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ZTE announces the C78 and C79

ZTE announces the C78 candy bar and the C79 flip phone.

Nicole Lee Former Editor
Nicole Lee is a senior associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also a fan of comic books, video games, and of course, shiny gadgets.
Nicole Lee
ZTE C78
ZTE C78 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.