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Huawei’s new laptops can pair with a phone with one tap

The new MateBook X Pro can be paired with compatible Huawei smartphones and instantly share files between the two.
The new MateBook X Pro can be paired with compatible Huawei smartphones and instantly share files between the two. The new MateBook X Pro can be paired with compatible Huawei smartphones and instantly share files between the two.

Huawei has announced new laptop technology that will allow users of its phone to instantly exchange information with its computer.

The new OneHop features, part of the Chinese firm’s Huawei Share 3.0 software, will enable users to tap their Huawei phone to one of its new laptops to pair them, and then send photos, videos and documents between the two devices.

The technology has been introduced on the Chinese firm’s new flagship laptop, the MateBook X Pro, which has been announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

laptop
laptop (Martyn Landi/PA)

The updated laptop line-up appears to be the firm’s attempts to rival the likes of Apple in the portable PC space.

Huawei said that it wanted to replicate the success it had been enjoying in smartphones in its PC business as well, saying it wanted to “connect everyone”, through its devices.

The sharing features also enable users to record their laptop screen on their phone just by shaking the phone and tapping the PC share icon that appears on the screen.

Up to a minute of footage can be recorded and sent to a user’s smartphone.

Huawei says the feature also supports what it calls Clipboard Sharing, which lets users highlight and copy content on one device and paste it instantly on the other.

The MateBook X Pro was one of a trio of laptops the Chinese tech giant unveiled at MWC – the sharing features will also work on the MateBook 13 and 14 – and joined the company’s 5G folding smartphone, the Mate X, as Huawei’s headline announcements at the event.