BARCELONA, Spain - In an ambient of colour at the Casa Batiló, Acer announced its first phones, product of the acquisition of E-Ten for US$291m in March 2008. All the devices unveiled, half yet unnamed, will run on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, while few will be Windows Mobile 6.5-capable.
Acer also plans to release more mobile phones this year, some will run on alternative operating systems, Acer's Senior Corporate Vice President and President of Smart Handheld, Business Group, Aymar de Lencquesaing, revealed at the press conference. It is not clear whether all will be part of the Tempo Smartphone Series, but the company has made it clear that its entrance in the mobile phone market will only involve smartphones.
The phones announced yesterday are clearly following HTC's strategy: feature-packed devices with Windows Mobile, glossy-stylish, but quite bulky. All the devices also have Office Mobile, A-GPS, and a touchscreen display.The Taiwanese computer giant, who is the third largest PC vendor in the global market, calls the smartphones industry "a game". Acer is the second largest notebook vendor in the world, and wishes to become the largest of them all. In regards to the smartphone market, Acer wishes to become one of the top five, in five years time, a feat which is quite difficult, considering the late entrance to the market, and the one-way approach.
"The smartphone market is the natural direction of our long term mobile strategy as our ambition is to offer compelling solutions to all the needs of mobile users. Our experience has given us the ability to listen to the market, but also the capacity to anticipate it. We're not only spectators of consumers lives; we're active participants in their desires and choices," states Gianfranco Lanci, President and CEO of Acer Inc. "This proactive approach of listening and responding will make our mission of breaking barriers between people and technology more real than ever. We're just taking on another dimension."
Acer's Lencquesaing said that "it feels as giving birth in Barcelona," as the company has been working on the mobile phones for about nine months. He stated that the smartphone will end up replacing the feature-phone, and that he considers the smartphone market an opportunity, but a challenge too.
Emerging markets are going to be addressed with specific devices only for these markets, a warning to competitors that Acer is coming in tough.
In order to succeed in this market, Acer reckons that it is important to provide a good battery life, storage, quality of the camera, and confidentiality of data. All these are important factors that Acer plans on addressing.
The company went as far as saying that it pretends to "become the leader in the mobile data market," as mobile data is Acer's DNA. Lencquesaing talked about a division in the smartphone market, where there are three type of users: trendy and demanding, pragmatic ones, and stylish and up-to-date.
"Today's consumers want their devices with them at all times to stay in touch with friends and family, be available for work or just to have fun. The great success of the netbook confirms this trend, which we believe will be sustained by strong adoption of smartphones as well" said Lencquesaing. "According to our research, usage-driven attitudes can explain the differences between consumers more so than geographical or cultural backgrounds. It is therefore necessary to personalize products according to consumer needs, while reflecting preferences in style and usage at the regional level."
Four mobile phones where officially announced, while other fou are in the naming process. The Acer M900, X960, DX900, and F900 are the company's first mobile phones. Information on the phones codenamed C1, E1, F1 and L1 will be provided in the future. Besides these devices, more will be announced Q4 2009, most probably running on Google Android.
The Acer M900 features HSDPA, a 3.8" WVGA touchscreen, an embedded fingerprint sensor, FM Radio, memory card support, and a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. The M900 portrays a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
The Acer F900 also has a 3.8" WVGA touchscreen, FM Radio, and memory card support. It brings a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, the new Internet Explorer 6 which supports JavaScript and FlashLite, and it has 3.75G HSDPA/HSUPA, as well as Wi-Fi.
The Acer X960 has a smaller 2.8" VGA touchscreen, it has a widget-based user interface, and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash.
The last official phone of the night, the Acer DX900 is a rebranded E-Ten Glofish. When approach by the question of rebranding, Lencquesaing did not wish to comment, but said that whatever E-Ten was, is now Acer, but they will obviously respect registered property.
This phone is the world's first dual-SIM-capable smartphone featuring HSDPA and EDGE SIM cards. The DX900 has a 2.8" VGA touchscreen, a flight mode button, memory card support, and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash.
Both the F900 and the F1 are 12mm only in thickness, even though quite bulky in width and length, just like the other phones in this line-up.
There is no indication on which alternative operating system Acer plans to use, whether it is the buzz-generating open-source Google Android platform, Symbian, or even LiMo, but it is likely to be Google Android for its hype.
The Samsung i200 smartphone had been heard of in February, but now it's officially released under the...
MoreOn 7th April 2009
Nokia plays peacock, and picks a fine time to spread its feathers! In one of the most visible product...
MoreOn 7th April 2009
BARCELONA, Spain - The General Mobile DSTL1 Imaginary is the first mobile phone based on Google Andro...
MoreOn 7th April 2009
A leaked demo video on the E71 and E72 has been spotted by a member of the Symbian Freak forums. The ...
MoreOn 7th April 2009
Nokia's unofficial QWERTY-containing E75 smartphone has been once again spotted in the wild. The hand...
MoreOn 7th April 2009
MWC: Panasonic docomo PRIME series P-01A Review BARCELONA, Spain - Panasonic showcased ten mobile phones at the Mobile World Congress, along with a Super 3G (LTE) base station and a femtocell base station. The Panasonic P-01A was one of the highlights of the demonstration. The docomo PRIME...More
Review: Nokia E71 - Captain of the Industry HISTORY Email access is arguably the biggest "killer app" of the smartphone era. It allows direct communication and file transfer anywhere a network connection is present, taking business out of the boardroom and giving it more agility, global...More
In search of the best office platform for S60 Microsoft Office is a widely-used platform for office applications such as word processor, spreadsheet and slide presentations. I consider myself a heavy MS Office user. At work I need to create and edit Power Point and Excel files as they are my...More
HTC Dream G1, Android Market announced The most awaited phone of the last six months, or better, the most awaited mobile phone operating system of the last six months, Google Android has been launched in a mobile phone, which is the HTC Dream G1. The 3.2" touchscreen device with HVGA...More
Update your smartphone to Windows Mobile 6.1! This is one thing that Symbian consumers cannot do, which is update their Operating System. Of course, this update is not available for all Windows Mobile smartphones, but what counts is that some of them can do it. This is better than just a...More
Meraj’s (must have) Nokia N95 applications! - Part 2 This is the continuation of a long application review that I started few days ago. In this edition I will talk about: Opera Mini Lightsabre Inclinometer Unyverse Nokia Energy Profiler Opera Mini review I've been using it since my first colour...More
Second Acer Phone Surfaces Ahead of MWC Yet another phone has been leaked from Taiwanese PC vendor Acer, which has been preparing for an announcement on day 1 of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Acer had purchased handset manufacturer E-Ten in March 2008 for US$291m. Earlier this...More
Nokia E75 – The Latest Instalment of E-series The yet-unannounced Nokia E75 is the Finnish-giant's first slide-out keyboard-phone, and is also the latest instalment to the E-series phones portfolio. The promotional video was leaked last year, but since then not much information has been...More
HTC CEO: HTC Android Phone Coming Tomorrow BARCELONA, Spain - HTC CEO Peter Chou has disclosed to PhoneReport that the upcoming Google Android-based HTC mobile phone is launching tomorrow at the Mobile World Congress. At a packed press conference, where the company unveiled two mobile...More
HTC Touch Pro2, Touch Diamond2 Make a Debut BARCELONA, Spain - HTC has officially announced the upgrades to the successful Touch Pro and Touch Diamond devices, and has ressurected the tilting display from the TYTN II. Taiwanese High-Tech Computer also launched the Push Internet concept on...More
12 Megapixel Sony Ericsson Could Be a Xperia X2 BARCELONA, Spain - A Sony Ericsson spokesperson has told PhoneReport that the smartphone codenamed Idou, which features a 12 megapixel camera, might not belong to the Cyber-shot series. The spokesperson said that as the Idou represents everything...More
Acer Enters Smartphone Market with Microsoft OS BARCELONA, Spain - In an ambient of colour at the Casa Batiló, Acer announced its first phones, product of the acquisition of E-Ten for US$291m in March 2008. All the devices unveiled, half yet unnamed, will run on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1...More
Nokia Releases its Version of the AppStore BARCELONA, Spain - Nokia announced yesterday the availability of their software distribution program at the Mobile World Congress. The new service will be named Ovi Store and will be first available on the Nokia N97. The new service will be...More
HTC Unveils Second Android-based Smartphone BARCELONA, Spain - Vodafone and HTC today unveiled the HTC Magic, the network's first Android-powered phone, and the manufacturer's second. The Magic will retail initially in UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR), and non-exclusively in Italy. The...More
Huawei Secretive on its First Android-based Phone BARCELONA, Spain - Huawei had announced that it will display its first Google Android-based smartphone at the Mobile World Congress. It is currently showcasing it, but behind closed glass. The phone, which is yet unnamed, is somewhat similar to the...More