huawei products designed to address the diverse technology needs of consumers in the age of global mobile internet. The platform of home-based networked smart products comprising media and storage and air quality monitor, smart sockets, infrared remote controlled light, and a smart electric fan, among many others, aims to bring easy connection to people everywhere anytime. Huawei MediaPad T1 and X1, wearable device TalkBand B1, mobile access device E5 PRO, home access devices PT500 and WS331C, OTT Huawei M330 and vehicle-mounted module ME909Tu-565 were also on show to demonstrate Huawei’s integrated “Hilink” solution.