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BLU Amour phone comes with crystal home button, gender stereotypes
BLU Products: we like your value-packing smartphones, but we have to talk. Your just-shipped Amour is leaning a little too heavily on female stereotypes with its Swarovski zirconia home button, quilted back and luxury-themed take on Android 4.0. We'd rather you focus on the quite respectable budget phone inside. For $159, customers are getting a real bargain: there's a 4-inch WVGA screen, a dual-core MediaTek chip, dual SIMs with unlocked 3G, a 5MP rear camera and a front VGA shooter. That kind of bang for the buck can appeal to frugal buyers of all kinds, not just those replacing an HTC Rhyme.
ZTE Grand X appears in T-Mobile USA garb at the FCC
If you were wondering whether or not the ZTE Grand X would cross the oceans to launch in the US, there's a good chance the mystery is over. An unusually detailed FCC filing has uncovered a V970T variant that's destined for T-Mobile USA, complete with the carrier branding, Wi-Fi calling and AWS-based 3G data to match. Other details of the Android 4.0 phone are lacking despite the presence of a manual, although the V970 edition we've seen elsewhere runs on a dual-core, 1GHz MediaTek MT6577 chip alongside the more familiar 4.3-inch screen and 5-megapixel rear camera. T-Mobile's release plan is about all that's left to ponder; knowing the entry-level components, though, any possible launch should come with a low price tag.
Lava Xolo A800 reaches India, delivers big screen and dual SIMs on a budget
Most of us who know Lava's Xolo badge will associate it with one of the first Atom-based smartphones, the Xolo X900, but it's branching out to models that don't require an Intel Inside label. Its just-launched, India-oriented Xolo A800 is all about keeping the cost of a big-screened phone down through a low-cost ARM processor: the Android 4.0 smartphone combines a 1GHz, dual-core MediaTek MT6577 chip with a 4.5-inch, 960 x 540 IPS display that you won't often find in this device class. There's a few other surprises in store. While the dual 2G and 3G SIM slots aren't unusual given local market tastes, the A800 also stuffs in a very modern backside-illuminated 8-megapixel rear camera, a front VGA camera and a total of 12GB of storage out of the box. The grand total for Indians buying today is just 11,999 rupees ($220) off-contract -- a good deal that makes us hope Lava takes the A800 abroad.
MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free
It isn't hard to get an Android 4.0 phone under $200 if you're willing to sign your life away with a contract. Getting one that's worthwhile at that same figure contract-free, however, requires some jumping through hoops. MediaTek must be an acrobat, as it just released the MT6577, a chip design for the most entry level of smartphones. The part's frugal focus doesn't keep it from stuffing in a dual-core, 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, a PowerVR SGX series 5 for graphics and an HSPA modem for 3G. Those specifications would only have been cutting-edge in 2011, but they're very speedy for a starter device in 2012 -- fast enough to drive Google's OS on a 720p screen while supporting 1080p video. The MT6577 is a drop-in replacement for its MT6575 ancestor, and it's accordingly going to be used very quickly by "leading global customers" this summer. Knowing MediaTek's most recent clients, that could soon lead to a sea of very affordable phones from Gigabyte, ZTE and others that have no problems eating an Ice Cream Sandwich.
