For Chinese handset manufacturers, North America is one of the last great cash cows that has yet to be milked. It's not an easy market to break into by any means, but with LG, Samsung, and Pantech -- historically the value leaders in the market -- moving up the food chain in recent years, it seems like there could be room for another player or two. Enter ZTE, a company that's quiety snuck through the ranks to become the sixth largest handset maker in the world but has approached Canada and the US with kid gloves so far, starting with a Fastap phone (of all things) on Telus just last year and just recently moving onto MetroPCS in the States with the AWS-equipped C78 candybar and C79 flip.

We've been playing with a C79 recently, and let's get this conversation off on the right foot: it's a value phone. Yes, MetroPCS charges $159 for it, but that's completely contract-free with no strings attached, so realistically it'd run just a few bucks if the carrier were to offer it on a two-year deal (which they don't). That being said, this is a case where you get what you pay for -- the C79 feels like a cheap phone through and through. Paradoxically, it's both bulky and uncomfortably light, which definitely contributes to that. The external music controls are weird and unnecessarily small, and while we could really juice the volume on the earpiece during calls, the sound was pretty muddy. On the plus side, the keypad is awesome with large, easy-to-press buttons that even the fattest fingers would have no trouble using, and the screens are bright and reasonably colorful (though the 220 x 176 resolution never lets you forget that you're dealing with a lower-end device here). We also had no problem with the hinge, which is a component that's always at risk of cheesiness when you're dealing with inexpensive hardware -- it felt solid and consistently closed with a satisfying, positive action.

With a couple midrange features like microSD expansion and stereo Bluetooth included, we could reasonably see picking this up if it were offered to us for free on contract -- but paying just shy for $160 out of pocket for the C79 is a tough pill to swallow. Then again, when you put things in perspective, ZTE's a brand new player in this market and this phone is a strong early effort. Needless to say, the established players would definitely be wise to keep their eyes over their shoulders over the next couple years.

Outside of China, TD-SCDMA isn't going to do you very bloody much good -- but inside China, it's just about the best thing going right now for 3G data. That makes devices like this here ZTE U990 particularly useful if you happen to be in the area, offering the People's Republic's oh-so-special flavor of high-speed wireless in an attractive package loaded with Windows Mobile 6, GPS, and EDGE roaming. The U990 also happens to be ZTE's very first Windows Mobile device, a surprising revelation for a manufacturer that currently sits at number six in the world for production volume. Look for it to launch into the retail chain "soon" -- which in corporate doublespeak could mean "tomorrow" or "2010."

[Via wmpoweruser.com and cellular-news]

HTC might be setting the pace for Windows Mobile development right now, but it better watch its back -- especially on the low end of the range. China's ZTE, which has somehow silently risen through the ranks to become the world's number six phone manufacturer by volume, is said to be prepping a renewed global assault that will see it move beyond its typical role as a provider of low-end dumbphone fare to occupy the low-end smartphone niche, a market with traditionally limited choice. Windows Mobile and Linux are apparently both high on ZTE's hit list, with a contract already underway to supply Vodafone with a carrier-branded device next year (to fill the void left by the 920's killing, perhaps?); Symbian's not getting quite as much love, though they're said to have their eye on that camp, too. The firm commands a 30 percent market share in China's nascent TD-SCDMA market, and hey, you can only be a massively successful manufacturer in your domestic market before trying your hand elsewhere, right?

[Via mocoNews]

A little URL hacking by Engadget fan Leo, has revealed Sprint's new My Xohm site and loads of service information. The site is clearly in a preparatory state with plenty of dead links and Latin dummy-text holding the pre-launch site format together. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of detail here, some of which is certainly more than just idle filler. For example, based on the current text, we can expect the following at service launch in September:

• Nokia's N810 WiMAX Edition -- looks like a lock based on the liberal use of its image (above) across the pages.
  
• XOHM USB (ZTE's TU25) modem.
  
• XOHM Express Card (Samsung's SWC-E100) modem with optional PCMCIA adapter.
  
• XOHM Modem (ZyXel's MAX-206M2) Ethernet hub / router with optional 4-hour battery -- unfortunately, XOHM will not offer static IP addresses at this time.
  
• The XOHM portal (whatever that is) supports both Windows and OS X. However, the modems listed above and Sprint's XOHM Connection Manager software are PC-only, sorry Mac owners.
  

Unfortunately, we can't find any specific pricing information but the site does tell us that access will be sold by the day or by the month without binding contracts or cancellation fees. It also promises speeds between 2-4Mbps for downloads and 1-3Mbps for uploads. Not sure that's worth the move to Baltimore but it's certainly given us cause to pause at the thought. See the modems pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Leo S.]

Read -- General Support FAQ
Read -- Pricing and Speed
Read -- My Xohm
Read -- Devices

True, ZTE's C79 clamshell becomes one of the relatively few phones released to market to support CDMA on the AWS frequency band in addition to the old-skool cellular and PCS bands, but to buyers, that doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot at this point. Instead, they'll be more concerned (and rightfully so, may we add) about the stylish red shell, the 1.3-megapixel camera, 220 x 176 primary display, external music controls, and 69MB of memory on top of a microSD slot. Strangely, there's no EV-DO involved, but this is MetroPCS we're talking about -- which also means we're met head on with a contract-free price of $169. It's available now.

The deafening silence out of the Android camp as of late has left plenty of room for competitors to steal some of the spotlight to advance their own causes, and the LiMo Foundation certainly seems to be doing what it can to take advantage of the opportunity. The "other" Linux-based mobile platform already has a key advantage over Android and the Open Handset Alliance -- products that are actually shipping -- and they're working to wide the gap here by announcing that they've now pushed their member count over the half-century mark. As usual, there are a few heavy hitters in this round, too: ZTE, Motorola spinoff Freescale Semiconductor, and Telecom Italia headline the eleven-strong class of carriers, component manufacturers, and software shops. Separately, they've announced that 21 LiMo phones now grace the market, so it's looking like these guys are here to stay regardless of what the Android camp's up to.

We knew good and well China Mobile was all geared up to launch its homegrown 3G standard in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen (among other locales), and though China's government hasn't issued 3G licenses yet, TD-SCDMA has finally made its soft launch. In order to garner interest in the service, said carrier has also opened up "experience shops" in the aforementioned cities "to allow the public to experiment with TD-SCDMA handsets and gain confidence with TD-SCDMA's capabilities." During the initial launch, some 60,000 dual-mode TD-SCDMA / GSM handsets and 15,000 data cards will be on sale in these outlets, with most of the units being in the "mid- to high-end range" and costing between $286 and $572 (those are subsidized prices). Here is where we suppose China Mobile holds its breath and hopes for things to take off.

[Via mocoNews]

As the usual jollifications at CTIA roll on, ZTE has announced a new duo of ho hum handsets for the US market. Hot on the heels of the C88 comes the affordable C78 candybar and C79 flip phone. As for the former, you can expect a VGA camera, MMS / internet browsing capabilities and built-in Bluetooth, while the latter packs a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, a 2-inch display and a microSD expansion slot. Both units operate on the AWS frequency bands in addition to the PCS and Cellular bands, but unfortunately, mum's the word on carrier / pricing information.

That handset for MetroPCS that ZTE was promising is finally here -- and while it's not a FasTap phone or anything nifty like that, it's a surprisingly decent midrange piece that should find its way into a fair number of pockets. The Chinese manufacturer is clearly trying to make inroads into North America, and it had previously said that its MetroPCS device would be custom designed for the US market; a good, close look at the C88 has us agreeing that they probably weren't lying. The phone is a clamshell -- just the form factor us Americans can't get enough of -- and includes a camera, speakerphone, decently sized primary display, Bluetooth, and on-device web content. It's available now for $139.

Odds are we're never going to see this phone again, which is just fine with us; it's got nothing but GPRS and a VGA cam, after all, and we'd typically save this kind of hardware for FCC Fridays. What struck us as we did our standard vetting of the phone's FCC documents, though, was the silkscreened label on back. We can't remember the last time a phone so proudly displayed that it's packing "0.3 Mega Pixels" underhood, and there's a reason for that. Thanks, but no thanks, ZTE A137 Plus.

Handsets from China's ZTE are nothing new to Canada; in fact, the ZTE-sourced D90 clamshell offered by Telus is a FasTap phone, of all things. We've yet to see any ZTE kit officially released in the US, though, and MetroPCS is about to get things started. The manufacturer has announced that regional carrier MetroPCS will begin offering ZTE equipment designed specifically for the US market starting next month (which we suspect won't be as cool as the WiMax ones being prepared for Sprint) without giving any details about the actual handsets or their specifications. Given nifty MetroPCS devices like the Samsung r410, we think they'd better step up -- another FasTap model, perhaps?

[Via Phone Scoop and RCR]

Digit Wireless' quirky Fastap text entry system doesn't have the biggest following in the world, but every once in a while, some random manufacturer will release a Fastap-equipped handset on some random carrier. Case in point: China's ZTE -- of all companies -- has hooked up with Telus up in Canada to release the rather nice looking D90 flip this week. Specs ain't shabby, either, with EV-DO, stereo Bluetooth, integrated GPS, multimedia support, and a 1.3 megapixel cam. Get it now for $80 CDN (about $76) on a 3-year contract.

Here's a bizarre one. ZTE's latest mobile not only sports a sleek, black enclosure and 3G connectivity, but also includes a "dual level, multilingual Fastap keypad based on Digit Wireless' Fastap Keypad Global Language Platform." As you'd expect, both English-speaking individuals and those proficient in Romanized Ukrainian and Russian should have no trouble entering text messages, as the keypad clearly sports both Cyrillic and Latin-based letters. Although the minutiae of this here device has yet to be unveiled, we do know that it'll be distributed by PEOPLEnet -- the first national provider of 3G communications in Ukraine -- and while nothing was written in stone, ZTE also suggested that the Evolution could be used by "international operators for authoritative certificates and assurances to overseas markets." Click on through for a more detailed shot of the bilingual mobile.

[Via Slashphone]

Ever since Sprint promised to blanket 100 million people with WiMAX by the end of 2008, we've been wondering just who exactly those people would be. Well, in addition to a few other specifics, Sprint is finally coming clean about nineteen of those markets. The promised cities are as follows: Motorola is prepping service for Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis; Samsung will develop Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Washington D.C.; and Nokia will work on Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Seattle. There'll be more location info to come, but that should get us started nicely. Sprint is still promising the limited initial launch by the end of 2007, and that 100 million target for the 2008, but also has an April '08 goal for launching a "number" of markets. Today Sprint is also announcing that Samsung, ZTE and ZyXEL will be building WiMAX modems of the PC card, ExpressCard, USB and built-in varieties, and Sprint is also launching a new "WiMAX Device and Chipset Ecosystem" program for getting as many manufacturers on board as possible. Sprint says they'll be showing off Mobile WiMAX at its CTIA booth this week, so we'll be sure and peep what they've got.

If there are two things we can't get enough of in this world, it's mobile TV and OLED displays behind mirrored acrylic covers; put the two features together, and you've got yourself a little slice of heaven. On that note we present ZTE's new F908, a clamshell out of China that seems to do both with poise. In this case, the mobile TV tech in question is DVB-H backed up by a pivoting display that should make viewing a more pleasurable experience, while a 3.6Mbps HSDPA radio keeps data flowing at a nice clip; of course, we don't expect to see the F908 around these parts any time soon, but if you happen to be on the other side of the world, keep an eye out for 'er.

[Via Engadget Chinese]