Huawei doubles down on smart homes with new products

Huawei Technologies Co is doubling down on its smart home strategy by unveiling a string of new products, including smart TVs and its first in-car smart screen device.

The move came as Huawei's consumer business group places more emphasis on its non-smartphone business, after the company sold its sub-brand phone unit Honor amid a shortage of core components.

The Huawei Smart Screen S series, as the new smart TV products are called, breaks through the limitations of traditional TV hardware and software upgrades and is committed to achieving smart interactions, cross-screen experience and internet of things, Huawei said.

Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business group, said, "Huawei's smart screen products can function as a control center for internet of things products at home, and a center for smart interaction, multi-screen experience center and audio-visual entertainment."

Featuring a pop-up AI camera which supports 1920×1080 pixel resolution video calls, the Huawei Smart Screen S series supports free four-party 45-minute video calls. After 45 minutes, consumers can choose to call again an unlimited number of times. Users can join multi-party video calls through smart screens, mobile phones, PCs and other devices, so the whole family can chat freely anytime, anywhere.

The company also unveiled its first in-car smart screen device which supports the cross-screen transfer of mobile applications. Initially, the smart car screen will support more than 30 applications, including Baidu's navigation service and some music streaming services.