Huawei Ascend P1 LTE smartphone announced for India

Qualcomm Technologies Inc, Bharti Airtel, and Huawei today announced India’s first multi-mode LTE TDD smartphone at Innovation Qualcomm India 2012. An official statement confirms that the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE smartphone is capable of handling high speed data on the LTE network and voice calls on the underlying 3G network using Circuit Switched Voice Fall Back (CSFB voice) technology. The smartphone is powered by QTI’s Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1.5GHz dual core CPUs and built-in Adreno 225 GPU, and it runs on Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. 

India’s first multi-mode LTE TDD smartphone announced

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE smartphone:

• 4.3-inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels
• 4G LTE, 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
• 8MP camera with dual LED flash, 1.3MP front-facing camera
• FM radio
• 4GB internal + microSD card support for up to 32GB more memory

The company statement further claims that the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE’s ultra-low latency guarantees smooth video calls and faster online gaming. It has 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM, and access to Google Play Store. The display is made up of scratchproof Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

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Commenting on the occasion, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO - India and 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. As applicable to any new technology across the world, the long term adoption of 4G will rely on a variety of factors, specifically the device ecosystem readiness. The availability of 4G voice and data compatible devices will play a defining role in massifying 4G, and driving its adoption. We are excited to announce the launch of India’s first 4G LTE TDD multi-mode mobile device along with Qualcomm and Huawei, and are delighted to take the lead in setting technology standards for 4G devices in India. We are confident that others will follow suit and participate in the effort towards establishing the 4G devices ecosystem in India”

“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. “Huawei is committed to LTE innovation throughout the entire communications value chain from the device to the network to the cloud. The availability of the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE is just one more way in which we are putting great technology into the hands of more people globally and now in India.”

Earlier this year, Bharti Airtel became the first telecom services provider in India to deploy LTE-TDD networks and launch 4G services in Kolkata and Bengaluru.