[andrelamont]

Take this purely as rumor

This is a super interesting #tip: Microsoft is apparently working with Huawei & Mediatek for Surface phone & is hiring camera engineers now.
source

So who is the MS_Nerd? He was an insider/tip guy who has decided to focus his life on other areas, but at one point I thought he was a reliable tipster....of course tracour wasnt around so I would have like to have seen how reliable he was. Click through his tumbler account and make up your own mind. The MS nerd


At one point Huawei was supposed to have a Sept 25th event



Huawei to introduce multiple Windows Phone offerings
Huawei Ascend W1 Windows Phone 8 device to be unveiled on 25 September? - Pocket-lint
Huawei cell phone or using MediaTek chips – Huawei, MediaTek chip | drivers house


Another tweet
"Another #tip: Nokia & Samsung will be allowed to use NovaThor & Exynos SoCs respectively for the Blue update."
source

[Heron_Kusanagi]

Well, he did miss with the WP8 update, but Huawei and MS? I wouldn't put it pass MS to do their own Nexus lineup, what with the Zune, mouses and keyboards proving MS has some chops in hardware design. Still, colour me skeptical.

[BotanicalStig]

Why would Microsoft pick someone else to make their phone? And of all companies, freaking Huawei. If they are indeed making a "surface phone", I'm pretty sure they'd be doing it themselves.

[andrelamont]

Well, he did miss with the WP8 update, but Huawei and MS? I wouldn't put it pass MS to do their own Nexus lineup, what with the Zune, mouses and keyboards proving MS has some chops in hardware design. Still, colour me skeptical.

I'm lazy...what did he say about the WP8 update? :D

[andrelamont]

Why would Microsoft pick someone else to make their phone? And of all companies, freaking Huawei. If they are indeed making a "surface phone", I'm pretty sure they'd be doing it themselves.

1 reason...time to market.

I'm 1/2 in/half out...for my beloved zune 30gb (wipes tear ) Toshiba made the first edition then MS took over. They could to the same again....if true. I would guess foxconn or some equivalent would just get handed the design specs and voila

[Heron_Kusanagi]

Rumor: All Windows Phones will get Apollo, Tango update situation is "muddy" and more juicy rumors | Windows Phone Daily

He can be hit or miss, and probably mistook the WP7.8 update as Apollo.

So I wouldn't take his words fully. Still it is food for thought. :)

[brmiller1976]

Huawei knows how to build very high end specs at very low costs. Their design chops are "meh."

If Microsoft brings Surface design and Huawei brings high-end hardware at a low cost, it could set a new watermark for what's possible with phone design.

[AngryNil]

MS_Nerd is a person who used to "leak" Microsoft related material, though he is more of a good rumour aggregator. He's been wrong in past.

Microsoft can't chase the high end and maintain the premium Surface brand if Huawei is anywhere on the device. Nothing against Huawei, they simply don't have the right image yet.

[Heron_Kusanagi]

One more thing: the rumored phone has Mediatek as the SoC provider. It makes me sad. Since Mediatek isn't bleeding edge, I rather they do Rockchip.

[independentvolume]

MS_Nerd is a person who used to "leak" Microsoft related material, though he is more of a good rumour aggregator. He's been wrong in past.

Microsoft can't chase the high end and maintain the premium Surface brand if Huawei is anywhere on the device. Nothing against Huawei, they simply don't have the right image yet.

I agree. Hauwei isn't relevant. This would be almost as bad as having Nokia make the device. Gotta go HTC or Samsung if you want results, preferably Samsung.

[AUCLABruin]

Wouldn't it be similar to what HTC/Microsoft did before, in which the Microsoft name was on the phone but HTC were the makers? The phones were decent enough, so now it's Huawei as the small company.

[Laura Knotek]

I wouldn't even bother looking at anything made by Huwai, much less buy it.

[aniym]

Wouldn't it be similar to what HTC/Microsoft did before, in which the Microsoft name was on the phone but HTC were the makers? The phones were decent enough, so now it's Huawei as the small company.

This is exactly what's going to happen. The average consumer will not have any idea who the OEM is. The Zune HD was manufactured by Sharp. Try looking for a Sharp logo on the device or in the manual. I don't understand why everyone is pissing themselves over this. The major TV manufacturers use other OEMs to develop their non flagship models all the time, even though they obviously have their own hardware divisions.

[sentimentGX4]

Why would Microsoft pick someone else to make their phone? And of all companies, freaking Huawei. If they are indeed making a "surface phone", I'm pretty sure they'd be doing it themselves.

The phone will be guaranteed to be cheap and flimsy. Also, there is strong risk that the phone could be the target of Chinese espionage.

[theefman]

The phone will be guaranteed to be cheap and flimsy. Also, there is strong risk that the phone could be the target of Chinese espionage.

Spyphone, anyone? BBC News - Huawei and ZTE pose security threat, warns US panel ;)

[power5]

Why would Microsoft pick someone else to make their phone? And of all companies, freaking Huawei. If they are indeed making a "surface phone", I'm pretty sure they'd be doing it themselves.

Was not aware that microsoft had a huge manufacturing facility dedicated to mobile devices. Can you name any mobile device that MS actually builds themselves? I have no doubt that they can design a phone, but they will not be "making" it themselves.

[VagrantWade]

Bad rumor. And MS_Nerd is horrible. It's been years since he has leaked anything accurate, and when he did he just got it from another site that had already posted it first.

[palandri]

Spyphone, anyone? BBC News - Huawei and ZTE pose security threat, warns US panel ;)

ZTE and Huawei are getting a lot of heat in the news here. Unless they write a law or regulation to prevent it, U.S. Businesses are going to do what they want, and tell the government to stay out of their lives. It's just the way it is here.

[Laura Knotek]

ZTE and Huawei are getting a lot of heat in the news here. Unless they write a law or regulation to prevent it, U.S. Businesses are going to do what they want, and tell the government to stay out of their lives. It's just the way it is here.

However, US consumers who have knowledge of the issues could refuse to buy these companies' products and also spread the word to their family members, friends, and neighbors.

[BotanicalStig]

Was not aware that microsoft had a huge manufacturing facility dedicated to mobile devices. Can you name any mobile device that MS actually builds themselves? I have no doubt that they can design a phone, but they will not be "making" it themselves.

Not too sure what you're getting at. Like any company, Microsoft doesn't need to own a manufacturing facility to build products. I don't know the specifics of where Microsoft makes their products, so I can't comment on that (that said, I'd certainly call the Zune and Surface "mobile devices", right?). But Apple, for instance, doesn't own the plants where the iPhone is built, but that doesn't make the product the "Foxconn iPhone5". It's Apple's device, they designed it. In the case I'm talking about, it would Wauweii's phone.

I'm getting pretty sick of this forum, it's overrun by 11 year olds trying to be cool on the internet. I can't open a thread without having to read some childish remarks like the one above. Grow up people.

[palandri]

However, US consumers who have knowledge of the issues could refuse to buy these companies' products and also spread the word to their family members, friends, and neighbors.

I was just reading another article on it. It looks like it's the bigger equipment that they are worried about. Like the giant routers. They stated:

"...Committee Chairman Rogers, at a press conference to release the report, said the panel was stopping short of urging a US boycott of mobile phones and other handheld devices made by Huawei and ZTE.

The panel's warning pertains only to devices that involve processing of data on a large scale, Rogers said in reply to a question...."

The problem I see is if they don't buy from ZTE or Huawei, who else makes it but another Chinese factory?

Now I am waiting for somebody to find an extra chip or extra script in the iPhone5 that's not suppose to be there. Maybe we should all start learning Mandarin. :D

[power5]

Not too sure what you're getting at. Like any company, Microsoft doesn't need to own a manufacturing facility to build products. I don't know the specifics of where Microsoft makes their products, so I can't comment on that (that said, I'd certainly call the Zune and Surface "mobile devices", right?). But Apple, for instance, doesn't own the plants where the iPhone is built, but that doesn't make the product the "Foxconn iPhone5". It's Apple's device, they designed it. In the case I'm talking about, it would Wauweii's phone.

I'm getting pretty sick of this forum, it's overrun by 11 year olds trying to be cool on the internet. I can't open a thread without having to read some childish remarks like the one above. Grow up people.

You said, "WHY WOULD MS PICK SOMEONE ELSE TO MAKE THEIR PHONE." Not sure what you were implying if not to say that they could manufacture it themselves. That is what I was replying to. Saying that they would most likely use someone like whoever designed the surface tablets to make their devices. Yes Zune and Surface are mobile devices and they were not "made" by MS at all. MS may have helped design them, but they did not "make" them.

Not sure what remark of mine was childish and I sure as **** am not a damn 11year old. You must not have been very clear with your explanation. The person 2 posts after yours made the same "wrong" conclusion about what you wrote as well, thinking you meant MS should actually manufacture their own device.

Get some thicker skin if you want to post on an internet public forum. I in no way attacked you at all. Then you called me childish which is a personal attack. Pretty sure thats in the forum rules as a no-no. Maybe you are too child like to know that you should obey rules when you agree too.

[BotanicalStig]

"Maybe you are too child like to know that you should obey rules"



I made myself clear in a kind manner (at least meant to) before I said anything else. Your comment came off, to me, as rude. If you didn't mean it that way, great, I'm sorry I included you in my mini-rant. Didn't need the whole thing about not having thick enough skin to handle an internet forum, but I saw the "I in no way attacked you at all" part, and I can get passed it. Cheers,

[jdevenberg]

I would find this ironic after today's congressional committee statement advising American companies against doing business with either Huawei or ZTE

[Mitlov]

Why would Microsoft pick someone else to make their phone? And of all companies, freaking Huawei. If they are indeed making a "surface phone", I'm pretty sure they'd be doing it themselves.

Your Xbox 360 is not manufactured by Microsoft employees. It's made by a company subcontracting with Microsoft to make a Microsoft-branded device.

It would not be the first time Huawei made a device for the US market to be sold under a recognizable-to-Americans name. The T-Mobile Springboard: you didn't think it was actually manufactured by T-Mobile employees, did you? ;)