June 3, 2009 by Tap
I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself when back at the end of January I speculated that Acer may be the next manufacturer to join the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). Since then we've had all kinds of rumours and speculation about a 2009 release of an Android phone by the company, the most recent being that an announcement was expected in September.
This may well prove to be true as it seems that Acer is gearing up for something Android-related as they officially confirm their membership of the OHA. This comes as they issue a formal press release in which they demonstrate their "support for Android as an open mobile platform and its commitment to Android's commercial success." Well it's about time. Now can we have an Acer Android phone please?
That said, I am in two minds about an Acer phone. I've always been a fan of Acer – good value for money kit (I'm actually typing this on an Acer laptop now) but I'm beginning to wonder if the 'value' approach is a bit of a false economy. My current laptop (my second Acer) seems to exhibit some rather strange behaviour, occasionally shutting down as a result of what I suspect is overheating. Until recently I also had an Acer LCD TV which mysteriously died in what seemed like seconds after the 1 year warranty had expired. Let's just hope their phones perform better.
April 21, 2009 by Tap
Back in December last year when Sony Ericsson joined the Open Handset Alliance, the company’s head of Creation and Development, Rikko Sakaguchi, had this to say: "Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the Open Handset Alliance offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver."
A few months on and we are still waiting for this unique experience which it seems won't be coming any time soon. That's according to Chief Executive Hideki Komiyama who, in an interview with Reuters, said that Android "does require a lot of evaluation, as well as a lot of testing, a lot of acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, and there is still some time to go."
So does that mean Sony Ericsson is actually working on a new Android phone or is the company too busy fire fighting just to stay afloat? I understand the need for evaluation and thorough testing but that doesn’t seem to have stopped HTC from releasing two phones already - granted they have been OHA members a lot longer. As for acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, I think T-Mobile's successful launch of the G1 phone should go a long way to confirming that.
Given Sony Ericssons' financial woes of late it's not surprising that they haven't been too keen to take a risk on Android but let's hope they finally bite the bullet. Of course I'm speaking entirely as an Android fan and it's not to say that releasing an Android phone is going to turn things around for the company, it's just that I'd like to see something like the X1 running Android.
Source: Reuters
January 29, 2009 by Tap
Could Acer be the next manufacturer to join the Open Hanset Alliance? This comes in the wake of news that Acer is to reveal a smartphone at this year's Mobile World Congress. It seems Pocket-lint were fortunate enough to receive an invite which in itself doesn't give away much but does include the text 'smartphones launch'.
Up until this point, Acer and Microsoft have been best of friends so assuming Windows Mobile as an OS would have been a safe bet but given the growing popularity of Android, could it be possible that Acer could finally be coming onboard. I guess we'll have to wait until next month to find out.
Via: Pocket-lint