Isaiah's Tech

It looks like the Acer F1 neoTouch is now available for £304 ($484 USD) on Expansys and for £294 ($468 USD) on Clove over in the UK. This is extremely cheap, seeing how this handset comes pre-installed with WinMo 6.5 and has a 3.8-inch touchscreen display with a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU.

[WMPowerUser]

It looks like Acer has decided to change the name of almost all of their upcoming handsets. The F1 will be named the Acer neoTouch; the C1 will be named the Acer beTouch E100; the E1 will be named the Acer beTouch E101; the L1 will be named the beTouch E200. Pretty interesting news and all of these handsets should be launching pretty soon - likely October 6th.

[WMPowerUser]

Clove has just announced that they are going to be releasing four new Acer handsets running Windows Mobile 6.5 very soon. The four Acer handsets will be the: E1, C1 (above on the left), L1, and the F1 (above on the right). The F1 is definitely the highest-end of the four, sporting: a 3.8-inch touchscreen WVGA display, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 5MP camera, WiFi, and a 1GHz CPU. All four of these devices are expected to launch on October 6th on Clove Technology.

[WMPowerUser]

This handset was good enough to make my top 10 phone list of 2009 and it looks like it will be launched soon. According to the latest unconfirmed new, the Acer F1 will be launching on October 6th with WinMo 6.5 pre-installed. Other specs include: a 3.8-inch touchscreen display with a 480 x 800 resolution, a 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, quad-band GSM / tri-band HSDPA connectivity, a 5MP AF camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, and GPS support. Although it's not mentioned, I'm pretty sure this handset has a microSD card slot.

The Acer F1 will supposedly launch for just 295 pounds (about $482 USD), which is pretty amazing considering the spec sheet. I think Acer is serious about being one of the top smartphone leaders of the world. It doesn't look like this phone will be launching as the Acer S200 like the rumour stated before.

[Unwired View]

The folks over at WMPowerUser came across a user manual for the Acer S200. The specs are below.

• *Qualcomm 8250, 1Ghz cpu !
• 512mb rom/256mb ram
• windows mobile 6.5 professional
• 3.8″ WVGA 480×800 resolution, 262k color support
• bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• wifi 802.11b/g
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• UMTS 900 (is this a mistake and not 850? The Acer F1 has 850!),
• UMTS 1900 (at least it got umts 1900 for usa! if you lucky enough to be in a AT&T 1900 umts area, 3G will works!)
• UMTS 2100
• 5 megapixel camera, auto-focus
• microSDHC support
• 1350mAh battery
• 118.6mm X 63mm x 12mm
• 130g with battery

Doesn't that look pretty familiar? It's almost identical to the specs of the Acer F1 handset. Either way, the Acer S200 / F1 is shaping up to be a great handset. The price and release date is still unknown, but let's hope it'll be available in less than three months.

[WMPowerUser]

This is what DigiTimes had to say. "Acer plans to launch four smartphones, the A1, C1/E1, F1 and L1, at the end of September and in the fourth quarter of this year, outsourcing the production to Taiwan-based Compal Communications and Inventec Appliances, according to sources at Taiwan handset component suppliers." Does that get you excited? The most exciting handset here could be the one pictured above, the Acer F1 with its Qualcomm 1GHz CPU. It could also be the Acer A1 (below) that runs Android.

Either way, 3 of the 4 smartphones launching from Acer run Windows Mobile and we should expect them all in the second half of this year.

[DigiTimes]

That's right! The Acer F1 that you see above was shown off at Computex rocking the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz CPU that is found in the almighty Toshiba TG01. This prototype was also running Windows Mobile 6.5 and has a 3.8-inch touchscreen display. The Acer F1 also keeps me smiling with its: 5MP AF camera with a flash, a 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS, WiFi, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA support. The F1 is said to be available by this Christmas and is definitely in my top 5 phones of the year. As of right now, the price hasn't been mentioned, but I have a feeling that it won't be cheap.

The Acer F900 smartphone is now available in the UK. It has: a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen display, HSDPA / HSUPA connectivity, and will run Windows Mobile 6.1. It also has: 3G, a 3MP camera, GPS, and could be upgradeable to WinMo 6.5, since it is clearly sporting a dedicated "Windows" key. The Acer F900 smartphone is now available for £429 ($709 USD) in the UK - and that's unlocked.

[Slash Gear (F1), Slash Gear (F900)]

Acer is actually looking quite strong this year with their new handsets. The only thing bringing them down is the fact that most of them are running on WinMo 6.1 - which is terrible. Acer mentioned today that they are aiming to be one of the top 5 smartphone vendors by 2012. That's a huge feat for them, but if they make it there I'd be happy for them. Before I talk about Acer's 8 new phones, I should inform you all that they mentioned that it is "likely" that we will see their Android phone by the end of this year and that's great news.

The 8 phones that have been announced for the Singapore market today is the: DX900 ($530 USD), DX650 ($397 USD), X960 ($463 USD), F900, M900, F1, L1, and C1. The DX900, DX650, and X960 are now available for the aforementioned price. The price for the F900 and the M900 have not been mentioned yet, but they are expected in May. The F1, L1, and C1 are also expected this year and one of these could be the so-called Android handset. We've already heard that the Acer A1 could be running Android and that it is expected this September, but Acer didn't mention it today so we'll just have to see what happens. On a side note, I wonder what happened to the Acer E1? Anyways, take a look at some specs below:

• 2.8“ WVGA touch screen
• Samsung SC3 6400 533 MHz Processor
• 256 MB Flash ROM, 128 MB SDRAM
• Dual-SIM with SIM 1 supporting HSDPA / UMTS 2100/1900/850 MHz and quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, and SIM 2 supporting GSM tri-band 900/1800/1900
• 1.3 megapixel autofocus camera, VGA front camera
• Wi-Fi, BT 2.0+EDR, GPS
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Pocket PC Phone edition with Spb Mobile Shell v2.1

• Dual-Face design with touchscreen on one side and keypad on the other
• 2.8“ QVGA touch screen
• Samsung SC3 6410 533 MHz Processor
• 256 MB Flash ROM, 128 MB SDRAM
• 2 megapixel fixed focus camera
• GPS, Wi-Fi, BT 2.0+EDR
• Windows Mobile 6.1 with Spb Mobile Shell v2.1
• Standby time 150h / Talk time: 4h

• Samsung SC3 6410 533 MHz Processor
• 256 MB Flash ROM, 128 MB SDRAM
• High speed HSPA connectivity
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera
• Wi-Fi, BT 2.0+EDR, GPS
• Windows Mobile 6.1, Outlook, Office, widget-based Acer Shell v2.0 UI

• Samsung SC3 6410 533 MHz Processor
• 256 MB Flash ROM, 128 MB SDRAM
• 3.8″ WVGA touch screen
• GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• HSDPA/HSUPA: 2100/1900/850 Mhz
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera
• Wi-Fi, BT 2.0+EDR, GPS
• Windows Mobile 6.1, Outlook, Office, widget-based Acer Shell v2.0 UI

• Physical QWERTY keyboard
• 3.8“ WVGA touch screen
• GSM/EDGE: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• HSDPA/HSUPA: 2100/1900/850 Mhz
• Fingerprint reader
• 5 megapixel auto-focus camera
• Wi-Fi, BT 2.0+EDR, GPS
• Windows Mobile 6.1, Outlook, Office, widget-based Acer Shell v2.0 UI

[Boy Genius, Engadget, ZDNet Blogs]

With recent rumours of an Acer A1 running Android to be released this September, the F1 may be one of the phones that will be released alongside the aforementioned A1. According to some newer rumours the pictured Acer F1 is said to be packing an 800MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It is a little bit slower than the speedy Toshiba TG01, but it's still quick. The F1 will be running on WinMo 6.5 and looks like it will be a full touchscreen. It's expected to be released for €560 ($760 USD) this September. I'm excited to see a full spec sheet on this device.

[Engadget]

Pictured above is the Acer C1 which could be one of Acer's phones expected to be released this year alongside their Android device. But according to Philippine Business Mirror, the Acer A1 is expected to run Android and is expected to be released in September of this year. It will launch alongside 3 other handsets which could include the C1 (pictured above), F1, E1, L1 or just about any other Acer handset. I hope the A1 is a nice-looking touchscreen phone because I don't want to see Android running on a crappy device. According to analysts, Android is going to surpass the iPhone's market share by 2012.

[Engadget]

LG recently announced that their first Android-running phone will be out by June. Another 2 Android phones will be released by the end of the year. There is no confirmed word yet, if it will be the LG KS360, but it could still be a possibility. LG should have made this switch sooner, since Windows Mobile 6.1 is full of fail. WinMo 6.5 should be a decent improvement though.

Skype has recently announced their partnership with Nokia. Skype will be implemented on Nokia's future "high-end smartphones, the N-series, and the N97, Nokia's flagship device that will go on sale in June." This would be good for me because Skype-to-Skype calls would still be free, which is amazing. Me and my girlfriend would be able to call each other all the time, even if she's on residence. Too bad the N97 is being delayed until June.

There will be a 24-hour return policy on Android apps that you buy, unlike Apple's app store. If you aren't satisfied, you will be able to return the app and, in the process, get your money back.

Acer's made a lot of buzz announcing that their will be 8 new smartphones from them this year, plus their 2 Android phones. The other 4 WinMo 6.1 phones are on an earlier blog post and the new 4 Acer smartphones are the: F1, C1, L1 and E1. Acer kept their mouth shut about most specifications and the prototypes at MWC were turned off. But, Engadget does know that the F1 (that is in the picture being compared to the iPhone) boasts a 5MP camera, but lacks the "Windows Mobile 6.5-required hardware Start button." For a gallery of the 4 Acer phones go here, via Engadget.

LG's Android Phone By June; 2 More Later (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/lg-plans-android-phone-by-june-two-more-by-end-of-year/
Skype and Nokia: http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=1546
Android Apps Return Policy: http://i.gizmodo.com/5155142/android-market-policy-details-you-can-return-apps
Acer's 4 Newer Phones (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/acers-four-other-phones-in-the-flesh-not-powered-on/