14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most successful Asian telecom companies, ZTE has silently launched a new Android device aimed for mass market, the ZTE Libra.
While the look and form factor strongly resembles the popular ZTE Blade device, also known as Orange San Francisco, the Libra is a brand new product meant to conquer emerging market in Asia.
ZTE Libra comes with a 3.5-inches WVGA capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors support and 800 x 480 pixels resolution.
It measures 114 x 56.5 x 12.1 mm and weighs only 118g (battery included), which makes it perfectly pocketsizeable.
Although the phone is powered by a low-performance Qualcomm MSM7227 processor clocked at 600 MHz speed, the ZTE Libra runs Google's latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform.
Furthermore, the Libra features the stock Android user interface that offers fans of the platform the customary 7 homescreens and a wide range of application shortcuts, widgets and hardware controls.
However, users can extend the handset's functionality, as the Libra provides access to more than 150,000 applications available via Android Market.
In addition, it comes bundled with Google Suite package, including Goggles, Maps, Translate, Earth, YouTube and more.
The phone is fully compatible with GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz and UMTS 900 / 2100 MHz networks, but also provides users with other connectivity options such as: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and assisted GPS.
The Libra comes with support for POP, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange (Exchange ActiveSync) email accounts as standard.
Users can create and configure multiple email accounts and all mail can be displayed in a single inbox, each email account being colored.
WiFi hotspot capability is another trait of the phone and allows users to share the device's 3G connection to the Internet with any other Wi-Fi-enabled device.
No word on the price yet, but rumors say that the Libra might be released in Europe next.