VR and AR will be part of the Mate 9 Series.
Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, announced at CES that starting on Jan. 6 the Huawei Mate 9 will be available for sale in the U.S.
Huawei’s Mate Pro phone will be Google Daydream enabled, allowing consumers to enjoy VR on their device by using the Google Daydream viewer.
This move marks an important inflection in the VR industry’s course toward mass adoption as Huawei, a multinational company based in China, is one of the world’s leading Android phone manufacturers.
Huawei surprised the audience by inviting Amit Signh, Google’s VP of Business and Operations VR and AR, to the stage to talk about how Huawei and Google have been working together for a while to drive innovation and to bring VR capabilities to what Huawei calls the best intelligent phone on the market. Additionally, Signh mentioned that Huawei phones will be Google Tango-enabled soon. Huawei is also unveiling its own VR headset.
The Mate Pro will also include Amazon Alexa in a few months, creating a phone that is both driven by AI and VR viewing enabled.
The phone costs $599 and will be sold at Best Buy.
