Just a day after we brought you news that China had temporarily lifted a 14-year ban that prevented foreign companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony from selling their consoles in the country, homegrown telecommunications company Huawei has unveiled a brand new games console of its own at the CES 2014 trade show.
Tech site The Verge reports that Huawei’s console, whose design is reminiscent of Apple’s cylindrical Mac Pro although markedly smaller, will run Google’s Android 4.2 operating system and is capable of outputting in full 1020p via HDMI cable. Designed to be used in the living room – something that PC gaming-focused China won’t be quite as used to as those in the West – the tiny console is packing a Tegra 4 processor along with 2GB of RAM, a choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage, and has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities.
On paper and with its ultra-low US$120 price tag, TRON looks to be more of a direct competitor to the likes of rare Kickstarter success story Ouya than heavyweights like Sony’s PlayStation 4 or Microsoft Xbox One, but it is interesting – some would say almost curious – that this Chinese company should lift the lid on a brand new games console barely 24 hours after its government seemingly changed its mind about consoles being intrinsically evil and harmful to the country’s youth.
A video of the console being demonstrated at CES has also popped up online. The commentary is entirely in Chinese, but it gives us a look at TRON in action and an idea of the kind of experience early – most likely Chinese, though a worldwide release is also likely – adopters will get when it arrives in stores.
It’s exciting to see legitimate gaming hardware like this coming out of China, and we’re intrigued to find out more about TRON as further details emerge. That said, we can’t help thinking that Huawei would be doing itself a huge favour and help China put its years of cheap rip offs and counterfeit electronics behind it if the company rethought the visual design of TRON’s controller. Right now those face buttons look an awful lot like the Xbox One’s…
Source: The Verge via Games in Asia
Featured image: Games in Asia Xbox One controller via Amazon.com
Video: YouTube Huawei News
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