The ZTE crowdsourced smartphone is now underway, with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer officially looking for ideas to craft its next device.
ZTE announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last year that it would be taking crowdsourcing suggestions for their next mobile device, dubbed Project CSX. The company has now launched a new website to take suggestions from fans, which will be considered in the overall development of the handset.
The only catch is that the manufacturer wants ideas that are ‘possible by 2017’, meaning they can’t be based on some crazy futuristic technology that nobody has ever heard of. ZTE CEO Lixin Cheng said “Submissions are held to three rules: it must be a mobile product, the technology must be realistically possible by 2017, and the final product must be affordable for the general population”.
ZTE says development will take place in “two key stages”. Both will involve a submission period where anybody can throw in their ideas. This will then be followed by a voting period, where users decide which ideas are the best and most feasible in the timeframe given.
Cheng has said in a press statement that the company wants to “crowdsourcing something entirely new, from start to finish,” so we can presume that they’re after original ideas. Simply sending over the best hardware components may not be enough.
The best ideas will be awarded “small cash prizes” and a chance to win a trip to the next CES event in Las Vegas. You can submit your ideas until the 31st August, where a voting period will take place between September 1st-10th. There will then be a concept submissions phase from September 12th-30th, followed by another voting period October 1st-19th. To get involved in the process, follow the link here.
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