By Here we are, just a few leaks later: Acer’s just announced the existence of the Acer Liquid Metal. We got an early look at the specs inside this thing before, but we can confirm that every bit of what we’ve heard has turned out to be true. It’ll have a 3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen, an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor, WiFi N, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, video recording at 720p, and all of the other usual suspects.
The UI on top of this is being called Breeze UI. It brings with it apps like SocialJogger that aggregates your Twitter and Facebook feeds into one package (a trend that’s been around for a while, now.) What stands out to me is the ability to play your music with EQ profiles and Dynamic Bass Boost thanks to Dolby.
One thing I didn’t really like, though, is that it looks like the notification and app drawer have been consolidated into one item and placed at the bottom of the screen. If these press pics are anything to go by, there’s no obvious way to handle notifications. I’m sure there is a way, but until we see some video of it in action, I’m lost.
The device will be offered in two colors – silver and brown – for £299 mid-November in the United Kingdom. Read on for the press details.
Acer Liquid Metal:
Pure technology combing power and styleLondon, 29th October 2010 – The Acer Liquid Metal is the latest generation of Acer smartphones, featuring the best solutions currently available on the mobile market. Designed for all those who live a modern, dynamic, and fully integrated lifestyle, this is the perfect tool to meet the growing need to be connected anytime and anywhere. Thanks to extremely quick web surfing and an incomparable use of multimedia contents, these dreams become reality.
When we speak about technological evolution, Acer is always one step ahead thanks to its proven capacity to translate the most sophisticated technological innovations into products that are easy to use. Moulding the most advanced technologies and integrating them into the latest smartphone is the logical consequence.
Style and elegance characterise the soft, sinuous, and curvy design for the perfect grip. Liquid Metal is equipped with a rounded 3.6″ display especially studied to grant a truly sensational visualization. The materials selected, like the stainless steel of the battery cover, are solid and resistant and the chrome trims give a sense of high quality for extreme tactile and visual pleasure. As in the entire Acer Liquid series, we find the LED signals on the upper part of the telephone notify the user of missed calls, the need to charge the battery, and new incoming messages clearly.
Liquid Metal steps on the gas, ensuring higher speed in all activities, especially in navigating the web, thanks to the combination of:
– the Qualcomm 7230 800 MHz process for lightning fast navigation
– Android Froyo that responds at a speed 5 times faster than earlier versions
– the new browser that enables you to open Internet pages more quickly, thanks to Flash support and the optimization of the JavaScript engine
– Connectivity that is super fast both at home or while travelling, thanks to the WiFi n[1] and HSDPA 14.4Mbps[2]
– with the multitouch function, resizing web pages, photos, or maps is easier than ever.Liquid Metal also brings the best multimedia experience and entertainment.
– Record video in HD at 720p (30fps) and watch more high-resolution videos in Xvid format
– Take photos with the 5MP A/F camera enhanced with LED flash, image stabilizer, and facial and smile recognition
– Enjoy the thrilling audio brought by the Dolby Surround technology and customize the sound you hear with the EQ profiles and Dynamic Bass Boost.Liquid Metal shows its excellence not only in its style and power, but brings delightful user experience by the intuitive interface and software developed by Acer.
– Breeze, the new Acer user interface was developed to manage applications even more easily. Information is visible even when the screen is locked; view the application history and quickly start up your most used appliations; customize your homescreen as you like it and re-arrange the way you access your favourite applications according to your own specific needs
– Acer SocialJogger Application aggregates your Facebook and Twitter feeds, allowing you to surf through the updates with the trackwheel, receive updates directly through the dedicated widget on the homescreen, and comment or share directly from the user-friendly interface.Liquid Metal is transformed into a true wireless server for all your home devices through DLNA/UPnP technology. All the multimedia content memorized on the smartphone can be shared with your PC, TV or game console. Moreover, it is capable of providing your computer an Internet connection via USB. This is truly useful for travelling by train or when on vacation. The Acer EasyLink PC software is free of charge and even enables a protected Internet connection (https).
Do you want even more? This smartphone of the latest generation can become a WiFi hotspot for all enabled devices, so as to connect them to the Internet via the Liquid Metal 3G connection.[1] With WiFi n, Liquid Metal is 10 times faster than previous devices
[2] With HSDPA, Liquid Metal is 2 times faster than previous devices
The Liquid Metal will be offered in two colours: silver and brown for a SRRP of £299 inc Vat. The brown will be available first from mid November with the silver arriving in early December.
its oooogly
Acer have not played this Android game very well have they? lol
Messing with the UI is a dangerous business that can easily backfire. There is a huge market for stock Android devices, so why handset makers insist on wasting money on something that slows their delivery to market and doesn’t appeal to many of their customers is a mystery.
@Eddie: Acer has played the Android game better than any other manufacturer out there. Low price, high speced phones. Easy to root/unlocked bootloader. While it took a while for the Liquid to get 2.1, leaks by Acer were available for a long time. And while 2.2 is yet to be released for the Liquid, leaks by Acer are available on the net.
Keep in mind that this phone is 300 pounds and has the same specs of the G2/Desire Z AND IT IS BETTER LOOKING.
The Acer UI is very intuitive. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer standard Android UI but the Acer one is pretty cool. The good thing about Acer phones (at least for the Liquid 2.2 and Stream. If this trend continues with Liquid Metal, then the phone will be great) is that you can always turn off the Acer UI and go back to standard Android UI in the applications menu.
Tom Robson: Is it really a mystery? It seems obvious to me. Whilst we might not neccessarily like them all, there’s no point manufacturors just selling stock phones to people, because then all it comes down to is pure aesthetics and who can shave a few pence off the identical components they’re all putting in them. The UI is one of the few areas where companies can differentiate themselves.
When the Hero came out, the first non-stock Android device, a lot of commentators said this was the point that Android came of age, because it offered up greater number of features than just stock Android could. That’s become less and less the case as time’s gone on, but still, in a market crowded with identically specc’d phones with identical operating systems, I don’t think it’s that hard to work out why they play with the UI.
Seems that one point is being missed out –
Applications can be accessed from lock screen itself, as pointed out in the press release. I suppose the pic above is of the locked screen nd I bet the UI would be a lot different when unlocked, notification bar, widgets, etc. in proper place. And at this price point, specs definitely are perfect, a steal actually.
@Vicas
Actually the picture above IS of the UI itself. This is the same UI available on the Acer Stream and Acer Liquid 2.2 and can be turned off to access regular Android UI (hopefully the Metal keeps this tradition)
There are no widgets on the main screens, all widgets are on the lock screen (added through an application called “Widget” and can be modified through an app called “Home Decor”. The lock screen also has a flip paper type effect
The top part, slide left for recent apps, slide right for media with areas for gallery/music/movies (cover flow format)
You pull up the dock, the dock moves to the top and all apps are organized in pages with the notification bar on the bottom of the screen.
The notification bar IS like that. It is nothing like the Android notification bar. You click on the notification bar (time), you see all your e-mails/SMS/missed calls/clock/alarm clocke, swipe right (or click on the right half of notification bar), you get your power controls (WiFi/Bluetooth/ringer volume/vibrate/battery %).
You can check out a cool video exploring this UI here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJS85gPLhR0