The 'world's fastest' foldable phone... but you might be spied on

The ‘world’s fastest’ foldable phone… as long as you don’t mind being spied on by the Chinese! Huawei shrugs off espionage fears as it unveils new Mate X 5G smartphone priced at £2,000

The new £2,000 foldable device will run on superfast 5G networks and cost twice as much as an iPhone
But Huawei is under intense suspicion from Western security chiefs who believe it spies for the Chinese state
Australia and New Zealand have already banned the firm working on their critical technology projects
Calls for the UK to follow suit – GCHQ boss says Huawei has ‘no credible plan’ to address spying concerns
The US has filed criminal fraud charges against its CFO Meng Wanzhou, and says the firm stole trade secrets

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Chinese technology giant Huawei today unveiled a new folding-screen smartphone on Sunday, which will run on superfact 5G networks and cost twice as much as the latest Apple iPhone, retailing for around £2,000.

Huawei revealed the Mate X phone on the eve of a four-day industry event in Spain to showcase new devices, and chief executive Richard Yu said it would satisfy consumers’ demands for bigger screens and longer battery life when it goes on sale in the summer.

But what is less clear is whether it will satisfy users’ demands for privacy, with Huawei under intense suspicion by Western intelligence chiefs who fear the company works as a front for the vast Chinese spy apparatus.

Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei’s consumer products division, presented the new Huawei Mate X smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), on the eve of the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona

The Mate has a foldable screen which wraps around the outside of the product, allowing users to view the screen when closed

The new Huawei Mate X device unfolded (left) and folded over (right). Unfolded, the Mate X’s screen is 8 inches diagonally, making it the size of a small tablet

At the glitzy Barcelona launch of the device Mr Yu said Huawei engineers spent three years working on the device’s hinge, which doesn’t leave a gap when shut

Calls for Britain to follow our Five Eyes intelligence… Huawei has ‘no credible plan’ to quell fears its technology… Trump insists American wireless companies should lead the…

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Unveiling his company’s latest brainchild, Mr Yu asked: ‘How can we bring the more big innovation to this smartphone industry?’

The Mate X us his answer. The screen wraps around the outside so users can still view it when it’s closed, unlike its competitor, the Galaxy Fold, which has a screen that folds shut.

Unfolded, the Mate X’s screen is 8 inches diagonally, making it the size of a small tablet.

Mr Yu said Huawei engineers spent three years working on the device’s hinge, which doesn’t leave a gap when shut.

The Mate X will retail for £1,996 (2,299 euros or $2,600) when it goes on sale by midyear. The latest iPhone costs around £1,000 and more than Samsung’s recently revealed Galaxy Fold, another folding smartphone, which is priced at ‘only’ $2,000.

Huawei CEO Richard Yu displays the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona

But consumer who do choose to fork over the price of a second-hand car for the new Chinese phone may be getting more than they bargain for.

The firm, which is also involved in the upgrade of the telecoms network itself, is at the centre of a global row about cybersecurity with multiple Western spy chiefs concerned its technology creates a back door allowing the Beijing regime to listen in on Western conversations.

Last year senior MPs today called for Britain to ban Huawei from working on the 5G mobile internet upgrade completely.

Conservative MPs Julian Lewis and Bob Seely urged the government to follow the UK’s ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence partners Australia and New Zealand and stop the firm from working on critical infrastructure projects.

Dr Lewis told MailOnline: ‘What we have to remember is despite their protestations of independence, there is no such thing as an independent enterprise under a Communist regime.

‘And until such time as China ceases to be a dictatorship of the Communist party in China then there can be no meaningful claim to independence by enterprises. We should definitely follow Australia’s and New Zealand’s example.’

And Mr Seely, a Tory MP and defence expert, warned China may be able to discover the UK’s vulnerabilities if its firms are given the crucial contracts.

Their intervention came after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said he had ‘grave concerns’ about Huawei.

Julian Lewis (pictured left) and Bob Seely (pictured right) urged the government to follow its Five Eyes intelligence partners Australia and New Zealand and stop the firm from working on critical infrastructure projects.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has expressed ‘grave’ concerns at the prospect of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei being involved in the UK’s new 5G network

Mr Williamson said: ‘I have grave, very deep concerns about Huawei providing the 5G network in Britain. It’s something we’d have to look at very closely.

‘We’ve got to look at what partners such as Australia and the US are doing in order to ensure that they have the maximum security of that 5G network and we’ve got to recognise the fact, as has been recently exposed, the Chinese state does sometimes act in a malign way.’

Only last month Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the cyber arm of the UK’s electronic surveillance organisation, , GCHQ, said Huawei still has not produced a ‘credible plan’ to address security concerns.

He said: ‘Last year we said we found some worrying engineering and security issues. As of today, we have not seen a credible plan. That’s the reality of the situation unfortunately.’

And Ciaran Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, said he had separate concerns that the company fell short on security standards for its product, regardless of any possible link to Chinese spying.

President Donald Trump signaled on Tuesday that he might reverse a ban which currently prevents Huawei selling phones in the USA as part of a larger China trade deal, tweeting that the U.S. shouldn’t win the 5G mobile arms race by ‘blocking out currently more advanced technologies’

Trump tweeted less than 90 minutes after Huawei boss Ren Zhengfei s declared in a TV interview that his copmany was not involved in espionage

Huawei phones are currently banned in the US, which considers the Chinese giant’s technology a security threat, and only last August President Trump signed into law a bill reaffirming the embargo.

The cloud over Huawei also includes U.S. criminal charges filed last month against the company and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who U.S. prosecutors want to extradite from Canada.

They accuse her of fraud and say the company stole trade secrets, including technology that mobile carrier T-Mobile used to test smartphones.

But in what may be a signal of a forthcoming policy shift, the president tweeted on Thursday that he wants the U.S. ‘to win through competition’ rather than by blocking out technologies which are currently more advanced.

Allowing Huawei’s mobile phone equipment back into U.S. markets could be a carrot for Beijing as Trump’s negotiators hash out a new trade framework with the world’s second largest economy.

WHAT IS 5G?

The evolution of the G system started in 1980 with the invention of the mobile phone which allowed for analogue data to be transmitted via phone calls.

Digital came into play in 1991 with 2G and SMS and MMS capabilities were launched.

Since then, the capabilities and carrying capacity for the mobile network has increased massively.

More data can be transferred from one point to another via the mobile network quicker than ever.

5G is expected to be launched in 2020 and will be up to 1,000 times faster than the currently used 4G.

Whilst the jump from 3G to 4G was most beneficial for mobile browsing and working, the step to 5G will be so fast they become almost real-time.

That means mobile operations will be just as fast as office-based internet connections.

WSTale.com

The ‘world’s fastest’ foldable phone… but you might be spied on

The ‘world’s fastest’ foldable phone… as long as you don’t mind being spied on by the Chinese! Huawei shrugs off espionage fears as it unveils new Mate X 5G smartphone priced at £2,000

Share this article

WHAT IS 5G?

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