honor Press Event Live Blog

11:02PM EDT - We're in the California Academy of Sciences awaiting the honor presentation

11:02PM EDT - lots of dual camera material out the front, so it's likely the launch of a dual camera smartphone

11:03PM EDT - honor is a more value oriented NA/EMEA brand for Huawei

11:05PM EDT - Ian on text, Josh on photos

11:05PM EDT - Now starting with a non-honor host

11:06PM EDT - Wifi at the event is a bit dead

11:06PM EDT - George Zhao on stage, President of honor

11:07PM EDT - 'welcome to honor 8 launch event'

11:07PM EDT - 'Excited to bring honor to US market'

11:07PM EDT - 'honor started in 2013'

11:07PM EDT - 'dedicated global leading smartphone e-brand'

11:07PM EDT - 'honor now in 74 countries'

11:08PM EDT - Europe, Russia, Middle east, Japan, India

11:08PM EDT - 'but most important market is US'

11:08PM EDT - 2015 sold 40M devices with a $6B revenue

11:09PM EDT - Last year Huawei did 100M with $22B, I wonder if that figure included this?

11:09PM EDT - 'our growth rely on word of mouth and power of internet

11:09PM EDT - '45% market share in 300-399 euro in Finland'

11:10PM EDT - 'honor, born for the young' 'rely on the millenial'

11:10PM EDT - 'young at heart is more important'

11:10PM EDT - now for a promo video

11:11PM EDT - Video is a mix of BMX, gymnastics and Splatoon

11:11PM EDT - 80% of honor 'fan's are 18-34 and 80M global users

11:12PM EDT - Interesting list of interests in markets

11:12PM EDT - 'know the needs of the user' 'always connected'

11:13PM EDT - 'fastest speed on internet means more money in wechat'

11:13PM EDT - This is still the intro for the benefit of partners, describing the business and vision

11:13PM EDT - 'Innovation, Quality, Style'

11:14PM EDT - 'Leading Innovation' - first octa core with LTE Cat 6, parallel dual rear camera

11:14PM EDT - Honor 6 Plus was 2x8MP cameras

11:15PM EDT - 'the industry follow the dual camera trend'

11:16PM EDT - 'technology meets style'

11:17PM EDT - 'flagship doesn't equal high prices'

11:17PM EDT - 'honor is an e-brand, and we rely on the internet to reach our customers'

11:17PM EDT - this means reduced distribution costs

11:18PM EDT - 'platforms for creatives'

11:18PM EDT - honor has a film festival

11:19PM EDT - 'honor fans party'

11:20PM EDT - 'honor sponsored the FISE extreme sport world series'

11:20PM EDT - 'stay together with young people also make me feel young and help honor to keep this philosophy'

11:22PM EDT - 'Building a future with our partners'

11:23PM EDT - 'On Amazon Prime Day, the Honor 5X was the most popular smartphone'

11:23PM EDT - Announcing Honor 8 to the US market

11:24PM EDT - 3 days ago in China, sold 280k units in four hours

11:24PM EDT - Taylor Wimberley on stage, honor 8 PM

11:25PM EDT - 'Honor's latest flagship'

11:25PM EDT - dual camera, very Huawei like in its design

11:25PM EDT - 2.5D glass on edges

11:26PM EDT - A dark electric grue color

11:26PM EDT - 'pure tapered finish'

11:27PM EDT - Milled 3D diffraction in the glass. Honor has 15 layers including filters and color-etched nano-film

11:27PM EDT - Bump-free design, dual-lens camera

11:27PM EDT - Smooth transition between glass and metal, diamond cut

11:27PM EDT - 'perfect fit for the hand'

11:28PM EDT - Midnight Black, Pearl White and Sapphire Blue. All three for the US

11:28PM EDT - Protective case and leather case available

11:28PM EDT - Kirin 950, quad A72 + quad A53 on 16nm FF+

11:29PM EDT - 32/64GB storage eMMC 5.1, 4GB LPDDR4

11:29PM EDT - MicroSD up to 128GB

11:29PM EDT - PCMark results, beats S7/S7 Edge

11:30PM EDT - i5 coprocessor for low power functions

11:30PM EDT - 10 4G bands and Carrier Aggregation

11:30PM EDT - VoLTE

11:30PM EDT - Supports Band 12

11:31PM EDT - NFC

11:31PM EDT - 5.2-inch 1080p, 96% NTSC

11:31PM EDT - JDI display 'perfect size in your hand'

11:31PM EDT - 'Eye-care technology' 3D color temperature adjustment

11:32PM EDT - 3000 mAh with 9V/2A fast charging

11:32PM EDT - 3000 mAh typical, 2900 mAh rated*

11:32PM EDT - 1.77 days normal use, 1.22 days heavy use

11:32PM EDT - 'ROG Power Saving Mode' to reduce the resolution

11:33PM EDT - 10 minute charge = 1 hour youtube video

11:33PM EDT - Fingerprint sensor, 0.4 sec unlock

11:33PM EDT - The sensor is also a smart key to launch favorite apps

11:34PM EDT - long tap and double tap will launch different apps

11:35PM EDT - Knuckle actions, similar to other Huawei devices

11:35PM EDT - Knuckle now supports custom knuckle gestures

11:36PM EDT - Integrated IR port, supports 232740 devices

11:37PM EDT - Dual 12MP 1.25 micron Sony IMX286

11:37PM EDT - One is color, one is black and white

11:37PM EDT - similar to the P9

11:37PM EDT - Dual ISP, 960MP/s and 14-bit precision

11:37PM EDT - Three-factor 'fusion focus'

11:38PM EDT - Laser, Depth and contrast focusin

11:38PM EDT - Supports modes for wide aperture: f/0.95 to f/16

11:38PM EDT - Professional Mode, Full Manual Control

11:39PM EDT - Light Painting

11:41PM EDT - Low Light Selfie mode with 8 MP front camera with 1.4micron pixels

11:41PM EDT - Now pricing and availability

11:42PM EDT - 4/32: $400, 4/64: $450

11:42PM EDT - $50 gift card with preorder, preorders start tomorrow, launch on Sep 4th

11:45PM EDT - Video showing Brooklyn Beckham, now he's on stage

11:47PM EDT - Selfie time ...

11:48PM EDT - Looks like that's a wrap. Time for some hands on.