Acer revs up Android with new smartphones

Acer's Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition runs Android 2.1

Acer has entered the local smartphone market in a big way with five new handsets available, all running variations of Google's Android operating system.

The Liquid E and Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition, the beTouch (E120 and E130) and Stream smartphones represent a new direction for the Taiwanese computer maker, which has talked about Android handsets for some time.

Some of the handsets feature Dual-SIM functionality, a feature lacking in most of the Android devices available thus far in Australia.

The handsets run either Android 1.6 ‘Donut’ or Android 2.1 ‘Éclair’, which Acer says is upgradeable to 2.2 ‘Froyo’.

All handsets feature GSM, 3G, HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth for connectivity, with the Stream also offering HDMI for TV-out.

Ferrari fans will find the Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition handset attractive with the design following Acer’s Ferrari notebook concept of a few years ago.

With a 3.5-inch capacitive screen, the phone has a red finish and a mirror black effect on the face.

“The ‘Scuderia Ferrari’ shield with surrounding carbon fiber and the speaker designed like an air intake,” according to Acer.

Under the hood, the Ferrari Special Edition has a 768MHz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM.

Other features include a five megapixel camera, Microsoft Exchange Server support and Documents To Go in addition to all the standard Google and Android Market apps.

Acer has also released a Ferrari-branded Bluetooth headset that complements the phone.

The phones range in price from $399 for the E120 to $999 for the Ferrari Special Edition.

Acer has not released any details of carrier partnerships so the phones are currently being sold outright.

Rodney Gedda is Editor of TechWorld Australia. Follow Rodney on Twitter at @rodneygedda. Rodney's e-mail address is rodney_gedda@idg.com.au. Follow TechWorld Australia on Twitter at @Techworld_AU.

• Bookmark this page
• Share this article
  •  
  • facebook
  • slashdot
  • digg
  • Reddit
  • stumbleupon
  • linkedin
  • twitter
• Got more on this story? Email TechWorld
• Follow TechWorld on twitter

• Share
  Share this article

  •  google+
  • facebookfacebook
  • slashdotslashdot
  • diggdigg
  • RedditReddit
  • stumbleuponstumbleupon
  • linkedinlinkedin
  • twittertwitter
• print
• email
• Bookmark