Huawei’s stylus-packing Surface rival on point for MWC
Could be the long rumoured, dual-OS Matebook
Huawei’s started teasing its Mobile World Congress announcements – but if you were holding out for a smartphone you might be in for a surprise.
Instead, the big reveal could be a 2-in-1 hybrid device that runs both Windows and Android. Huawei’s been rumoured to have a Surface-baiting convertible in the works for some time, and this could be it.
The Matebook was teased on China’s Weibo by Huawei’s own CEO Yu Chengdong, who posted an invite to the company’s MWC press conference with the tag line “The new style of business”, complete with digital stylus poking out the edge.
Laptops and Windows devices would definitely be a new market for Huawei, but with Android on the cards as well a hybrid wouldn’t be too much of a departure – after all, Huawei’s made plenty of tablets in the past.
Rumours point to the Matebook having a detachable keyboard and digital stylus, just like Microsoft’s Surface. An image shared on Weibo definitely matches up with that theory, but it hasn’t been verified by Huawei yet.
It should have an Intel chip under the hood, which would let it run Windows as well as Android. Microsoft and Google might have a few things to say about a dual-booting hybrid device though; they’ve both kicked up a fuss in the past when other companies have tried something similar.
Of course, the tease could be for a smartphone instead – the P9 would be the most likely candidate, but as Huawei has never added a stylus to its flagship in the past it would be an odd inclusion here.
We’ll know for sure next week, with MWC set to kick off on Sunday.
[source: weibo]
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
