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US Cellular expands its Windows Phone catalog with the ZTE Render for $80
Most Windows Phone enthusiasts have their sights set on large trophy-like targets, but if you have more modest goals in mind, then US Cellular's latest acquisition might be just what the doctor ordered. If the device pictured above looks familiar, that's because it should. Rebranded as the Render, most of you know this handset as the ZTE Orbit, an entry-level device that features a 4-inch 800 x 480 display, a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel camera and Windows Phone 7.5 Tango. So, if US Cellular is your wireless carrier of choice and you're seriously crushing on Windows Phone, the ZTE Render will run you $80 after a $100 mail-in rebate.
ZTE's Tango-running Mimosa gets pictured, benchmarked (update: nope)
If you thought ZTE's insatiable lust for Windows Phone handsets ended with the Tania and the Orbit, then you haven't been keeping up with the company's plan for global domination. WPDang has revealed that the ZTE Mimosa is going to occupy the same Tango-ified strata of the market as the Lumia 610. While it shares a name with Android-powered Mimosa X, it won't share specs. Apparently it's only packing an 800MHz Qualcomm CPU -- confirmed when the handset appeared in WPBench. Unfortunately our choice will remain binary: the Mimosa isn't likely to be released outside of China. Update: Dang! Turns out there's been some misunderstanding. WPDang didn't clarify that the phone pictured is just the good old Tania; and this article was based on its sources rather than on what was displayed at the Windows Phone launch event in Beijing (we were there, too). Bearing in mind that this website's missed a few of its own "exclusives" (WP devices from Sony at CES and MWC, and new WP device from ZTE at MWC), we're inclined to not put too much hope into WPDang's latest report.
ZTE Orbit is (another) budget Windows Phone: 4-inch display, 1GHz processor, 4GB storage
Remember the ZTE Tania? Well, the Orbit has similar specs, a nicer name and is destined for "major markets" around the world. There's a 4-inch 800 x 480 screen, a single-core 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of onboard storage and a full 512MB of RAM. HSDPA data flows at up to 7.2Mbps, while there's also an FM radio, a full complement of sensors, DLNA and NFC. It's scheduled to become available in the second quarter of this year, likely around the same time that the Tania hits the UK. Press release after the break.
Microsoft lowers hardware requirements, opens Marketplace to 23 more countries
If there was a theme for today's Nokia keynote, and, by extension, Microsoft's plans for Windows Phone, it's that the OS is being targeted toward lower-spec phones worldwide. The SDK update that'll soon roll out to developers will include an emulator for developers to ensure their apps work on devices like the Lumia 610 that only has 256MB RAM. The company's promising that nearly all apps will work on the cheaper hardware, promising that fragmentation will be kept to a minimum. Any app that runs poorly on the slimmer hardware will be flagged as unsuitable in the Marketplace. Speaking of which, Microsoft has announced it'll be rolling it out to a further 23 countries shortly including China, the UAE and much of Eastern Europe -- increasing the total market reach by up to 60 percent.
