Ever since the original Samsung Galaxy Note was released the mobile market coined the term “phablet”, a smartphone/tablet hybrid. While many thought they would fail because of their sheer size, that couldn’t be further from the truth, with the latest Samsung Galaxy Note II selling into the millions within weeks.

Samsung’s success in this segment of the market has sparked a new war on the plains of the mobile battlefield. HTC came up with the Butterfly (called the Droid DNA in the USA), which has a 1080p HD screen (unlike the 720p on the Note II). Now, others are jumping on the bandwagon – Sharp, Sony, ZTE and others have slowly but surely started rolling out 5-inch plus display devices.

However, Huawei don’t want to get involved in the scrap with Samsung and so they are looking to push the envelope further. Huawei Senior VP Yu Chengdong has confirmed that the Huawei Ascend Mate will be launching sometime next year.

It will be powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. So far all pretty standard for the “phablet” market. It will house a 4,000mAh battery, and the VP says it will be good for a full day’s use. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, one day does seem shoddy for such a large battery. The reason though, is because the Ascend Mate will be packing a 6.1-inch display!

This brings up an important point. How large is too large? 6.1-inches is massive if used as a smartphone on a daily basis, and it’s near the 7-inch mark of the smaller tablet market. Most people that need it, have a 7- or 10-inch tablet in addition to their smartphones. So how long will it be until everyone is carrying a tablet?

So, what’s your number? A year or two ago I probably wouldn’t have liked anything larger than 4-inches. Now a 4.5-4.7 inch screen is as far as I will go (even though I adore the Galaxy Note II). It seems that the smartphone and tablet are merging just as the tablet and laptop is starting to do with Windows 8. But what do you think about 6.1-inches?

Source: itechnews.net