April 1, 2008 9:23 AM PDT
ZTE announces the C78 and C79
ZTE C78
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)Chinese manufacturer ZTE is making further headway in the U.S. market with two new simple phones, the ZTE C78 and the ZTE C79. The ZTE C88 for MetroPCS was its first ever handset offered in North America, and these two handsets are part upgrade, part downgrade. They're both among the first in the country to operate via AWS frequency bands, which theoretically let users have access to data and multimedia applications if the carriers allow. The C79 is the more advanced model; it's a flip phone with a MP3 player, a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and a microSD card slot. The C78 is a more affordable one; it's a candy-bar handset with only a VGA camera and Bluetooth. As yet, there's no news of pricing and availability.
Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also pretty geeky--she likes World of Warcraft, comic books, and shiny gadgets. E-mail Nicole.
