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Sprint LivePro review: A mediocre projector hotspot that appeals to few
The "Swiss Army knife of electronics." That's the best way Sprint can define the LivePro, a touchscreen projector/Android hotspot made by Chinese manufacturer ZTE. The device, which goes for $300 with a two-year contract, is the first in a brand-new hybrid category -- and depending on how successful it is, it may well be the last. Although the LivePro has a wide range of capabilities that make it useful on many different fronts, its demand will be incredibly niche. What kind of person needs such a unique device, and is it good enough to even attract them?
ZTE crams a 1080p projector, a 4-inch display and an LTE hotspot in one Android-powered package (hands-on)
ZTE's Projector Hotspot is exactly what its name suggests: a 1080p projector and an LTE hotspot bundled in one highly portable box. Strangely, it even has a 4-inch touchscreen display and Android 4.2 as its operating system, so you could potentially surf the web and send emails from it. The entire package is very compact, measuring only 4.72 x 4.72 x 1.12 inches and weighing in at about 400 grams. We held it for a few minutes at a ZTE meeting, and it does indeed feel quite lightweight, which will be good for business travelers who yearn to pack light. It also packs a 5,000mAh battery in case you want to project your presentations on the go. As far as the video quality goes, we thought it was decent enough from the demonstration we saw, though we're not sure if we recommend using this for movie night (we'll need more than a few minutes to judge that). The hotspot functionality accommodates up to eight WiFi-enabled devices. Other features include 802.11b/g/n, HDMI, a headset jack, Bluetooth and audio output. We asked a ZTE representative if you could make calls with it, and while he said there aren't any phone capabilities, we imagine it might be possible to ring someone using Google Voice if you wanted to be completely ridiculous. The projector is set to be available sometime this year, though the price has yet to be determined.
ZTE's Android-powered Projector Hotspot dishes out 1080p video and US-native LTE
We've seen some pretty clever hotspots in our day, but ZTE is determined to trump them all with its new Projector Hotspot. As the name implies, it's both a 1080p DLP projector (with HDMI and WiFi Display support) as well as an 8-device LTE hotspot, giving your mobile devices a big screen and internet access at the same time. However, it's smart enough that you sometimes won't need another device at all. This hotspot runs Android 4.2, folks -- you can hop online through its 4-inch touchscreen and project content from any app or website. ZTE plans to bring the Projector Hotspot to the US sometime in 2014, although it isn't yet saying which carriers (if any) are involved with the launch.
ZTE comes to CES with voice-savvy Grand S II smartphone, fitness-ready BlueWatch
ZTE clearly wants to make its presence felt at CES this year; it's coming to the show with no less than seven devices. The Grand S II headlines the pack as the company's first smartphone with "high-precision" voice commands, which let you both unlock the phone and trigger the camera. The company is shy on other details, although we'd expect the Grand S II to have the best (grandest?) performance of ZTE's range. The company is also launching the 5-inch Nubia 5S and 4.7-inch Nubia 5S mini; just what they offer beyond the Nubia 5 isn't clear, but the larger 5S will have the horsepower to capture 4K video through its 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera. Frugal Americans will want to check out the Sonata 4G, a 4-inch budget phone launching on Aio Wireless with a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 chip, 1GB of RAM and a 5-megapixel shooter. An unnamed "iconic" 5.7-inch handset is also coming with a dual-core chip and wireless charging. A trio of accessories will debut at the same time. The company's promised smartwatch will launch as the BlueWatch, with support for both remote phone control and a built-in pedometer. ZTE is also promising a 4G-equipped hotspot and an AT&T Wireless Home Base that connects landline phones to the carrier's cellular network. Ship dates and prices aren't available for any of the CES introductions at this stage, but you can be sure that we'll get more details on the show floor.
