Acer Shows Off Liquid Smartphone

Acer has demonstrated its upcoming smartphone called the Liquid, just days after Michael Dell confirmed his company would ship a new smartphone in 2010.

Acer said Liquid will be the first of a number of devices to pair Google’s Android 1.6 operating system, aka “Donut,” with Qualcomm’s zippy Snapdragon processor.

The Snapdragon processor will also be featured in HTC’s HD2 smartphone, where it will be paired with Microsoft’s Windows 6.5, and Toshiba also paired Snapdragon with Windows in its TG01 smartphone.

The Acer Liquid will have a WVGA touch screen and a camera (which some sources say is 5 megapixels) with geotagging, ISO for controlling film speeds, self-timer options and auto-focus. A new user interface is said to offer access to entertainment options and bookmarks in a more helpful manner. It also comes with smarter power management to extend battery life.

“Acer Liquid provides instant access to web pages, smooth streaming of videos or music, and instant response from popular mail, maps and search applications,” Acer wrote in an introduction posted online. “The high-speed processing capability and high-speed Internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragon [bring] to life the Android experience: no idle time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia contents.”

The Liquid’s address book integrates with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Picasa and Flickr for real-time status and content updates, and an application called Spinlets provides free streaming music and video that can be shared through email or web posts.

Liquid will come in red, white and black, and Acer said the smartphone was designed to be ergonomic. However, the company was less forthcoming about Liquid’s price and when and where it will be available.

PC maker Acer is perhaps best known for starting the netbook trend. Its move deeper into the smartphone space comes at a time when Dell is also expanding its business to include smartphones and phone maker Nokia has jumped into the PC arena with its Booklet 3G netbook.

Acer has also introduced two new laptops – the first Aspire with a touch screen and an 11.6-inch Timeline. Both feature Intel processors and the Windows 7 operating system.