ZTE - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

ZTE Announces the GEEK, An Intel CloverTrail+ Phone That Knows Its Target Audience, At IDF 2013

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, ZTE

At the moment, mobile platforms are vastly dominated by the ARM architecture, licensed to pretty much every major chip/phone maker out there. That isn't stopping Intel from pushing forward with its x86 mobile chips. The latest taker for the Atom line is Chinese manufacturer ZTE, with the oh-so-appropriately-named ZTE GEEK. The 5-inch smartphone was announced at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing.

The GEEK is built around the Atom Z2580 chip, a 2.0Ghz dual-core processor that uses Intel's 32 nanometer fabrication process. (It's even got the familiar "Intel Inside" badge on the back.) It's only the second commercial phone announced that uses the CloverTrail+ series of chips, behind the Lenovo K900.

Mar

Exclusive: This Is The ZTE Quantum (N8910) Destined For Sprint

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Exclusives, Leaks, News, Quantum, Sprint, ZTE

Sprint is testing a device from ZTE tentatively called the Quantum with model number N8910, Android Police learned recently. The Quantum has mid to high-end specs with its 5" 720p screen, a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, a 13MP camera, NFC, and Sprint's 4G LTE.

The device runs Android 4.1.2, which isn't currently the latest iteration of Android, but in line with most newer devices on the market today outside of the Nexus line and the Galaxy S4.

The lack of 2GB of RAM, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and something like an S4 Pro (or newer) upgrade separate the Pro from the current flagships, but then again - did anyone really expect a ZTE phone on Sprint to suddenly blow everyone else out of the water?

Mar

Cricket Launches The Engage LT For $179.99, And You Probably Shouldn't Buy It

Posted by Cody Toombs in Cricket Wireless, News, ZTE

Last night, Cricket quietly added the Engage LT to its website for $179.99. Amusingly, with the current set of sales, it's the same price as its older and better brother, the ZTE Engage (no LT in the name). David posted about the ZTE Engage shortly before it released late last year. Neither phone is particularly interesting and both have lower-end specs with mid-range pricing.

Here are the relevant specs:

Android 4.0
4" TFT WVGA (800 x 480) capacitive display (233 PPI)
1 GHz Snapdragon processor (model is currently unknown)
3.2 MP rear camera w/LED flash, VGA front camera
1 GB RAM
1900 mAh Lithium Ion battery

What makes the original Engage better than the Cricket-branded newcomer?

Feb

[MWC 2013] Hands-On (Video) With The ZTE Grand Memo: It's Really Big And The UI Confuses Me

Posted by David Ruddock in Grand Memo, News, Videos, ZTE

Late yesterday, we headed over to the ZTE booth to check out the company's latest smartphone - the Grand Memo. The selling point? It's big and powerful - sporting a 5.7" display with a Snapdragon ~~800~~ ~~600~~ processor of some kind.

Of course, that big display is only 720p. And that processor is paired with only 1GB of RAM. And it's using ZTE's Android acid trip of a UI overlay. ZTE also wasn't very honest about a couple of these specifications when the phone was initially announced. Basically, I wouldn't expect to see the ZTE Grand Memo make it very far outside China.

Feb

ZTE Says The Grand Memo Has A Snapdragon 800, Then A 600, Probably Has An S4 Pro, Lies About Amount Of RAM, Too

Posted by David Ruddock in Grand Memo, News, ZTE

After having a chance to play with the ZTE Grand Memo yesterday, I was a bit perplexed. It was kind of slow. Actually, it was really slow - I haven't seen UI lag like that on a top-tier smartphone in over a year. It was terrible switching between tasks, and while ZTE's hilariously overwrought UI is likely slowing it down a fair bit, something just didn't feel right for a phone allegedly running on the very latest Snapdragon chip.

Well, something was not right - because ZTE was very wrong about the specifications of its own product. Originally, ZTE claimed the Grand Memo had a Snapdragon 800 chipset - the most powerful mobile chip Qualcomm makes, and which probably isn't even available outside limited manufacturing samples at this point.

Feb

[MWC 2013] ZTE Launches The Grand Memo, A Massive 5.7" Device Using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 Processor

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Grand Memo, News, ZTE

Update: Looks like ZTE may be fibbing a bit on the specs of this device, at least in what it's showing off as the "Grand Memo" at MWC...

Say hello to the newest entrant into the bigger-than-a-phone-but-not-quite-a-tablet arena: ZTE's Grand Memo. It's a massive 5.7" device with a resolution of 1280x720, Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB built-in storage, and a 13MP camera, running Android 4.1. While a 1080p display would've been a nice addition, there's no denying that the Grand Memo is quite a powerful device.

It has a few ZTE-specific tweaks going on, as well – like a safe driving experience with car mode (creatively named, no?), ZTE’s Mifavor for a simplified user experience, and ZTE Z-Cloud...

Feb

ZTE And NVIDIA Team Up To Bring The First Tegra 4 'Superphone' To Market By The End Of Q2 2013

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, ZTE

While NVIDIA may have just announced the Tegra 4 at CES back in January, that isn't stopping ZTE from promising to deliver the first "superphone" to use the powerhouse chip by the end of Q2 2013. Although the company is being scant on exact device specifications, we do know that it will not only use the T4 chip, but also NVIDIA's new i500 LTE modem.

For those who may have missed everything the T4 has to offer, here's a quick rundown:

4-PLUS-1 architecture, just like the Tegra 3
72 GPU Cores
A15 architecture
Optional LTE modem via the i500

Judging by the wording in the press release, ZTE isn't working on just one Tegra 4-powered phone, either.

Feb

ZTE Launches The Blade III With Virgin Media In The UK For £79.99 PAYG Or £18 On Contract

Posted by John Thompson in News, Virgin Mobile, ZTE

The ZTE Blade III has been available outside of the UK since September of last year, but it's only just making its official appearance on British shores now, as a Virgin Media exclusive, for now at least.

The budget smartphone, which comes with a 4-inch capacitive display, 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM and 2.5GB of internal storage, is available for just £79.99 through Virgin Media on pay-as-you-go. If you'd prefer to be on a monthly contract, prices start at £18 for non-Virgin customers, whilst those who have an existing Virgin Media package can get it for £13 a month.

On the lowest monthly tariff, you'll receive 500MB of data, 200 minutes and 500 texts.

Jan

Sprint-Galaxy-S-III-Google-Wallet-Preloaded-2GB-RAM-Dual-Core-S4-Preorders-Up-June-5-Release-On-June-21-A

Sprint Pushing Small OTA Updates To The Flash And Epic 4G Touch

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Epic 4G Touch, Flash, News, Sprint

A couple of small OTA updates - both of which are primarily bug-fixers - are making their way to the Flash and Epic 4G Touch on Sprint this morning.

Flash owners, you can expect LED blink timing improvements, camera enhancements, better text input with Swype, and a tweak to the information provided in Settings > Applications > Running applications.

The list is actually shorter for the Epic 4G Touch, with only two things in the OTA: it adds Sprint's Connection Optimizer, and brings some security updates. Exciting, I know.

You can see if the update is available on either device by heading into Settings > About phone > System Updates > Update firmware.

Jan

[CES 2013] Hands-On With ZTE's 5" 1080p Flagship - The Grand S (Video)

Posted by David Ruddock in Grand S, News, Videos, ZTE

Fancy a new 5" superphone? ZTE may have something to pique your interest - if you live in China. The company's latest high-end device, the Grand S, was unveiled yesterday prior to CES, and we got some hands-on time earlier today. It hits all the right points: 5" 1080p display, 13MP rear camera, 1.7GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1, LTE connectivity, and is a fairly stunning 6.9mm in profile.

But, ZTE wasn't shy about discussing market availability: China. It's possible the Grand S will makes its way to Europe, but the only locale ZTE was willing to commit to availability on today was its own.