If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, Virgin Mobile brought two new smartphones to the table and Play Music All Access subscribers received one more way to discover new tunes. These stories and more await. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of September 9th, 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, AT&T
Virgin Mobile has announced that it has a new smartphone coming that will work with its Beyond Talk plans starting at only $35 per month. The device is called the ZTE Supreme and it is an Android smartphone. The device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the operating system. Under the hood, the smartphone has […]
It was only about four months ago when CSL, Telstra’s part-owned operator behind Hong Kong’s one2Free and 1010 networks, showed off its 150Mbps LTE Cat 4 upgrade; but why stop there? Today, the same company gave us a glimpse of its upcoming 300Mbps LTE Advanced service, which is enabled by aggregating its 20MHz carriers at both its 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz LTE bands.
“The announcements in Korea and the announcements in Australia around LTE Advanced… the theoretical speed that they’re delivering is 150Mbps. What we’re talking about today is LTE-A300,” said Phil Mottram, CEO of CSL. “It’s definitely a first for Hong Kong, and it’s potentially a world-first in terms of being able to deliver these theoretical, maximum download speeds at 300Mbps.” %Gallery-slideshow83577%
Though it just went up for sale on Friday, the ZTE Open is already sold out on eBay after just a weekend’s availability. Both US and UK eBay stores no longer have any stock of the Firefox OS-running phone, the Telegraph reports, which means consumers will need to wait until another production run is made […]
It was just a few days ago when the Firefox OS handset from ZTE was released in the US for $80 a pop, and here we are with word that the device has sold out in its entirety – at least for the initial stock, over the weekend. Of course, this does not mean that there are millions of the devices already out there in the market since under 2,000 units were sold worldwide, but it is a start nonetheless. In fact, the rather unusual step of seeing this ZTE Firefox OS phone being made available as an exclusive device over eBay in the US did not deter prospective buyers, where all 985 handsets were sold out in the US, and 990 units moved in the UK.
Just to refresh our memories, the Firefox OS phone from ZTE is an unlocked device that comes with a 114mm x 62mm x 12.5mm chassis, where it will boast of a 3.5-inch HVGA (480 x 320 pixel) display, 256MB RAM, 512MB of internal memory, a 1,200mAh battery and a 3.2-megapixel camera at the back, accompanied by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity with A-GPS support. The operating system of choice? Firefox OS, of course. Were you one of those who picked it up?
ZTE Firefox OS Phone Sold Out Over The Weekend original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The Spanish had first dibs on ZTE’s Open smartphone, but earlier this month we were told Americans and Brits would eventually be able to buy the Firefox OS device through ZTE’s local eBay storefronts. Well, the pages are now live, so in exchange for $80 or £60 (delivery is free), you can get yourself an unlocked Open in the eBay-exclusive orange hue; and, if the stock figures represent all ZTE has to hawk, it appears this initial batch will sell out before too long. We wouldn’t say the handset’s performance is good enough to disguise its miserly specs, but having a new mobile OS to poke around in for well under a Benjamin? Let’s just say that we’re having a hard time suppressing the impulse-buy urge.
[Thanks, Steve]
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Mobile
Source: ZTE UK eBay store, ZTE US eBay store
During this year’s Mobile World Congress, Mozilla announced they would be partnering with a number of handset makers to ship out devices that feature their Firefox mobile OS. Once such device that was announced was the ZTE Open, which sports a 3.5-inch 320 x 480 pixel display, a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 256GB of RAM, 512MB of internal storage, a 3MP rear-facing camera, microSD support for up to 32GB and a 1200mAh battery.. Since its unveiling, the device has been made available in Spain, but today, those in the U.S. looking for a low-end smartphone can proceed to do so as the device is now available.
ZTE has made its ZTE Open available through their exclusive eBay store and will only cost you $80. Yes – that’s extremely cheap in the world of smartphones as you could probably already tell based on its specs alone. If you’re interested in the ZTE Open, you should know it’s a GSM phone that supports AT&T’s network, although you should be able to get 2G speeds if you’re a T-Mobile subscriber.
As for its operating system, Firefox OS will support applications that are written in HTML5, JavaScript and a number of other web technologies. Since we don’t have a Firefox OS device on hand, we’re not entirely sure what apps are available for the OS, but for $80, this device won’t exactly break the bank if it turns out you’re not a fan of it.
Firefox Mobile OS Device, ZTE Open, Now Available In The U.S. For $80 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The mobile space has just gotten a whole lot more interesting in recent years, where previous 800 lbs gorillas that seemed “untouchable” are now struggling, with BlackBerry coming to mind as the main example, while Nokia, to a lesser extent, has seen their dominance in the phone market obliterated by the likes of Apple and Samsung. Not only that, the mobile operating system front has also changed a fair bit, where iOS and Android now dominate the market, with a small percentage of the share held by Windows Phone 8 and to an even smaller extent, BlackBerry 10. Firefox, a name that is more often than not associated with browsers, have decided to take the plunge into the smartphone market by introducing the Firefox OS mobile operating system, and the ZTE Open is the handset to go along with it.
We have just received word that the ZTE Open will be available for sale soon on eBay US and UK, which is pretty fast considering how it is just one month after the smartphone’s commercial launch. Before the US and the UK, however, the ZTE Open has already been made available over at Telefónica in Spain, Venezuela and Colombia, and for the first time in the UK, the ZTE Open will be made available on Orange with a price tag of $79.99 (£59.99), where this handset will hit the market as an unlocked device, which means it can be used on all mobile networks.
The global availability of the ZTE Open via eBay might be a great move for those who have always been on the lookout for an affordable smartphone that is based wholly on open web standards, but never really had the chance to do so. Some of the functions found on the ZTE Open include the basics – calls, messaging, email, and camera, in addition to built-in social integration with Facebook and Twitter, location-based services such as Nokia HERE maps, as well as the well loved Firefox Web browser and the Firefox Marketplace. Any takers?
Press Release
[ ZTE Open Firefox OS phone to be sold on eBay US and UK copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
In a strange move by ZTE, the company is planning to sell its latest handset in the US and UK by listing it on eBay. Of course, this wouldn’t the first time that companies have resorted to eBay for selling their products, but it’s interesting to see a mobile phone maker sell their devices directly […]
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile
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