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Two more companies sign up to build Windows Phone handsets
Microsoft may have its own phone business now, but that doesn't mean that other companies can't still produce Windows Phone handsets under their own flags. Redmond's China VP Zhang Yongli has announced that both China's K-Touch and Florida's Blu Products have signed up to produce mobile devices using Microsoft's operating system. Given that both companies skew towards the cheaper end of the market, we can expect a slew of low end devices hitting the market later in the year. Hopefully, the move will help to bolster the platform in both the US and China, two places where Microsoft's market share remains well behind closest rival Android. [Image credit: Livesino]
BLU's latest smartphone is big, cheap and contract-free
When it comes to offering a vast selection of Android smartphones on the cheap, BLU Products is a company that quickly comes to mind. And now we can add another one to its budget-friendly lineup: the Blu Studio 6.0 HD. As its moniker would imply, this is a 6-inch handset, with a 1,280, x 720 display, a quad-core, 1.3GHz chip (Mediatek MT6582, if you're so inclined) and a decent 3,000mAh battery inside. Perhaps what's most interesting here, however, is that the 6.0 HD will be available unlocked for a mere $250, which is a great price if you're looking for a phone this size and not interested in any carrier contracts.
BLU Products intros Vivo 4.3, says it's 'world's first' dual-SIM smartphone with Super AMOLED Plus
It feels like it was only yesterday that BLU was keeping us slightly occupied with its Studio 5.3 and TouchBook 7.3 devices, which, as you may or may not know, left us with somewhat of a bittersweet taste in our mouths. Still, the past is the past, and now the company's back for more with the recent revelation of its Vivo 4.3 handset; one the company's loudly dubbing as the "world's first dual-SIM smartphone with Super AMOLED Plus." Regardless of any global, self-induced titles, the 4.3-inch Vivo appears to offer some interesting features of its own, including that aforementioned Super AMOLED Plus screen, a 1GHz, dual-core Cortex A9 CPU, dual-SIM capabilities and a tweaked flavor of Android 4.0. What's best, however, is BLU plans on selling the Vivo 4.3 unlocked in the US next month for $250, while additional availability is "soon to follow" through Latin America and some parts of Asia.
BLU Studio 5.3 and Touch Book 7.0 hands-on
You know handset vendors like Samsung, LG, HTC and Motorola. You've probably even heard that manufacturers such as Pantech, Sharp and Acer produce phones as well. But have you ever heard of BLU? If you haven't, don't worry -- you'd be in the ranks of the 99 percent. Calling itself the "leader of the Latin America market with vision to expand worldwide," the outfit is nothing if not confident about its stature in developing countries. In the US, however, it's a completely different story: here, BLU is a virtual unknown: a low-profile brand, selling unlocked phones and tablets via e-tailers at bargain-basement prices.Our friends at Negri Electronics hooked us up with the BLU Studio 5.3 ($260) and BLU Touch Book 7.0 ($230) for a short time, giving us the chance to play around with them for a little bit. Rather than doing a full review on both items, we felt it was more appropriate to first give the product lineup a formal introduction to the site. BLU, meet Engadget. Engadget, BLU. Let's dive in.
