Heads up, Cricket customers: a new Android smartphone has made its way to your carrier's shelves. Cricket has announced that the Huawei Ascend II is now available for $179.99 — sans contract, natch — although you can nab one for just $129.99 if you order through the Cricket website. The Ascend II is the follow-up to the original Ascend, which is getting a tad long in the tooth at this point, and features a 3.5-inch 320x480 display, 600MHz processor, 5-megapixel camera, microSD card support, a 1400mAh battery, and Android 2.3.

Obviously the Ascend II isn't going to blow anyone's doors off with its performance, but it looks like a nice little handset, especially with the web-only $130 price tag. Plus, there aren't many high-end Android phones that pack Gingerbread, so the Ascend II's got a leg up on the competition in that regard. Pair the Ascend II with Cricket's $55 unlimited everything plan, and I'd say you've got a package that even the snobbiest of smartphone users could love.

Cricket Launches the Huawei Ascend II
~ Wireless Innovator Brings Exciting New Android® Smartphone to Customers at Smart Value Pricing ~
SAN DIEGO, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --

Cricket Communications Inc.,a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), today announced the launch of the Huawei Ascend II, the successor to Cricket's highly-successful deployment of its first low-cost Android device, the Ascend, that was launched in October last year.

"We are excited about the sleek, new Huawei Ascend II," said Matt Stoiber, vice president and general manager of devices for Cricket Communications. "The original Ascend has been our best-selling smartphone and the Ascend II is sure to impress our customers with its faster processor, 5 megapixel camera and the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system."

This value-priced Android comes with a 3.5" HVGA touch-screen with virtual keyboard, Wi-Fi capability and 3G Real Web Browsing. The Ascend II has lots of great smartphone features packed into an affordable package. Cricket's fifth Android smartphone also includes great features like a 5 MP camera/camcorder and a MP3 player/microSD slot. The Ascend II features the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and a 600 MHz processor. This smartphone also gives customers access to more than 200,000 cool apps on the Android Market(TM) as well as great Google applications such as YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Search and more.

Reinforcing Cricket's innovation value proposition and dedication to respecting value-seeking customers, the Huawei Ascend II is offered for a suggested MSRP of $179.99 in Cricket branded retail stores, select dealers and on www.mycricket.com. Prices may vary by market and by promotional programs.

The feature-packed Ascend II will be offered on Cricket's all-inclusive $55 Android plan, which provides users with unlimited talk, text, 411 information, international text, unlimited and video picture messages, unlimited data services on the company's reliable all 3G network, and more. Additionally, customers utilizing the $55 rate plan have free access to MyBackup, a system that enables subscribers to automatically protect, store and edit their mobile contacts online and without the need for data cables.

For more information about Cricket's dynamic device lineup, please visit www.mycricket.com.

About Cricket

Cricket is the pioneer of simple and affordable unlimited wireless services with no long-term commitments or credit checks required serving more than 5.8 million customers in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Cricket offers wireless voice and broadband Internet services over the latest technology, high-quality, all-digital 3G CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO wireless network. Cricket's nationwide wireless voice service plans include unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited U.S. long distance, unlimited text and picture messaging, unlimited text to Mexico, unlimited Mobile Web, unlimited directory assistance, as well as a variety of calling features and feature-rich mobile applications such as popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. For more information on Cricket, visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is offered by Leap Wireless International, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.

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