George Zhao, CEO of Chinese consumer electronics brand Honor, smiles as he shows off the new Honor Magic 6 Pro smartphones during a presentation on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the largest annual gathering of the telecommunications industry, in Barcelona in February. 25, 2024.
Pau Barrena | afp | fake images
BARCELONA – Chinese electronics maker Honor is working on a smart ring, its CEO told CNBC on Tuesday, just a day after Samsung unveiled its own offering in the product category.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Ring on Monday after unveiling it earlier this year. The device, which is the company's first foray into this product category, has multiple sensors that can track health markers, such as the user's heart rate. It's part of a broader health push by Samsung.
Honor is developing its own smart ring, the company's CEO George Zhao told CNBC at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“Internally, “We have this kind of solution, now we are working on that part, so that in the future you can have the Honor ring,” he said.
Zhao revealed very few details about the product, but said it is part of the company's broader focus on health.
Spun off from Huawei in 2020 as a result of US sanctions, Honor has aggressively pushed to launch its own smartphones and expand its presence outside China, particularly in the premium market, where it seeks to rival. Apple and Samsung.
The company has also expanded into other devices, including wearable devices like smartwatches, which can also measure some health indicators.
With a ring, Honor could add another product to its portfolio and link them with its health app, much like what Samsung is looking to do.
Zhao said he sees artificial intelligence as a key way to help provide more health information to users.
“This hardware capability will work alongside AI-enabled applications (and) can help you make the professional training course tailored to you because they studied your habits and health data to give you professional suggestions,” Zhao said. “I think AI will transform these types of applications.”
Honor has been talking about its AI capabilities at MWC this week and showed off technology in its smartphone that can track your eyes to perform functions.
