Huawei Pins US 'Hero' Hopes on Jonas Brothers

Huawei Technologies Corp. may not be able to catch an infrastructure break with U.S. carriers, but that won’t stop the company from dropping money to try to make its mobile technology hot here. Huawei said Tuesday that it will sponsor The Jonas Brothers' forthcoming tour in the U.S. and set the stage to promote upcoming "hero" device launches. Yes, you did read that right, and no, this is not a leftover April 1 story. Huawei is apparently chasing a younger demographic by backing up the most popular teen-brother band since Hanson. "All of us were early smartphone and social media adopters, and we count on our phones to stay in touch with our fans,” say the brothers in a statement. “We are thrilled to get back out on the road together for the first time in three years, and looking forward to working with Huawei." (Whether the Jonases can pronounce "Huawei" was not addressed in the release.) The tour starts on July 10 and will span 27 cities. The Jonas Brothers have a new single, "Pom Poms," out now. See the video below.

Doesn’t really scream "new phone time" to me, but what do I know? As it turns out, Huawei is no stranger to busting a move in the service of technology launches. Here’s a dance routine at the Huawei MediaPad launch event in 2011:

Huawei already has a selection of Android smartphones and tablets out. "We plan to be a leading smartphone brand in the coming years, with a promise to bring more high value products to our customers, and this sponsorship is just one of many things we will be doing in the coming months to carry out our promise," said Michael Chuang, executive vice president at Huawei Device USA, in a statement. No word on whether he then exited to the strains of The Harlem Shake, which appears to be a favorite dance in Huawei offices, judging by the YouTube clips. — Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile