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AT&T offers a plug-in WiFi hotspot for your car
Your existing car probably doesn't have a built-in WiFi hotspot, but AT&T will soon have a way to add one and deliver that sweet, on-demand internet access. The carrier is launching the ZTE Mobley, a WiFi hotspot that plugs into your car's OBD-II port and shares an LTE data link with everyone inside. Yes, you could just tether your phone, but AT&T is counting on simplicity to reel you in -- the hotspot goes live shortly after you turn your car on, and you don't have to worry about battery life. It won't cost you much to give this concept a shot, at least. The Mobley will be available for 'free' on a 2-year contract, or $100 outright. The biggest expense is the data itself, which will cost you $20-plus for stand-alone service or $10 if you add the Mobley to a shared plan.
ZTE Axon review: a powerhouse that punches above its weight
A few weeks ago, I got a look at a curious kind of mobile marketing head-fake: A new company called "Axon" no one had ever heard of promised the moon and stars in the form of a shiny, seemingly impressive $450 smartphone. As it turned out, Axon wasn't an upstart smartphone maker taking on stodgy giants -- it was a sub-brand of Chinese OEM ZTE trying to make something cooler than it's normally known for. The ruse worked in that it got a bunch of jaded nerd journalists to an event in the middle of Manhattan in the rain, but is the phone itself actually worth that trouble? Did ZTE finally figure out how to make a phone that wary US consumers might flock to? The answer might surprise you.
ZTE's latest smartwatch packs style and gesture control
ZTE isn't just counting on a high-end smartphone to convince you that it means business. The company has taken the wraps off of the Axon Watch, a smartwatch that's miles above last year's clunky BlueWatch in both design and features. Besides looking like a conventional watch that you might actually enjoy putting on your wrist, it's packing a wearable version of Tencent OS (nope, no Android Wear here) with both perks like gesture control as well as basics like phone calls, messaging and fitness tracking.
ZTE thinks its Axon is the unlocked flagship America deserves
"It's designed in the US, for the US." That's not the sort of bluster you'd normally hear from Lixin Cheng, CEO of ZTE's American division, but he proffered it several times during a pre-show pow-wow to make sure it stuck. Not long after that, Cheng and his team pulled back the curtain on the $450 Axon -- a phone that really, really doesn't feel like the company's usual fare. It's all metal, runs a deliciously near-stock version of Android 5.1.1 and packs one of Qualcomm's updated Snapdragon 810 processors with 4GB of RAM for good measure. Make no mistake: The Axon is a full-on flagship from a company that hasn't always had the best luck making them.
Vodafone's Smart Ultra 6 is great value at £125
Own-brand devices appear to be all the rage at the moment, or at least for two of the UK's major carriers, they are. EE's recently launched new smartphones, a tablet and a 4G action cam, while Vodafone too is yielding a steady stream of bespoke handsets and slates. And now, just as EE's dipped its toe into the mid-range with its Harrier smartphone, Vodafone wades into the same waters with the Smart Ultra 6, its "most powerful" own-brander to date. Available from today, the mouthful of a phone is fronted by a 5.5-inch, 1080p display, with a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 humming away inside. For landscapes and selfies you've got 13- and 5-megapixel cameras, and in other key specs you're looking at 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 3,000mAh battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop running the show. Not too shabby, considering the £125 pay-as-you-go price.
Nubia's near bezel-less phone also has a grip-sensitive frame
Oppo may have already shown off its near bezel-less prototype phone back in March, but local rival Nubia has actually released a handset featuring the same optical trickery on the edges (and let's not forget that Sharp did it first). Dubbed the Z9, this dual-Nano SIM flagship device packs a 5.2-inch 1080p Sharp-made display, a Snapdragon 810 chipset and either 32GB of storage with 3GB RAM (black "Classic Edition") or 64GB of storage with 4GB RAM (gold-colored "Elite Edition"). But never mind these boring figures, because the real treat here is the "Frame interactive Technology" or "FiT" in short, which enables grip and gesture-based control on the aluminum mid-frame. It seems rather handy, if you'll pardon the pun.
You can unlock this smartphone with the blood vessels in your eyes
Tired of punching in numbers or swiping strange patterns to unlock your smartphone? Fingerprint and facial recognition have been tried before with varying levels of success, and now ZTE thinks it can offer something better. The company's Grand S3 smartphone in China is getting a feature called "Sky Eye," which lets you swap Android's traditional lockscreen methods with your eyeballs. It uses a biometric authentication called "Eyeprint ID" by EyeVerify and, of course, we had to check it out for ourselves.
Year of the Goat: 11 Chinese smartphone brands to watch
2014 had been a wonderful year for the ever-competitive Chinese smartphone market. We saw the birth of new brands, the record of world's thinnest phone broken three times, and a couple of companies entering India with great reception (although not without some struggle). So with MWC following right after Chinese New Year, what better way to celebrate both than to look at the top Chinese smartphone brands? Granted, not all of these companies will be on the show floor next week (not Xiaomi or Oppo, for instance), but there's no stopping us from saying "ni hao" to them, anyway.
Engadget giveaway: win a Grand X Max+ smartphone or Spro smart projector courtesy of ZTE!
We were all set to offer ZTE's Spro smart projector as the first giveaway of 2015 all by its lonesome, but the pot has been sweetened with a handset that's being launched right here at CES. One lucky winner will still receive the portable Android-powered Spro that hit CES last year, which streams content up to 1080p through Google Play apps and projects images up to 120-inches. We'll also have a second winner who'll score a brand-new ZTE Grand X Max+ smartphone, which is being shown off this week in Las Vegas. This Cricket Wireless handset is the third 4G LTE offering from the company and has an expansive 6-inch, 720p display, along with a 13-megapixel rear shooter and 5-megapixels of front-facing selfie power. All you need to do is head down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning one of these two ZTE devices and starting the New Year off properly. Winners: congratulations to Ohad I. of Woodcliff Lake, NJ and Jim G. of Anchorage, AK.
Why Chinese tech giants could surprise you at CES 2015
The spotlight doesn't often fall on the lesser-known Chinese-speaking (both mainland and Taiwanese) companies that set up booth space each January at CES. But if you do pay close attention to their yearly reveals, you'll often find some of the show's more interesting gadgets. Brands like ASUS and Lenovo (among many others) have a knack for either inventing new device categories or pushing the limits of existing formulas. They virtually define the landscape for hybrid PCs, and they're often willing to stretch the boundaries of smartphones, wearables and TVs. In anticipation of the coming CES, we attempt to gauge just what each of these major Chinese-language players will bring to Las Vegas in 2015. But first, let's indulge in a little history lesson.
The year in reviews: a look back at the worst gadgets of 2014
We've reviewed a lot of great products this year, and we can only hope that our observations helped you pick the device that best suits your needs. However, not every gadget we look at is going to be a winner. We've seen our fair share of disappointments and mediocrity -- as well as a few you should completely avoid. While we've been lucky enough not to see any product this year that could be considered an outright disaster, there are still a few whose bad points were enough to take their score down to the very bottom of the pile. So, without further ado, here are our five lowest-scored products of 2014.
Engadget giveaway: win a ZMAX smartphone courtesy of ZTE!
Vast swathes of display real estate are hitting the market at lower prices than ever -- unlike those glass towers springing up in Brooklyn -- and one of the latest in the "phablet" set is ZTE's ZMAX. This 5.7-inch smartphone boasts an expansive 720p screen, a quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip and a 3,400mAh battery. If you're in the market, this solid slab of smartphone arrived at T-Mobile on Wednesday and can be had for just $252 outright (or $10.50 per month over two years). But for two Engadget readers this week, the ZTE ZMAX will cost a whole lot of nothing. Yep, ZTE has handed over a pair of these handsets for a couple of lucky winners, and they're ready to run at up to 4G LTE speeds on the Uncarrier's network. All you need to do is head down to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning one of these big-screen devices. Winner: congratulations to Don S. of La Grange, KY and Julian H. of Culver City, CA.
ZTE's new supersized phone packs a two-day battery and a low price
If you like the prospect of a giant smartphone but find even LG's G Vista too rich for your blood, ZTE might have something that's more up your alley. It just unveiled the ZMAX, a 5.7-inch device that hopefully won't crush your bank account. The 720p screen, quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip, 16GB of expandable storage and 8-megapixel rear camera are nothing special, but you're getting a lot of battery for the money; the 3,400mAh power pack is estimated to last for two days, or more than enough for a busy weekend. You might also like the not-quite-stock (read: potentially very speedy) Android 4.4 interface. ZTE's low-cost behemoth will only be available through T-Mobile when it ships on September 24th. However, you'll only have to pay $10.50 per month over two years to own the ZMAX, or $252 total -- not too shabby considering that other phones this big frequently cost two or three times as much.
IRL: Giving Firefox OS a second chance
When I reviewed the original ZTE Open last year, the Firefox OS experience was -- to put it modestly -- rough around the edges. The device was stripped down even by the standards of low-end phones, while the software was missing features other platforms have had for years. You didn't even get new email notifications, for crying out loud. Jump ahead a year and it's another story. The Open C is a much more powerful device, and Firefox OS has received a few vital upgrades. But does that mean Mozilla's web-based mobile software is finally ready for prime time? I spent two weeks with the Open C to find out if it can hold its own against budget rivals -- and to see if I'd be comfortable using it as my only phone.
ZTE's camera-heavy mini flagship makes rare leap to the US
Chinese phone makers are smacking Samsung and others around right now, but it's still hard to find high-end, non-carrier-branded devices stateside. That said, ZTE -- which has quietly become the world's number five smartphone brand -- has just launched its Nubia 5S mini LTE in the US unlocked for $280. You may be more tempted by a Nexus 5 if specs are your thing, as the Nubia 5s mini is "merely" equipped with a quad-core Snapdragon 400, 2GB RAM, 16GB expandable memory and a 4.7-inch, 720p screen. But ZTE's wooing a younger crowd by touting the ample 5-megapixel front/13-megapixel rear cameras with f/2.2 iris and manual controls, along with the photo effects, LTE (for GSM carriers) and pocketable size. It also vows to repair any damage you inflict for any reason up to 18 months after purchase for $80 -- a boon to any of us who've broken a screen. It's now up on pre-order at Amazon, with shipping set to start on August 27th.
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?
Virgin Mobile lets you customize your family's prepaid phone plan
In the US, prepaid cellphone service tends to be a like-it-or-leave-it proposition that rarely fits perfectly, especially for families. Virgin Mobile may have a smarter approach in store; it's launching Custom, a prepaid family plan that lets you tailor usage to your liking. You can put as many as five people on plans that start at $7 each ($35 for unlimited talk and text) and scale up depending on individual needs. If Mom is a big fan of streaming music but rarely makes calls, she can pile on the data (or use a $5 Unlimited Music plan) and reduce her voice minutes; a chat-happy kid, meanwhile, can have gobs of messages but only minimal internet access. You can change the plans at any time from mobile apps, and built-in parental controls let you declare certain apps as off-limits during specified hours.
ZTE's latest fitness tracker looks just like a FuelBand
Why yes, here's yet another fitness band from China! Just two days after Xiaomi's $13 Mi Band, ZTE will no doubt have a hard time getting attention for its awkwardly named Grand Band. The company's second smart wearable device reminds us of the Nike+ FuelBand with its dot-matrix LED screen plus the positioning of its sole button, but it uses an adjustable snap-on strap instead of the latter's fixed-size type. As you'd expect, the 14mm-thick, shower-friendly band packs all the common features: pedometer (with distance and calorie calculator), sleep monitor and smart alarm. Better yet, it's compatible with all Bluetooth 4.0 host devices running on iOS or Android 4.3 and above. The Grand Band will be launched in China first next month, and as a "reasonable, affordable premium" product, ZTE hinted that it'll be priced somewhere around the common 800 yuan ($130) to 1,000 yuan ($160) tier. Hmm, looks like we'll stick with Xiaomi's cheaper and slimmer device -- only if we can even get hold of one. Hands-on video after the break.
ZTE continues the trend toward minimizing Android customization
For all its beauty, Android's openness is the reason why manufacturers and carriers are able to make their own tweaks to the OS. Some companies go as far as completely forking the platform, and we know how terrible that can be -- though there are exceptions like Amazon's Fire ecosystem, which offers a solid experience overall. Thankfully, manufacturers are beginning to realize it's much better to deliver Android as Google intended, or at least as close to it as possible (e.g. HTC's Sense 6). Chinese outfit ZTE will join this movement very soon, announcing that the Google Now launcher will be set as the default home screen on its future smartphones, starting with the launch of the Blade Vec 4G next week. Naturally, doing so means giving buyers a cleaner look right out of the box; plus, it puts all of the search giant's services front and center, including the Play store and, of course, Google Now. Most importantly, it's definitely going to make Google happy.
ZTE's projector/hotspot hybrid lands in the US with Sprint's help
ZTE's endearingly nutty 1080p projector/mobile hotspot turned a few heads back at CES, and we knew it was coming to the US -- we just didn't know when. You'll soon have a chance to see if those two tastes really do taste great together, though: Sprint will start selling the hardware hybrid (now called the LivePro) on July 11, just in time to power those heated outdoor meetings of your Wes Anderson Appreciation Club. You can connect up to 8 devices to Sprint's Spark LTE network via the LivePro and run your own content through it using an HDMI or Miracast connection, but don't forget -- this thing also runs Android 4.2 and packs a 4-inch touchscreen so you can hog all those movies to yourself too. Feeling more generous than usual? Magnanimously let your friends recharge their ailing phones with the LivePro's 5,000mAh battery and pretty soon they'll agree that Moonrise Kingdom really is better than Rushmore.
