Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense (600060.SH) announced today that it will join with China Telecom (NYSE: CHA; 0728.HK) and Shenzhen-based Internet company Tencent (0700.HK) to release the new 2012 line of QQ smartphones. Aimed at university students and young consumers, the series of handsets will range between RMB 700 and 2,000 in price, and will be released on the market in May. The dual-mode, dual-standby Hisense EG906 smartphone will feature a 1 GHz processor, FM radio and GPS receiver, and accelerometer, ambient light, and proximity sensors, as well as a large-capacity 1850 mAH battery.

China Telecom and Tencent partnered on the first generation of QQ smartphones in 2011. As of the end of the year, a total of more than 2 mln QQ-branded E-Surfing smartphones had been sold.