MWC 2018: Huawei Press Event Live Blog (1pm UTC, 8am ET)

07:40AM EST - Andrei and Anton here at Huawei's press event at MWC 2018. This year Huawei has taken over Samsung's usual venue at the Centre de Convencions International de Barcelona.

07:45AM EST - As is usual the WiFi is very unreliable here, luckily we're tethering off 4G without too much issue.

07:51AM EST - The press conference will begin in 10 minutes.

07:51AM EST - This year's press event won't see a new mobile phone as Huawei reserves that for a separate event in Paris at the end of March.

07:52AM EST - Unusually - today press conference was marked a Huawei - Intel event which leads us to believe we'll be looking at a new Matebook.

07:53AM EST - On a side note - Anton is having catastrophic WiFi issues on his MacBook Pro!

07:59AM EST - We're seated 1m away from Huawei CEO Richard Yu. At CES he famously went off script at the end of the Mate 10 Pro launch as US carriers existed the deal at the last minute.

08:01AM EST - The press event should start any moment now. Quite the dramatic epic music playing now

08:03AM EST - The press event has started - an epic introduction for the CEO.

08:04AM EST - Richard is happy to come back to Barcelona and praises the strong growth of Huawei

08:04AM EST - 153M smartphones shipped in 2017 with a 30% revenue growth.

08:04AM EST - The Mate series smartphones have been very successful bringing the leading flagship experience for Huawei

08:05AM EST - "5 star smartphone" from various media. The Mate 10 Pro is indeed a good phone, but it has its flaws.

08:05AM EST - Last years Huawei launched the MateBook X and got very good response.

08:06AM EST - The Matebook D brought high performance tier from Huawei.

08:06AM EST - The Matebook D brought high performance tier from Huawei.

08:07AM EST - "What can we do better to fit consumer requiresments?" Richard asks

08:07AM EST - A bigger screen, better efficiency. Also smaller form-factors are brought up.

08:07AM EST - Especially graphics performance is brought up as a new need.

08:08AM EST - Borderless display, more performance, slim design and better user interaction is what the consumers want.

08:08AM EST - Introduction video showcasing the new MateBook X Pro!

08:09AM EST - World's First FullView Touch-screen notebook.

08:10AM EST - 91% screen to display ratio for the new MateBook X.

08:10AM EST - Last year's MateBook X had 88% while the MacBook Pro has only 82%

08:11AM EST - LTPS 3000x2000 resolution screen with extra low power consumption.

08:11AM EST - 450 nits with a sRGB gamut and 1500:1 contrast ratio.

08:11AM EST - 450 nits with a sRGB gamut and 1500:1 contrast ratio.

08:12AM EST - The MateBook X Pro also introduces a touch screen.

08:12AM EST - The build is full metal unibody with sandblast finish.

08:13AM EST - Diamond cut metal - the device weights 1.33kg.

08:13AM EST - The laptop ranges from 14.6mm in the back down to 4.9mm at the front, much thinner than the MacBook Pro

08:13AM EST - The colours come in Space Grey and Mystic Silver

08:14AM EST - As an accessory Huawei provies four different leather cases.

08:14AM EST - While being slim, the MateBook X Pro promises the latest generation Intel CPU.

08:15AM EST - The devices comes with a GeForce MX150 with up to 4x better performance compared to integrated graphics.

08:16AM EST - Moving onto sound, the MateBook X Pro continues the trend of the MateBook X with a four speaker design with treble tweeters and subwoofers.

08:16AM EST - Of course the Dolby Atmos experience continues to be a feature of the new MateBook.

08:17AM EST - The battery is of 57.4Wh capacity and promises up to 12h of video playback.

08:18AM EST - A traditional laptop has a 2-step activation to turn on - first button for powering it on and then fingerprint to login.

08:18AM EST - Huawei merges both into one method - the fingerprint sensor is on the power button.

08:19AM EST - One-touch power on and login promises 1.9s login from sleep and 7.8s from power off.

08:19AM EST - Huawei hasn't compromised on the keyboard, it's a full size backlit keyboard.

08:19AM EST - Huawei hasn't compromised on the keyboard, it's a full size backlit keyboard.

08:19AM EST - Huawei hasn't compromised on the keyboard, it's a full size backlit keyboard.

08:20AM EST - The keyboard is spill-proof and is resistant to splashes.

08:21AM EST - Traditional locations for the camera in laptops have either been on the top, bottom or corner of the screen.

08:21AM EST - Huawei integrates the camera into a pop-up button alongside the function keys.

08:21AM EST - Big cheer from the crowd when Richard unveiled this feature!

08:22AM EST - The connectivity includes a USB-A port, a headphone jack and two USB-C ports.

08:22AM EST - Richard is proud to be able to offer a Type A USB port in such a slim form factor.

08:22AM EST - With Thunderbolt 3 the laptop supports up to a 4K display.

08:23AM EST - Also external graphics cards - Richard suggest up to a GeForce 1080 via TB3.

08:24AM EST - The charger provides a fast charger which uses USB PD and charges up to 6 hours of usage in 30 minutes.

08:24AM EST - Quad-microphones for 360° recording for conferencing.

08:24AM EST - The MateBook X Pro launches with the latest Windows 10.

08:25AM EST - Kurt Petersen from Microsoft on stage now.

08:26AM EST - Kurt is going over to existing features such as Cortana.

08:27AM EST - The MateBook X Pro comes with the Instant Translator that was introduces with the Mate 10.

08:27AM EST - This is a neural-network based translation application that works fully offline.

08:29AM EST - The MateBook X Pro is the only slim form-factor laptop with discrete graphics option.

08:29AM EST - First full-view touchscreen notebook.

08:29AM EST - Another product video coming up demonstrating the MBXPro features.

08:32AM EST - Today Huawei launches two new tablets - the MediaPad M5 in 10.8" and 8.4".

08:33AM EST - We haven't seen many new Android tablets released over the last few years to Huawei's introduction is a welcome update to the shrinking market.

08:33AM EST - 2560x1600 display in both 10.8 and 8.4" variants.

08:34AM EST - Again Huawei lauds a larger screen-to-body ratio of 82% the new pads.

08:35AM EST - The tablet features a sound-bar like quad-speaker setup.

08:35AM EST - Co-engineered with harman/kardon. And supports high resolution audio.

08:36AM EST - The sound solution promises 360° soundscape - is this Dolby Atmos again?

08:36AM EST - Large battery promises up to day-long battery life and includes quick-charging feature.

08:37AM EST - 4G LTE with 17 frequency bands and promises it can be used globally.

08:37AM EST - Ideal for gaming - I wonder if this is a Kirin 960 or 970?

08:38AM EST - There's also a different variant of the MediaPad M5 - the M5 Pro.

08:38AM EST - This allows for a 2-in-1 PC experience with a full size keyboard and a touch pen.

08:39AM EST - 4096 levels of pressure sensitiveness. Is this Wacom based or a new custom implementation?

08:40AM EST - Huawei has ported the desktop mode first introduced with the Mate 10 to tablet - docking into the keyboard automatically changes the mode in 2 seconds.

08:42AM EST - The P-Pen as said beyond the 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity also supports tilt and shading.

08:42AM EST - "The best tablet for entertainment and on-the-go productivity"

08:44AM EST - The MateBook X Pro comes at price tiers of 1499, 1699 and 1899€.

08:44AM EST - The MediaPad M5 comes in 12 SKUs with different price tiers.

08:44AM EST - The MediaPad M5 Pro comes at price tiers from 499 to 599€.

08:45AM EST - Moving on Richard is now talking about the transition to 5G.

08:46AM EST - "5G isn't just about connecting people, but also IoT and automotive"

08:46AM EST - Huawei plays a major role for the industry's 5G transition.

08:47AM EST - Huawei offers a full end-to-end solution from basestation solutions to consumer devices.

08:47AM EST - This year Huawei promises commercialization of 5G products in 2018.

08:48AM EST - Huawei exceeds the ITU's requirements for 5G. Lower latency and better connection density.

08:48AM EST - Huawei introduces the world's first 5G chipset - the Balong 5G01.

08:49AM EST - The modem supports both Sub-6GHz and mmWave integration supporting both NSA and SA modes.

08:49AM EST - Huawei just beat everybody else in the semiconductor business to time to market.

08:50AM EST - The first product is a 5G CPE working in the sub-6GHz bands.

08:51AM EST - There's another SKU working in the mmWave bands but I'm not sure if this is meant for commercialization? Regulators haven't finalised mmWave bands and requirements.

08:52AM EST - Among the trials Deutsche Telekom has closely cooperated with Huawei for 5G deployment.

08:53AM EST - This is the end of the presentation - with an invitation of joining Huawei in Paris on March 27th.

08:53AM EST - Thank you all for being with us, we're moving on to the next conference!

08:53AM EST - .