Cricket Announces Ice Cream Sandwich-Based ZTE Engage

On Thursday, wireless carrier Cricket went official with its second Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone, the ZTE Engage.

Set to become available for purchase exclusively at this wireless carrier, the smartphone packs a 4-inch touchscreen display, along with a 1.4GHz processor inside.

Moreover, it will provide users with great photo shooting capabilities courtesy of its 8-megapixel photo snapper with LED Flash, and with the possibility to make video calls while on the go, courtesy of a front camera.

The handset arrives on shelves with support for a series of services from Cricket, including the popular Muve Music, which provides users with access to unlimited downloads of their favorite songs.

"The ZTE Engage is an exciting smartphone with enhanced functionality from Android 4.0 OS and will be available with Cricket's new value-rich no-contract smartphone service plans," said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president of devices for Cricket.

"Impressive at any price, the ZTE Engage will be a WOW device for Cricket customers and is a great new addition to the higher-end smartphone line-up that Cricket is turning on this year."

The specification list of this device also includes a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, and an included 4GB Muve Music SD Card.

The handset sports Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity, WiFi, the usual set of sensors, and a Lithium Ion 1900 mAh battery.

The ZTE Engage is set to become available for purchase on October 2nd. It will be released through all Cricket company-owned stores, dealers and online on the carrier’s website, with a price tag of $249.99 (MSRP) attached to it.

The wireless carrier notes that there are three Cricket no-contract smartphone plans that customers can go for when purchasing the new ZTE Engage.

“The rate plans start at $50 for unlimited talk, text and 3G data plus 1GB of full-speed data per month,” Cricket explains.

“The $60 smartphone plan contains 2.5GB of full-speed data per month and the $70 smartphone plan offers 5GB of full-speed data per month. Both the $60 and $70 plans include the ability for customers to tether their device to power additional wireless devices.”