Friday Review: Ice, ice baby

Some people will go to extreme lengths to look cool. But for one Chinese vendor this week, being cool involved going sub-zero. ZTE is hoping for a warm reception from the U.K. public as it embarks upon a new strategy to turn its brand into a household name. ZTE-branded smartphones will be available online and on the high street "soon", the vendor announced on Wednesday night at its summer party at... London's Ice Bar. The ZTE Skate smartphone will be available in the U.K. in time for Christmas. "We like to think it is a cool device," declared Wu Sa, director of mobile device operations at ZTE UK. And the puns didn't stop there. "[This is] the tip of the iceberg," for ZTE's U.K. plans, Wu added. To date ZTE has favoured a white label strategy, supplying phones that are sold under its operator partners' brands, or in some case co-branded. The Skate, for example…