ZTE packs 3G, Maemo into its V7 MID
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 17th 2010 3:02PM
posted May 17th 2010 3:02PM
Sure, Android has been getting plenty of attention from MID manufacturers as of late, but we all know that's not the only mobile OS worth a gander. Debuted by ZTE "at a ceremony dedicated to the 3G technology" at Shanghai's World Expo the V7 MID is roughly 4.7 x 3.3 x .5-inches and features the Maemo OS and -- for those of you who value function over form -- a physical QWERTY keyboard. Also on board are a 4.1 inch (800 x 480) display, a 3.2 megapixel webcam, and support for 3G CDMA1X, EV-DO, and HSDPA. But that ain't all! Rounded out by a Marvell PXA310 processor (806 MHz), GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, micro USB, and an SD card slot, we imagine that all you mobile Internet fans will be able to put this thing to good use. No price or release date yet, those are but two of many mysteries this device raises. Which leads us to our next question: What goes on at a "ceremony dedicated to the 3G," anyways?
Well, it may be ugly, but at least it's underpowered.
That wallpaper looks familiar to me for some reason.... I can't quite put my finger on it though........ ^_^
Meh, Marvell PXA310.
Sucks.
Love the design. Very unique and seems to be handy.
@JarekPL
Unique? Handy? You're Kidding right?!
How annoying would it be to type on this? And it looks like a MacBook and Kindle had sex and this was the offspring. I can only imagine how odd the OS interface is going to be.
3.2MP webcam? Damn, that'll be one sharp skype call (given your 3G speed is awesome).
Like it a lot, and can't wait to see it in action.
its just begging to have some games ported to it with that keyboard layout.
@summerboy18 cos... it's purple?
with my fat, old fingers, I like a physical keyboard
This looks useless. What advantage does it have over a conventional smartphone??
Hey, at least it packs the Snow Leopard desktop image so that it looks like a real desktop OS.
@AckbarsFist
Funny thing is, it is a desktop OS.
@JFH From the first line of the article, it seems that it's a "mobile OS."
@AckbarsFist
Semantics, it runs on a mobile device, it is a mobile OS, but it is a full desktop OS (full linux) running on a mobile device. It hence should look like one.
@AckbarsFist Damn dude, Maemo is in principle Debian compiled for ARM. In principle, if you wanted you could even make an ARM based server and run Maemo on it.
@futurerheza no, they just have the same color scheme and the purple aura is centered just like the Leopard wallpaper. It was probably from the same designer.
http://www.1stclasswallpapers.com/backgrounds/computer_and_internet/image/mac_os_x_leopard_space.jpg
Compare this article pic with the one I linked; in the middle of the wallpaper, you can see that the white gradients between the weather and shortcut widgets don't match up with Apple's default wallpaper.
@N900 Fail, you linked leopard.
at a "ceremony dedicated to the 3G", dumbphones are sacrificed, and their silicon is consumed by monsters from the GSM society...
@RLBurkes - reading is very hard for you apparently.
@NewL Fail, even harder for you. Read closely you'll find out.
@NewL no no, he's right, There are 2 different space aura wallpapers for OSX. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snow_Leopard_Desktop.png
10.5 Leopard has the aura with the light gradients pushed out above while below the space is getting darker. 10.6 has the aura with the 2 white gradients, and no black space below, just like the one in the article pic.
@RLBurkes The version I got came with the cat as my default so I never poked around this wallpaper. My bad. =]
Awesome! I'd prefer a Maemo MID to Android. Not sure why manufacturer's are so obessed with Android.
@N900 I'm surprised this wasn't a KIRF article. Same exact desktop picture and the distinct "transparent black with white borders" look on the panels. The thing is even from Shanghai!
@summerboy18
isn't that wallpaper patented? Hahaha
What's the point?
Maemo was already officially abandoned by Nokia.
@Johnny Rockets The point is Maemo is open source. Which means anyone can use it, and ZTE is a huge telecoms manufacturer
Does it do Flash? If so, how well?
@mukatuna If they get their hands on some of the N900's code there'll be at least support for Flash 9. Not sure about Flash 10 though.
>> What goes on at a "ceremony dedicated to the 3G," anyways?
I'm a native Chinese speaker.
The original Chinese article says it's a kind of workshop of ZTE to announce and demonstrate their 3G products, not a "ceremony dedicated to the 3G, so don't trust translation robots. :P
IPAD KILLER
@chilipalm its really crazy saying this is an ipad killer.
I hate apple but just see the display size, the brand power counts too.
@killapple
Haha I'm just joking. I just like to say these things to piss off apple fangirls.
Sure is ugly but a physical qwerty keyboard is still a good concept in a 5 inch device. I would get myself one of these if it retails under $200.
i have a archos 5 inch tablet and I can surely say that is the worst possible device ever created. So why not try somethin else? I hope this has a better build quality than the archos.