zte

This week, a podcast about a day you will never forget. No, not because The Beatles are available on iTunes--though we certainly get some mileage out of that. We're betting you'll remember this day as the first time you ever considered getting a sponge bath from a robot. As you can probably guess by now, Jasmine couldn't join us for today's show. Instead, Eric, Benito, and I are left to our own--clumsily riffing on zipper earbuds, iPhone liberation, Nook Color, and our president's interest in dancing fembots. Also: patriotic chocolate bacon.

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Verizon Wireless expanded its international connectivity options today with the announcement of its Fivespot mobile hot spot device.

The Fivespot, made by ZTE, can function as an Internet access point for up to five W-Fi-enabled devices. Even better, it has a truly global footprint with support for the following wireless bands: dual-band CDMA (800/1900); quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900); EV-DO Rev. 0 and Rev. A; and tri-band WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA (850/1900/2100). That means you'll be able to use it in more than 200 countries.

The Fivespot measures 3.92 inches long by 2.11 wide … Read more

It's been confirmed that for the first time, Verizon Wireless is teaming up on a cell phone with China-based mobile device manufacturer ZTE. The debutant in question is the ZTE Salute, which we first heard about on Friday, and which is indeed being billed as an entry-level, easy-to-use vertical slider phone. It features a 2.4-inch QVGA (240x320 pixels) screen, a 1.3-megapixel camera, voice commands, and speakerphone. It also handles text, picture, and voice messages, and is Bluetooth-compatible.

The Salute includes a variety of Verizon services, including VZ Navigator with turn-by-turn directions, the Bing search app, social-networking tools … Read more

Well, this is interesting. A new Verizon phone is on sale, and it's made by a company we haven't seen associated with Verizon before.

According to the specs we see on Wirefly.com, the ZTE Salute is a vertical slider phone with a 2.4-inch touch-screen display (240x320 pixels; 65,000 colors), and an alphanumeric keypad. Featurewise, it's a pretty entry-level phone; however, it has some of Verizon's familiar services preloaded, such as the subscription-based VZ Navigator for turn-by-turn directions, Bing search, mobile e-mail, and Internet access.

The phone also has Bluetooth, speakerphone, and a 1.… Read more

Chinese manufacturer ZTE is prepping for the release of no less than four Android smartphones later this year. Teased last month at Mobile World Congress, the details are now starting to spill out. The handsets will be called the Blade, the Racer, the Mercury, and the Smooth. Each appears to speak to a different demographic with various form factors and specs.

First up is the Blade, which comes with a 3.5-inch touch display with an 800x480 resolution, an FM radio, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Android 1.6. The Smooth bears more than a passing resemblance to the Palm Pre and … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company, showcased some interesting handset concepts with distinctive designs.

The G+2 (pictured above) slider phone was made to resemble a gaming console and targets students. To reduce cost, the superwide display is made from two 2.4-inch touch-screen panels.

The ZTE EQ2 is a fashion device inspired by crystal. Hence, the touch-sensitive keys below the display are transparent, giving the handset a futuristic look.

The ZTE IQ2 is another phone that targets students. The device doubles as an English to Chinese translation device. The QWERTY keypad also allows for faster data entry.

(Source: Crave Asia)… Read more

We haven't heard of ZTE devices in a while, so it's interesting that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has recently approved a never-seen-before ZTE F350 for its device database. It clearly has the Verizon branding and logo on it, so we know where this one is going. However, we don't really know a lot about it--there's little indication if it's a slider or a flip phone or if it has a QWERTY keyboard or a regular keypad.

We do know some of its features--voice command, Bluetooth, 1xRTT, and a camera--but that's about it. It … Read more

ZTE announced today that it has partnered with regional carrier Pocket Communications to release the ZTE C78 and the ZTE C79. Previously, these handsets have only been with MetroPCS. The C78 is a candybar-style phone with a 2-inch backlit display, stereo Bluetooth, but not much else. The C79 is a flip phone with external music player keys, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and stereo Bluetooth as well. Both handsets will be available for Pocket Communications subscribers in Texas and in New England. No word as to pricing just yet.

Samsung wasn't the only company showing a solar-powered cell phone at the GSMA World Congress. On Wednesday, Chinese manufacturer ZTE launched a green model of its own.

Created with Digicel and Intivation, the Coral-200-Solar is designed for emerging markets where electricity may not be readily available. And, of course, it's Earth-friendly.

Exact feature details are sketchy at this point, but from what we can tell, the phone won't offer a lot of goodies. Considering its target markets, the Coral-200-Solar is really about making calls. It should be available in June.

The candy bar design is pretty plain … Read more