ZTE to unveil 'advanced gaming smartphone' on July 18th

ZTE's London bureau took to Twitter on Wednesday in order to tease an upcoming new smartphone.

The energetic message reads as follows: "The countdown has begun! 6 days left until you can have one of the MOST ADVANCED GAMING SMARTPHONES in your hands!"

Although sparse in details, the tweet suggests that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer may be looking to compete with the Sony Erickson Xperia Play given the prominent focus on gaming in the announcement.

If ZTE was to unveil a phone with physical gaming controls, it would put it in direct competition with the Xperia Play and would help it stand out in the well-crowded smartphone market.

Alternatively, it may just be a new Tegra 3-powered handset.

Recently, ZTE unveiled the Kis smartphone in the UK (exclusive to Virgin Media), which ranks as the cheapest Android phone available for a modest £49.99.

The good news is that we won’t have to wait long to find out what ZTE has in store. The 'gaming smartphone' is scheduled to be unveiled on July 18th.