CES 2016 is perhaps starting to wind down a little bit starting today, but there’s still plenty of news coming out, and we’ve now got the chance to roam the convention center halls and hotel rooms playing with all the cool new stuff. TO see what CES had to offer yesterday, take a look at our roundup here. Today, BLU, the US firm known for offering pretty cheap and yet still capable Android smartphones announced two new devices to their lineup. The new Vivo 5 and Vivo XL were announced earlier with some pretty great specs to say they both cost less $200. Now, BLU has released a press release that details a partnership between themselves and Celltick, the firm behind the aftermarket Android lock screen, Start.
For those unfamiliar with Start, it’s essentially a lock screen replacement app for Android that brings much more information to people than just the time and their notifications. The software has been available for some time now, and is available for anyone to try out via the Play Store, regardless of make and model. It allows for lots of customization as well as offering up all manner of features to control your phone. These include being able to see the weather, check social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as search your phone for contacts and apps, all from your lock screen.
For BLU, this allows them to offer something a little different out of the box, giving them an edge in the lower-end of the market without actually having to spend anything extra on development, thus keeping the end product cost down. Meanwhile, Celltick gets a little bit of exposure for their established lock screen replacement which could potentially lead to more downloads over time. Regardless, it’s nice to see a brand operating at the lower-end of the spectrum make beneficial deals, rather than seeing the likes of Samsung sign up every developer or hardware partner out there. For more on the BLU Vivo 5 and Vivo XL those interested can take a look at our posts from earlier.