ZTECorporation and Three have launched the ZTERacer,a low cost Android 2.1(éclair)powered handset.The Racer is the first Android handset in the UK from ZTEand is Three’s first Android handset to break the 100 barrier,selling at 99.99.

Android could account for the second highest market share of mobile operating systems by 2012,according to a recent report from Gartner.However,it can take over a year to develop a new smartphone which means that device manufacturers are struggling to keep up with developing Operating Systems(OS)and new devices are often launched with older versions of the OS.

The Racer is a ZTEand Three co-branded handset that combines a 2.8”QVGA touchscreen,3.2 megapixel camera,256 MBof internal memory,Bluetooth and 7.2 Mbit/s HSDPA capabilities.

The handset is aimed at consumers who require access to a wide range of applications.The Android OSallows users to download thousands of apps from the Android market with quicklink access to services including Facebook,Spotify,YouTube,Google Maps and Google Talk.

ZTEexpects to increase its share of the UKcarrier handset market from three percent in 2009 to eight percent in 2010.In Q2 this year alone,ZTE mobile devices sales in the UK passed the million unit mark for the first time.