MOST ANDROID PHONES are much the same these days in terms of features, but it seems like Acer has decided to take the plunge and come up with something a little bit unusual with its next gen model, as it’ll feature a 4.8-inch screen with a 1024×480 resolution. However, that’s unlikely to be the only selling point of this yet-to-be-named-handset that should launch at an unspecified date.
The 21:9 aspect screen is a peculiar choice on what it something of a hybrid between a smartphone and a tablet. The handset measures 142x64x13.3mm (HxWxD) and weighs in at a fairly chunky 170g, a tradeoff for the large 4.8-inch screen. That’s still a fair bit smaller and lighter than Dell’s 5-inch Streak, albeit not quite as slim.
Acer has gone for a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, so it won’t have quite the same oomph as Acer’s new Android tablets. Other features include support for 14.4Mbit HSDPA, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and HDMI output. It will also sport a rear 8 Megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front facing 2 Mpegapixel camera. It also support DLNA and 6-axis motoin sensing thanks to a gyroscope and an accelerometer.
It looks like Acer might just have come up with a good compromise for those that can’t decide between a tablet and a smartphone, as the higher resolution, albeit very widescreen display, should at least allow for better readabilty of websites than your averge smartphone. It seems like we’re already getting a new type of convergence device before the tablet market has even had a chance to take off.S|A
