ZTE to pre-load Google Now Launcher on its smartphones

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has announced that it will be pre-loading Google Now Launcher on all of its smartphones, which will be released with Android 4.4 and Google mobile services. The first phone to get the launcher is Blade Vec 4G, which was released last month in Europe.

According to the company, Blade Vec 4G is already available in Europe and China but it will be launched in Hong Kong on July 24 with Google Now Launcher-enabled. There is no word on whether the company plans to issue an update for the European unit of Blade Vec 4G to add Google Now Launcher.

Google Now Launcher is a home-screen replacement app from Google, it was only available on Nexus and Google Play edition devices until now.

“ZTE’s strong relationship with Google and Qualcomm Technologies is in line with our focus on developing affordable premium devices that has rich voice control function as well as multimedia solutions. ZTE is continuing to push the boundaries and brings its customers the very latest experience that mobile technology can offer,” said Zeng Xuezhong, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices, and Executive Vice President of ZTE Corporation.

To remind you, ZTE Blade Vec 4G features a 5-inch 720p HD display, 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.4. The phone also packs 13MP rear camera, 2MP front shooter, 2300 mAh battery and 4G support.