Acer mobile phone news from Mobile World Congress 2010

Not the most noted name in the manufacturing and selling of mobile handsets, Acer have announced a range of high end smartphone products at this years Mobile World Congress that are worth noting. Running on either Android or Windows Mobile, these devices deliver high end specification and serve to further enhance Acer’s growing reputation.

The first of the two Android devices is the Acer beTouch E400. Running on Android 2.1, the beTouch E400 has a large, 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen, and the Android operating system has been tweaked with the Acer UI. The E400 has a built in GPS receiver with aGPS support and includes a digital compass. The beTouch is a well connected handset, offering standard HSDPA at 3.6 Mbps and HSUPA at 384 kbps, and there is also WiFi and Bluetooth onboard.

A capable media device, the handset has a stereo FM radio and full featured music player, and there is a 3.5mm audio output jack. Messaging is covered with support for multiple email accounts, and the Pocket Office application for editing and viewing attachments comes pre-installed. Imaging seems a bit weak on the phone, in comparison with other recently announced phones, with a 3.2 Megapixel camera on board, it remains to be seen whether it provides acceptable pictures. The beTouch E400 should be available to market during April.

The second Android device has a slightly lower specification than the E400. The Acer beTouch E110 is smaller and lighter, and includes a 2.8 inch TFT resistive touchscreen display. It also runs on an older version of Android, version 1.5, it is not yet clear if the device can be upgraded after purchase to a more recent version. There is still the same 3.2 Megapixel camera, but whilst the E110 supports 3G+ Mobile Broadband like the E400, the E110 does not offer WiFi. Other features on the E110 seem to match its big brother, so we find support for social networking, multiple email accounts, and the Pocket Office application for viewing and editing email attachments. The Acer beTouch E110 should be available to buy from March.

Moving over to Windows Mobile now, Acer has two devices running on Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the first we are going to look at is the Acer neoTouch P400. The device appears to be a Windows Mobile version of the beTouch E400, so the spec list is pretty similar. The same HVGA 3.2 inch touch display is included, and the P400 also runs on the same processor. Support for GPS with aGPS is included, as is a digital compass, and there is even the same 3.2 Megapixel camera. Connection options on the P400 include Bluetooth, HSPA for high speed uploads and downloads, and the P400 includes WiFi 802.11 b/g in its arsenal. The device can handle multiple email accounts as well as push email, and the built in document viewer also allows you to edit email attachments. The neoTouch P400 is expected to be available from May.

Lastly we have the Acer neoTouch P300, a smart looking Windows Mobile device, with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The QWERTY keys are illuminated to help with typing in poor light conditions, and there is a strong emphasis on productivity and messaging. The Pocket Office application allows you to work on the road, and the device can handle multiple email accounts and also offers push email. Social networking is tightly focussed on the phone, and connectivity is well covered, with support for WiFi, HSDPA, and Bluetooth. As we know, all work and no play is no fun at all; to cover this, the neoTouch P300 includes a full media player, and there is a 3.2mm audio jack, plus support for Bluetooth connectivity. The camera, as with the previous handsets, is a 3.2 Megapixel imaging device, the handset also includes GPS with aGPS support for accessing location based services. The neoTouch P300 is expected to be available in March.

This is a strong set of handsets from Acer, and although the name may not be big in mobile phones, with handsets like these that may be set to change.