Android manufacturers have traditionally developed custom interfaces as a way to differentiate their products from competitors. Huawei, a Chinese manufacturer hoping to increase its brand recognition in Europe and North America, is following that trend with its Emotion UI.

The Huawei Ascend P1 is a surprisingly nice Android 4.0-powered smartphone that we first laid eyes on at CES 2012. It comes equipped with a 4.3-inch, qHD resolution Super AMOLED touchscreen display and is powered by a dual-core, 1.5GHz processor. It offers users a great level of build quality and quite beautiful to behold. Its 8 megapixel and relatively stock build of the Android user interface are sure to please as well.

Huawei has announced that its Ascend P1 smartphone will be available for purchase in the UK starting next month. The Ascend P1 is an exceptionally thin Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone, measuring only 7.69mm thick. It is powered by a dual-core TI OMAP processor clocked at 1.5GHz, and features a 4.3-inch display with qHD resolution. Vodafone will be offering the P1 for free with monthly plans of 26 GBP or greater. Huawei says that it will be available from other retailers later on.

MetroPCS announced today the Huawei Activa 4G, a new 4G LTE smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Activa 4G is the first Huawei device with LTE to be launched in the U.S.

Huawei is continuing its rise to be a major player in the mobile phone and smartphone markets, and its performance in 2011 seems to reflect that. The company just released its 2011 annual report, and it claims to have shipped over 55 million phones in the year, including 20 million smartphones.

Huawei's Ascend P1, the super-thin Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone unveiled at CES earlier this year, is due to arrive in various global markets starting next month. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia will see the Ascend P1 first, and then it will land in Latin America in June and Europe in the summer. Huawei doesn't yet have plans for a North American launch. As a refresher, the 7.69mm thick Ascend P1 features a dual-core, 1.5GHz TI OMAP processor, a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, and an 8 megapixel camera.

Cricket is adding Muve Music, its unlimited streaming music service, to the Huawei Mercury Android smartphone through an over-the-air update. Muve Music is available as part of Cricket's $65 per month plan that also includes unlimited calling, text messaging, and data services. It offers a catalog of more than 5 million songs that can be streamed directly to a handset. Mercury owners should get a notification on their phones when the Muve Music update is ready to be downloaded and installed.

Huawei has announced that it will offer LTE versions of its Ascend D and Ascend P1 smartphones in Europe and Asia come July. The Ascend D LTE is Huawei's dual-core version of the 4.5-inch D Quad smartphone, while the Ascend P1 LTE features a super-slim profile and 4.3-inch qHD display.

The Huawei Ascend D quad is a new quad-core Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone from the Chinese manufacturer. It features a 4.5-inch, 1280 x 720 pixel IPS+ LCD display and measures a mere 8.9mm thick. The processor can be clocked at either 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz depending on carrier configuration, and it is paired with 1GB of RAM. Huawei expects to launch the Ascend D quad globally in Q2 2012.

Huawei announced its new D series line of smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2012, and the Ascend D quad is the star of the show. We spent some time at Huawei's booth taking a look at it and came away impressed.