Acer to offer free smartphones in the US
If you followed our coverage of MWC this past week, odds are you were just as unimpressed with Acer’s showing as we were. To recap quickly, the company announced a handful of Windows Mobile handsets that were decent efforts but offered nothing in the way of innovation or even differentiation. Touchscreens, Windows Mobile, a UI band-aid, etc. According to a report from PCMag however, our interest in Acer’s new gear may have just been kicked up a notch. What did the trick? A single word — “free”. The report quotes Aymar de Lencquesaing, President of Acer’s Smartphone Unit, as stating the company is working with AT&T and T-Mobile to offer its handsets for free on contract in the US.
While it remains true that none of Acer’s newly-unveiled handsets are smartphones we would actively seek out, the free element completely changes things. As US carrier interest in netbooks continues to increase, Acer plans to use its position in the netbook market as leverage to gain carrier adoption of its smartphones. Smooth. If Acer can indeed manage to pull it off and hock its smartphone wares in the US with no upfront cost, a whole new demographic would have access to fairly well-equipped smartphones – good news all around. Of course we would expect Acer’s Windows Mobile 6.1-powered Tempo line to be the only range of handsets that might come in for free any time soon, with choices from its C1, E1, F1 and L1 possibly being introduced further down the line as Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets begin to launch. Would any of you get reeled in by a Tempo with a $0 entry fee?
[Via Unwired View]
If you’ve ever owned an Acer product then you know why they’re going for free. The quality and build is not there. They should merge with Phillips and create the ultimate pile of junk.
The DX900 doesnt look half bad. If i could get that for free and it has good hardware acceleration, I would probably lose my fuze
DX900
• Physical Qwerty keyboard
• 3.8“ WVGA touch screen
• Fingerprint reader
• 5 MP autofocus camera
• HSPA, WiFi, BT
• Windows Mobile 6.1, Outlook, Office
• Standby time 160h / Talk time: 5h
This wont work, heres why, while the “cheap cost conscious consumer” loves the idea of a “free” windows mobile based smartphone, they WILL NOT AND ARE NOT interetsed in monthly data fees. It really is that simple.
I kind of wish they’d price them REALLY aggressively unlocked/without a contract. If I could buy one for a reasonable sum, say $100 to $150 bucks – and plug it in to my existing ATT account without re-newing a contract, that would be at least a little appealing.
Me, my family, and a friend of mine own 5 acer computers and they all have held up very strong. Not a single issue. Mine and my friends laptops are around 2-2 1/2 years old and still running strong. The other three are 2 laptops and a desktop. No issues. I would consider one if the reviews came out and they could play video’s without an issue. As much as i like my g1, i do miss windows mobile but not willing to get rid of 3g with t-mobile. Please t-mobile!! Get a 3g windows mobile with keyboard and 3g! and throw in uma for good measure.
The price is absolutely right: ‘free’. They just hit my sweet spot. I would definitely get one!
Acer laptops have worked fine for myself, father, and co-workers. I don’t know why all the bashing… They’re getting real smartphones down to price points your average consumer can afford. Maybe the carriers will drop data plan prices as the number of smartphone users increase. It’s a good thing.
its really smart IMO… why try to beat apple and htc on a higher level when you can come up strong from the bottom… its a great marketing scheme on their part
Dad works at M$ and says acer laptops are diesel.
I started laughing at the beginning of the video below of the Acer phone:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/acer-f900-m900-x960-and-dx900-hands-on-with-video/
It looks like crap.
I guess if these were free on contract, and I didn’t know any better, I would probably get one. But I’ve been telling people for over 9 months not to get a WM6 phone. The OS is ancient and outdated.
My acer netbook is great! I would take one of those phones for free well all except that really thick one lmao
I think the model with the qwerty keyboard and big screen is the M900.
The “widgets” home screen seems a bit janky but otherwise these seem like reasonably solid options for WM fans (yes there are some) who want to get a big screen at no up front cost.
if these were cheap with tmo 3g and unlocked i’d prob pick one up.
anyone else thinks the cellphone is going to be more expensive than an acer netbook.
If they did, it would stink so bad that people would be staying away in droves. Oh, wait… they already are.
Free, eh? I’m sure the required data plan will be priced accordingly for them to profit. Nothing like being locked into a contract with a crap phone though.
You only pay for quality once!
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).
If they would com in cdma flavor for Sprint, cool
I like the specs of the M900. WM6.1 is good enough to begin with. WM6.5 can play flash in PIE. Otherwise, it appears to be mostly window dressing.
I want an inexpensive WM phone with: 1) a QWERTY keyboard; 2) a large screen; and 3) UMTS 850, 1700, 1900, and 2100 bands. So I can run on AT&T or T-Mobile.
Wifi would be nice too. Sign me up.
@ chaotix if people shouldnt wm what should we get.. i mean there is android, bb, and palm emulation.. the iphone isnt a smartphone.. my 3 yr old samsung had a full html browser and any iphone feature.. multi touch doesnt make your phone better than all.. my touch pro froze on me yesterday.. not because wm is slow because wm multitasks and i had 8 apps running at once.. i know u itards dont kno anything about that.. does the iphone even have 8 useful apps.. like real life useful..
You “hawk” wares, you don’t “hock” them.
Have an Acer tm8204 laptop & is the most badass portable I have used. (After adjusting to the “different” keyboard) My experience includes some very sturdy (IBM) ThinkPads & bus class Compaq N-series. With user upgrades my pc is still a very powerful portable device. (64bit Core2, 4g mem, bigger/faster HDD)
In short I have had no issues with hardware quality & only caution against dealing with their tech support. Have heard they are some of the worst in the industry.
So as long as the phone is (tech)supported by the carrier I would consider them on the same level as any other HW mfg.