Quad-core Era kick-starts ZTE smartphone push

The ZTE Era, announced on Monday at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor. Despite all its processing technology, the handset is just 7.8mm thick, which is about 1.5mm thinner than an iPhone 4S. The screen is a decent size, at 4.3 inches, and has a resolution of 540x960 pixels. There is 8GB of memory, though that can be expanded with a microSD card. No details were given as to the camera, but considering this is the flagship handset from ZTE, it should be 8 megapixels or more.The Era will go on sale in the second half of the year, with its price to be confirmed. ZTE also unveiled a couple of handsets running the older Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Kis has a 3.5-inch screen, while the Acqua has a 4-incher. There are no release dates or prices yet for these other mobiles, and it is not clear whether they'll reach the UK with those names or be picked up by networks to become own-brand budget phones. In 2011, the Shenzen-based company has embarked on a push to establish its self-branded handsets in the UK and European consumer markets. From: ZDnet