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Oct. 16, 2009

To most people, Acer is better known as a personal computer maker, but late yesterday the company said it is getting into the smartphone manufacturing business by announcing it is launching its first Android phone, the Acer Liquid.

Additionally, Acer also said it has joined the OHA (Open Handset Alliance), embracing open-source technology and the open source community as a whole.

Acer added that its new Liquid smartphone features Qualcomm's "Snapdragon" CPU.

The operating system runs on Android version 1.6 (Android Donut). The "Liquid" features a high-definition capacitive touch screen (WVGA) and integration of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Picasa and Flickr in the address book, with real-time notification of status or content updates.

Recently, Samsung, Motorola and HTC have all unveiled important new Android MIDs (mobile internet devices). What's more, the European OEM INQ, as well as South-Korea's Kyocera have all announced plans to move forward with the Android OS.

Acer didn't provide any additional details as to overall specifications, availability or pricing.

With the recent release of a netbook running the Android platform, it's now becoming very clear that Acer is interested in grabbing a piece of the wireless market with its introduction of the Liquid.

Acer's new Liquid smartphone is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Acer took more than one wireless industry analyst by surprise with these news, especially since the company never manifested its interest for the mobile segment until yesterday.

Now, it's a 'fait accompli'.

It will be interesting to see if other PC manufacturers follow in Acer's footsteps. So far, HP has no plans of joining the smartphone bandwagon, but then again, will they be using a page of Acer?

As for Dell, there aren't that many details to be found so far, but sources claim that it's codenamed "Fly Smarphone" will have Windows Mobile 6, HSDPA and possibly even a Qwerty keyboard.

In a market largely dominated by the iPhone and the Blackberry, we'll just have to see what Dell needs to do to bring something new to this segment.

As we've said before, there's no question anymore that the wireless segment is getting increasingly more competitive as each day goes by, and will most likely continue to grow at an even faster rate.

As always, we will keep you posted.

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Source: Acer.