Did you know that ZTE is the “fourth largest smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. and the second largest in the no-contract market”? Well, they are, and today they are announcing the launch of Project CSX, a “crowdsourced mobile device the company will release in 2017.”
Z-Community, ZTE’s member-led forum, “will serve as the platform for ideation and feedback throughout the entire development process.”
Here’s your chance to help a major mobile device manufacturer create the phone of the future! If you’d like to join the Z-Community, submit your ideas, and learn more, visit here.
This is the first time a phone manufacturer is stepping out and crowdsourcing something entirely new, from start to finish. It’s a bold approach for the industry that demonstrates how ZTE keeps consumers at the heart of everything we imagine, design and deliver. Project CSX is taking our core value to the next level. – Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE USA
Submissions will be held to three rules:
- It must be a mobile product.
- The technology must be realistically possible by 2017
- The final product must be affordable for the general population.
If you have a winning idea or a popular submission, you will be awarded with “small cash prizes throughout the process and the chance to win a trip to the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.” You’ll also get bragging rights that you “helped create an innovative mobile device that friends, family, and acquaintances will be able to purchase.” And of course, as a member of the Z-Community, you’ll have early access to the final product.
Sometimes the best ideas come from people outside of a company who have a fresh take we wouldn’thave thought of otherwise. ZTE is an end-to-end telecommunications company and has the resources to develop all types of devices, not just smartphones. Maybe there are other ways we could be connecting that we have never imagined. We are excited to find out. – Jeff Yee, vice president of Technology Planning and Partnerships at ZTE USA
Wha do you think? Are you ready to help create the next great thing? If so, check out Z-Community!