The Taiwan-based computer maker Acer has yet to stun the mobile phone community with a smartphone that can really outshine competing handsets from the major brands. But it looks like it has a landmark mobile phone about to be released before the holidays the Acer Liquid A1.  Acer just jumped the gun and beat a few major brands to come out with the world’s first Android smartphone using Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon processor.  also the first Android phone to sport a wide-VGA screen.  Poor Sony Ericsson will have to wait its turn to have a crack at the Android Snapdragon after the holidays as its XPERIA X10 just missed it.

Android Donut at this Best

Android fans had been hoping Acer would use the new Android 2.0 platform which is now being harnessed by all Android phone makers.  But just like Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, you still get the older 1.6 version.  That’s why the Liquid A1 won’t be coming out with LED flash on its otherwise exquisite 5 megapixel autofocus camera.  The Android 1.6 just doesn’t support it.  But no matter, the A1 still sports upscale features that put it up there among the flagship smartphones, Android or not.

Hardware-wise, you get a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and3G/UMTS with HSPA data connectivity at 7.2 Mbps for a no-waiting internet surfing.  There’s a gorgeous 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen TFT LCD display with wide VGA resolution (800 x 480 pixels).

Incidentally, the A1 gets the crown as the world’s first Android hone with a wide VGA screen.  Then there’s the usual accelerometer standard on touchscreen monoblock bodies for that auto-rotating landscape or portrait viewing according to the handset’s orientation.

Local data connectivity is served with its WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets.  Internal memory maybe on the low side at 256MB ROM and 512MB RAM but its microSD expandability for up to 32GB should take care of all your media rich contents while on the road.

Software-wise, it seems Acer is leveraging its computer-making expertise to bring the A1 to near-desktop quality computing.  For starters, it boasts a synchronization features that is unique in the industry where you can sync your handset with your PC from either Bluetooth or WiFi.  Then there’s the ability to sync your calendar, contacts and messages with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook as well as automatically upload your audio and video files online in YouTube and Google’s Picasa, making them your virtual remote media back-ups.

Availability

The online mobile community has long speculated the Acer Liquid A1 to command an upscale price for having pioneering Android features and being the world’s first in many ways. November 28 will see the first batch shipped to consumers if you pre-order now on Clove website.  Never mind that it still has the old Android 1.6 Donut. We’re keeping our finger crossed that Acer will have an upgrade path to the Android 2.0 early next year.

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