It is truly the year of tablets and with Apple just announcing their latest refresh to the iPad 2, other companies are coming forward as well with plans of release dates for their respective products. One such company is Acer who back in February at Mobile World Congress announced the existence of the Acer Iconia Tab A100 and Iconia Tab A500 Android Honeycomb tablets that will be heading to Vodafone sometime in the near future.
Vodafone Germany has confirmed the rumors that it will be stocking said tablets by the end of the month although it has not confirmed whether the duo of tablets will be heading to the shores of Great Britain or not. However, we know a European launch is on the table so we would be very surprised if they did not come here.
The A500 tablet sports a 10.1 inch screen while the A100 sports a 7 inch screen. The A500 is equipped with 1GB of RAM while the A100 has the RAM cut in half to 512MB. Storage on the A500 is listed at 16GB and 32GB variants; the A100 has its storage cut to 8GB.
Both the A100 and A500 will come with Android 3.0 Honeycomb at launch, a 5 megapixel rear facing camera, 2 megapixel front facing camera for video conferencing and 1080p HD video playback thanks to HDMI out. Connectivity is limited to Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and no NFC support, not that that would be practical in the first place.
Pricing on either tablets have been yet to be confirmed, but we will go out on a limb and expect to Acer to bring this well under the price of the Xoom and something more in line with the price of the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Acer, the world’s leader in netbooks sales and a company that has very recently developed a huge liking with Android has finally detailed its Iconia Tab series, the A500, A100 and W500. This was done at Mobile World Congress yesterday.
The Iconia Tab A500 and A100 are almost identical machines with the exception of screen size. The A500 sports a 10.1 inch display while the A100 is limited to a 7-inch screen. The A500 sports 1GB of RAM with internal storage of 16GB and 32GB flavors while the A100 comes with half the RAM (512MB) and 8GB of internal storage. Both devices will be booting Android 3.0 at launch and thanks to NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual-core processor, they will be able to handle HDMI out for 1080p video playback with ease as well as the capability of handling “premium HD arcade games and complex online 3D games.” And yes, if you have to know, Flash 10.1 playback is included. Both tablets are due sometime in April for an undisclosed amount.
As for the Iconia Tab W500, it will pack Windows 7 on a 10.1-inch screen with a resolution of 1280×800 and thanks to the AMD C-50 processor and AMD Radeon HD6250 graphics card, you can get up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM as well as a 32GB SSD to boot. The W500 is optimized for audio thanks to Dolby Digital and it includes Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and 3G. Bluetooth 3.0 and a 1.3 megapixel camera for web conferencing are all included. There will be a full sized chiclet keyboard that will be included with the model that serves as a dock. The keyboard will also have ports for Ethernet and USB docking.
Acer is not releasing pricing on this model yet either, and unlike the Android powered models, there is no talk of possible release date, but we’re guessing it should be before mid-summer.
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Acer may have yet to fully establish their selves in the portable electronics industry, but they are certainly making plenty of great phones and tablets. Despite their already impressive lineup of notebook computers, the strength and profit of the mobile industry is hard to deny.
A new unnamed Acer smart phone has been spotted in several images and from the official data gathered, the device will be sporting a massive touch screen display. At 4.8 inches, the capacitive touch screen is already on the new territory formed originally by the Dell Streak. With a 5 inch touch screen, the device was questioning the size and hardware differences between tablets and mobile phones. With the Acer following this trend of creating large screen mobile devices, it is possible that we might start seeing other phone makers following suit.
Aside from the new handset, Acer also has tablet devices in the works. Initial reports show that two new Android tablets will be coming. The core difference in the two will be the screen size. One will have a much smaller touch screen at 7 inches while the other has a 10.1 inch display instead.
Acer states that the new devices will be making use of a dual core processor, though the CPU speed has yet to be given, we expect these devices to run pretty fast. HD video will also be a supported feature of the system.
For those wondering about the difference between the two sizes, it is because the two tablet sizes are good depending on the function you wish to use them for. The smaller 7 inch device is perfect for people who read eBooks and spend plenty of time reading online content on the web. The larger screened tablet is best suited for those who play plenty of games, and watch lots of videos.
For those who want to get the latest scoop on all of the biggest news stories of today, here’s a quick list of all the big headlines to keep you up to date.
iOS 4.2 update is out and it brings plenty of new features for the Apple iPad touch screen tablet. While the new version is good for the iPod Touch and the iPhone as well, the real focus here is with the 9.7 inch tablet. With new Android tablet devices coming out, that added functionality is going to be pretty useful once people start realizing that lacking Flash support is a major flaw.
Microsoft is facing a backlash from the tech industry as it has been reported that the micro SD card compatibility issues of the OS are pretty hard to fix. Unless Microsoft is able to find a way to fix the issue, many media loving smart phone users will be sticking to the Android or iPhone instead.
Acer is taking on Dell’s 5 inch Streak with a new, yet-to-be-named mobile phone. The touch screen smart phone is said to be running the Android OS on what appears to be a 4.8 inch touch screen display. It looks like the two computer manufacturers are all set to fill in the gap between smart phones and tablets pretty fast.
The Tegra 2 running Android smart phone from Motorola is getting a name and plenty of leaked images. The Olympus is said to be one impressive handset that Android fans should look out for as it may very well set the new bar for the next generation of devices. With all the odd devices they had come up recently (the Flip, Defy, etc), Motorola seems to be back with that innovative spirit once again. As for getting released in the UK, we will have to wait and see if the Olympus ends up as another pseudo-US exclusive handset for a couple of months.
The mid range market is where all the competition for sales is going to be and Acer is going to come out with guns blazing as they release the new beTouch series of Android smart phones. With stiff competition coming from more established mobile phone manufacturers such as LG, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola, Acer is taking a double pronged approach with two uniquely styled handsets.
The first is the beTouch E130, this Android smart phone looks a lot like a BlackBerry handset with the 2.6 inch TFT touch screen and the portrait oriented QWERTY keyboard.
The E130 is designed primarily for smart phone users who often type long messages, emails and other text heavy content that would be made easier by having a keyboard. While this form sacrifices a small degree of screen space, the amount of time and energy saved by having a physical keyboard evens out nicely. It also comes with a 3.2 mega pixel camera, support for YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa, and it will also have a Document viewer app for text files and PDFs.
The next smart phone is the beTouch E120. This is a full touch screen handset, as opposed to the keyboard toting E130. Packed with a 2.8 inch TFT capacitive touch screen display, this phone is geared more towards web browsing and multimedia functions.
Aside from having a fully dedicated touch screen, the E120 is slightly lighter than the E130 by a few grams (overall, both devices are small, compact and light). It also has a 3.2 mega pixel camera for taking images and videos, and the whole Pocket Office app which allows for viewing word files, spreadsheets and PDFs.
Both devices will be running on ST Ericsson PX6715 CPUs clocked at 416 MHz, which is a decent enough speed for handling basic apps and all the handset’s functions.
Well, HP has not officially killed off Palm, but their retraction about not making Palm smart phones is not really convincing either. So until HP actually makes an official announcement about an actual phone that they are working on, Palm can be considered as officially gone for good. But that does not mean we will no longer see impressive smart phones with portrait QWERTY keyboards.
Aside from RIM (makers of BlackBerry), there are now very few smart phones that actually use the front facing keyboard, and Acer’s new handset can probably be one of the few non-BB devices that do.
The beTouch E130 brings together a front facing QWERTY keyboard, the Android operating system and of course, an impressive phone design. After Acer’s experience with the Liquid A1 and the about to be released Liquid Stream, it seems that the computer manufacturer is finally getting the hang of making smart phones.
The biggest draw of the E130 is that it comes with a QWERTY keyboard. The four row arrangement makes for easy typing, though expect to hit a few wrong keystrokes every now and then due to the flat layout of the buttons. Overall, the keyboard is great once a user gets the hang of it. Still not quite the level of RIM’s front facing keyboard designs –but few rarely are.
Specs wise, this is a mid to low end smart phone –which means that it is slated to be one of the more affordable handsets that actually have the Android OS and a keyboard available for use. The 416MHz processor means that running resource hungry apps will not be a good idea, but it is more than enough to run other features like Maps and plenty of games.
So far, Acer has not made an announcement of a possible launch date for the handset, but many expect a 3rd quarter release this 2010.
Acer has got two different Android devices heading our way and from the looks of it, they are not just trying to outdo Apple’s iPad and the iPhone; they actually have a good line of products that just might succeed at that attempt.
Acer will be once again use the Android operating system. Considered to be the iPhone OS’ biggest rival in the industry, the Android provides all of the features that the iPhone has and then some. While Apple’s OS fails to support Flash, multitasking and a whole host of many important features, the Android excels in being able to run almost anything, anytime.
Anyway, the first device from Acer is none other than the Liquid Stream. While the name suggests that this gadget is the successor to the Liquid A1 smart phone, the Stream is pretty much a device on its own, with its impressive 3.7 inch touch screen, 1 GHz CPU and of course, the Android OS (it will come packed with 1.6 Donut, but will have an update to version 2.2 Froyo to come soon).
Acer also announced that it has a tablet device on its way. Judging from what we have seen from images, the new 7 inch dedicated touch screen tablet will make not only browsing easy, but will also let you work on small documents and long emails thanks to a full QWERTY keyboard attached to the device. No word yet from Acer if the tablet’s keyboard will be a ‘slide out’ or removable part. But the keyboard will certainly get in the way if it stays on the bottom of the tablet.
Still, there are plenty of expectations for Acer’s upcoming tablet. Slated to be running the latest Android OS and compatible with the upcoming 2.2 Froyo, the new Acer device just might be the iPad rival the world has been waiting for.
Who says you need to spend a fortune to get the best features on a smartphone? That may be true months ago, but not this time. The downward price trend in PC takes the same path with mobile phones. Enter the HTC HD2 for the masses – the Acer neoTouch s20 aka F1. Acer just recently launched into the world markets one of the most powerful smartphones on the planet. Powered by the Qualcomm QSD 8250 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1GHz and running on the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 upgradeable to its forthcoming Windows Mobile 7.0, the neoTouch F1 takes the smartphone to a new level of performance at an affordable price.
HTC for the Budget Crowd
There’s clearly an ongoing battle between the two Taiwan-based mobile phone makers. Acer leverages its computing muscle in the PC world to take on the mobile phone maker HTC right at its doorstep, so to speak. With the same Snapdragon processor and OS, you have an equally capable high end smartphone at a fraction of the HTC HD2 price. Of course there are some compromises and the neoTouch F1 is at a disadvantage in terms of display sophistication as well as user interactivity.
You get a resistive 3.8” touchscreen instead of HD2’s 4.3” capacitive touchscreen. Both screens have the same Wide-VGA resolution on the same 64k color depth making the smaller screen more brilliant. The neoTouch F1 does have a stylus which makes it easier to write Chinese calligraphic text on the screen for text recognition purposes. They are both expansive enough to a more delightful movie viewing experience on a mobile handset compared to what most smartphones out there can deliver, but it is plain, the HTC HD2 has more panache.
Then there’s the famous HTC Sense that gives the HTC the edge in terms of navigational friendliness and interactivity. Internal memory difference is minimal with the neoTouch sporting just 256 MB RAM where the HTC HD2 has twice that much. Other than these major differences, the two share the same technical specifications. They are both quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phones on the 2G network and a triband UMTS 3G phones with HSDPA/HSUPA for fast downloading over the internet.
All the other features like a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, VGA video recording, WiFi 802,11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP, USB and 3.5mm headphone ports and GPS are common hardware features between the two. With the same OS, you get true multitasking capability, social networking site integration, widgets on the home screens for instant application or site access, document viewing facilities and the same email client and Internet Explorer for browsing.
Battery life between the two are also nearly identical. The neoTouch does enjoy a smaller body and a lighter weight, making it more pocket-friendly than the larger HTC HD2.
Delivering More Value
It’s all up to the consumer if these differences matter when the time comes to shell out the money for either. The Acer neoTouch F1 is now available for just ₤295 or free with just a 2-year ₤25 monthly contract from mobile network carrier O2. Meanwhile the HTC H2 slated for market release by the first half of November this year and is anticipated to fetch a hefty price in the €550 – €600 range SIM-free or more than thrice the Acer neoTouch price.
The holiday season is about to start and with the neoTouch getting a marketing headstart over the HTC, we can almost predict a clear winner. Even if the HTC HD2 has its sights on the upscale market of loyal HTC fans, a smartphone like the neoTouch F1 with about the same features at a third of the price offers better value that just can’t be overlooked.
Acer, one of the giants in the computer industry, has just unveiled the world’s first Android-run Snapdragon Smartphone that can easily lay claim to being the most powerful mobile phone on the planet to date – the Acer Liquid A1. The reputation created comes from the use of the latest and most versatile Android 1.6 (donut) platform form Google that gets powered by an equally powerful Qualcomm 8250 CPU nicknamed Snapdragon.
While other leading mobile phone makers like HTC already has the same Snapdragon handsets like the HTC HD2, they run on the more resource-hungry Windows Mobile. HTC is said to be busy working on its next Android phone using the Snapdragon engine. Acerjust beat its compatriot to the market.
Promising Features
The new Liquid A1 promises to bring the mobile experience to new heights with the doubly powerful tandem of CPU and OS. The potential is there for upcoming phone apps that can further maximize the computing power and versatility of the Android running on the Snapdragon. As of this writing, the following software features from Acer and its partners will be bundled with the Liquid when it hits the world markets this coming November.
Battery life won’t get you beyond 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time. But the Liquid comes with an intelligent power management application that allows for software-assisted battery life extension.
Acer designed a proprietary user interface that allows instant access to your favorite online and social networking sites, office and entertainment apps and files with a single touch right form the homescreen. It comes with exclusive Acer-developed Spinlets that provide free audio and video content streaming from internet sites that you can share through posting on the net or as email attachments.
You also get phone integration between social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, and YouTube with the phonebook with realtime status updates. Its imaging functions gets a software-assisted camera that allows geo-tagging from its GPS application as well as accelerated auto-focusing. Talk about 3D in handsets has been on the rise lately. With the Android on the Snapdragon platform, Acer has the potential to bring 3D a reality in the mobile phone experience. Expect future graphics apps to make use of this potential.
Competitive Hardware Features
The Acer Liquid A1 is a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and a triband UMTS/3G phone with HSDPA/HSUPA data connectivity for a no-wait internet surfing and downloading. There’s WiFi 802/11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR for high speed local data access as well as high speed USB port. Sensors galore starting with ambient light for automatically adjusting display brightness with its surroundings.
Then there’s the usual accelerometer for automatic viewing tile according to handset orientation and a proximity sensor that turns off the touchscreen sensitivity when held against your face in a call. You get an upscale 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash. There are the usual media players that can play the popular audio and video content formats, Bluetooth 2 with A2DP for wireless stereo earphones, a stereo FM radio and 3.5mm headphone sockets. There’s 256 MB of RAM and 512 MB of ROM that can be expanded with a microSDHC slot for up to 32 GB of external memory.
Availability
Announced just in mid-October, expect the Acer Liquid A1 to arrive by November in time for holiday shopping. Acer is giving consumers a choice of body cover colors, black, white or red to further complement its sleek fluid body that has been ergonomically shaped to look exceptionally trendy while being comfortable in your palm. There’s still no pricing information, but expect it to be within the usual affordable pricing of Acer.
With Windows Mobile version 7 still lurking behind the shadows of Microsoft’s development offices, Acer has been busy making more mobile devices for the Window Mobile Professional 6.5. Seriously, we need version 7, no amount of version 6.5.1 or .2 or even .3 is not going to make a difference, the public is waiting and the delays are just making everyone more impatient. With that said, Acer designed some pretty interesting devices; let us just hope that they are all upgradeable to version 7 when it actually comes out.
The beTouch series is a set of three mobile devices. The beTouch E100 and beTouch E101 are 3G and 2G versions of what is practically the same mobile phone. The beTouch E200 on the other hand is the 3G version of the E100 series but only with a better camera and a nice slide out keypad. This is an advantage for the E200 since the beTouch line uses resistive touch screen technology instead of capacitive touch screen technology. Having a physical keypad takes away some of the reliance on needing to use a stylus all the time. The neoTouch is the fourth device for Acer in their Windows Mobile line, it acts as the high end smart phone in the set.
More Praise for the Slide Out Keypad
What makes a keypad so special that it deserves notable mention? There actually plenty of reasons. The first is mainly because having to rely on a stylus all the time is a real downer. Especially when you are on the go and you cannot afford to use both hands. The keypad itself looks stylish and contributes to the overall design of the device. Instead of having to be integrated into the look of the mobile phone, it seems more like the keypad actually belongs there. Another interesting thing to not is that the keypad itself has been designed to be easy to use. Each key gives a resounding click when pressed allowing you to get sufficient feedback nut not unnecessary noise. The metal finished grooves not only accentuate the black matte buttons, but they also give your fingers a guide to follow. Overall, the keypad is a sensible choice for the E200.
Technical Specifications
The Acer beTouch E200 has a 3 inch resistive touch screen capable of displaying 240 x 400 pixels of resolution. The input methods are touch screen and through the keypad and shortcut buttons on the face of the mobile phone. It runs Windows Mobile Professional 6.5 giving users access to Windows Mobile applications such as Outlook, Office, Media Player, Internet Explorer, Messenger and more. The Qualcomm MSM 7225 528 Mhz processor works nicely for this device giving it a smooth performance (though expect some noticeable loading times). The internal memory has 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM.
Network bands supported by the E200 are both 2G and 3G networks; internet connectivity options include 3G HSDPA, GPRS and EDGE. The device also has an A-GPS feature and we are looking forward to seeing what navigation applications will be present. The phone can play back most common video and music file formats, but music lovers will be disappointed to know that there is no 3.5mm audio jack. It does support Bluetooth allowing you to use your Bluetooth headset. Hopefully, a mini USB adapter will be enough to use your favorite head phones. The lack of an SD card slot also increases usage of the mini USB port.
External Features
Aside from the keypad, the backing of the E200 is also very impressive. It has a rubber finish allowing it to stick nicely on surfaces and still feel good to the touch. The screen is a fingerprint magnet, so you will be thankful for the stylus. Lastly, the 1140 mAh battery is pretty light making the phone easy to carry around.
Acer, the world’s leader in netbooks sales and a company that has very recently developed a huge liking with Android has finally detailed its Iconia Tab series, the A500, A100 and W500. This was done at Mobile World Congress yesterday.
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Acer may have yet to fully establish their selves in the portable electronics industry, but they are certainly making plenty of great phones and tablets. Despite their already impressive lineup of notebook computers, the strength and profit of the mobile industry is hard to deny.
For those who want to get the latest scoop on all of the biggest news stories of today, here’s a quick list of all the big headlines to keep you up to date.
The mid range market is where all the competition for sales is going to be and Acer is going to come out with guns blazing as they release the new beTouch series of Android smart phones. With stiff competition coming from more established mobile phone manufacturers such as 
The next smart phone is the 
Acer has got two different Android devices heading our way and from the looks of it, they are not just trying to outdo 
Who says you need to spend a fortune to get the best features on a smartphone? That may be true months ago, but not this time. The downward price trend in PC takes the same path with mobile phones. Enter the 
Acer, one of the giants in the computer industry, has just unveiled the world’s first Android-run Snapdragon Smartphone that can easily lay claim to being the most powerful mobile phone on the planet to date – the 
With Windows Mobile version 7 still lurking behind the shadows of Microsoft’s development offices, Acer has been busy making more mobile devices for the Window Mobile Professional 6.5. Seriously, we need version 7, no amount of version 6.5.1 or .2 or even .3 is not going to make a difference, the public is waiting and the delays are just making everyone more impatient. With that said,