zzzPhone to Sell Android?

07 October 2008 by Staff Editor

Worth Reading?

Yes

+4 [8 votes]

Many people remember the failure of the zzzPhone from a while back. Now zzzPhone is claiming to have low-cost Android-powered handsets ready to ship to your door from China. Pictures of an “Android phone” are plastered all over the website. While no one is sure if this is a scam or not, one thing we know is Google is not supporting them.

For those who are unfamiliar with zzzPhone, they are a small company of American entrepreneurs who set out to sell cheap phones with lots of features out of China. The first order of business for them was when they took a bunch of orders on phones that didn’t work in the US, so they couldn’t deliver them. As they started to deliver phones, customers were not happy with the quality of their purchases. I have found their website to be somewhat of a joke with several misspelled words; personally I would not be willing to purchase from them for fear it may be a scam.

Their site reads, “per recent reviews, iphone has had problems with dropped calls, not working for people with long fingernails, and a secreet [sic] kill switch has been discovered.NOT FULLY LOCKABLE. zzzphone has none of these problems.”

Word from China is that they’re installing Android on their phones this month. The site states that their Android phone will be delivered on November 30th. From pictures depicted on the website the Android phones are actually that of the HTC Touch Pro with a poorly sketched basic Android screen shot on it. Who knows what the actual device may look like.

[Via Gearlog]

Join the Discussion (18 comments)

New World

10-07-2008 11:33 AM

Hmmm....interesting.
kryptonkid07

10-07-2008 11:40 AM

why was that phone a failure? I don't even remember it... I think it looks nice.
RussianSolja

10-07-2008 11:41 AM

its funny how phones that never sold before are now offering android OS's in them so they can get a boost in there selling market LOL! priceless! once again the android is taking over
heyitsnan

10-07-2008 11:42 AM

Yeah, but some of these phones look like their from "Toys R Us!" Ick!!!!
refused9150

10-07-2008 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kryptonkid07

why was that phone a failure? I don't even remember it... I think it looks nice.

That phone is a mock up of the Touch Pro. The phones they actually sell are knock-offs. The post reads "The first order of business for them was when they took a bunch of orders on phones that didn�t work in the US, so they couldn�t deliver them." that is why they are failures. I though I would attach an example of the phones they sell over there.
RussianSolja

10-07-2008 11:55 AM

you know i speak to alot of people from over sea's and i have a friend that lives in moscow... he directed me to site of different phones they offer over there and they have phones there that we have not ever seen or even heard of... why is it that europe offers phones to there people and thoes phones aint offered to us here? refused9150 you said that cause they work there and not built to work here... well cant they be made to work here in the US?
refused9150

10-07-2008 11:59 AM

A lot of phones operate on a different frequency over there. You need to have a phone that operates on the correct GSM frequency band for the US. There are differences between an tri-band and quad-band phone.
RussianSolja

10-07-2008 12:04 PM

ahhh i see... that makes sence... well they get offered way better phones then we do by there carrier. all though they pay more for theres phones then we do.
Shaitan

10-07-2008 12:08 PM

Wonder what that windows button on the keyboard does
aksum4586

10-07-2008 12:11 PM

Sounds like more CRAP coming out of China. Will still be a failure in sales, I'm sure.
refused9150

10-07-2008 12:16 PM

Yeah over in those countries it is a lot different here. Most people in the Us don't expect great phones. They want a cheap phone to last 1-2 years. Over in China and Japan, phone shops do extremely well despite the large number of them. People in those countries expect a lot out of their phones and are willing to pay 600-800 every 3-5 months to get the newest phone out there.

I have a friend from China who's family does extremely well selling only handsets. Well when she came here to the US she wanted to keep doing that with her own shop but lets face it, several 3rd party dealers with service plan discounts die here every day.
RussianSolja

10-07-2008 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaitan

Wonder what that windows button on the keyboard does

windows botton? where????

RussianSolja

10-07-2008 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by refused9150

Yeah over in those countries it is a lot different here. Most people in the Us don't expect great phones. They want a cheap phone to last 1-2 years. Over in China and Japan, phone shops do extremely well despite the large number of them. People in those countries expect a lot out of their phones and are willing to pay 600-800 every 3-5 months to get the newest phone out there.

I have a friend from China who's family does extremely well selling only handsets. Well when she came here to the US she wanted to keep doing that with her own shop but lets face it, several 3rd party dealers with service plan discounts die here every day.

very true... i have friends that own there own little cell phone stores.. and they aint no T-Mobile Stores all his store does is provide the phones and plans but he has alot of phone you WONT see in a real T-Mobile Retail Store.

ren857

10-07-2008 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussianSolja

windows botton? where????

It's on the bottom left on the keyboard. LOL
unknown.soul

10-07-2008 03:15 PM

They're going to design/copy images and add them to a generic firmware. Same thing (inevitably) happened with the iPhone: http://www.chinagrabber.com/ProductI...e_clone_03.JPG
A F 1 G 3

10-07-2008 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyitsnan

Yeah, but some of these phones look like their from "Toys R Us!" Ick!!!!

LOVE your sig, ahahaha.
johnkzin

10-07-2008 03:26 PM

I like the layout of the phone. I was just thinking I'd love to see the Touch Pro with a larger screen and android (just posted it in another forum, even). I love the idea of two SIM cards. But, what 3G bands do they support? What GSM bands do they support? And what's the device quality like?

The more expensive one seems to have GPS ... not sure if I really need that or not. But I'd like to know what bluetooth profiles it supports and stuff. I'm trying to figure out if I'm willing to risk my money on it, just to see how lousy the quality is ;-)

If anyone DOES buy one, let us know how it goes.
bblackmoor

01-14-2009 07:03 PM

I hope these come to market. I would really love an Android phone with a larger screen than the G1: something about the size of the Nokia n810. That would be sweet.