SmartPhones

One of the new smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.5 to be released in concord with the WinMo update's release is the Acer F1. And while HTC tries to take all the limelight away from everyone on this one, we thought we'd give this lesser covered but maybe equally worthwhile iPhone killer a look-see.

The first thing we noticed was that on the exact same date, Microsoft's "other" rival Google will be celebrating the October 6 release of the Acer A1, the sibling to that runs on Google's Android mobile OS. Besides the obvious OS difference, the Acer A1 and F1 are incredibly similar but not exactly alike.

For starters, while the Acer A1 and F1 will each run their respective OS's on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, the A1 will run a 768 MHz processor and the F1 800 MHz.

The A1's body is 4.5" x 2.5" x 0.5" and weighs 4.8 oz.; the F1's body is a Flash-based 2.0 shell. But despite their small differences, the Acer A1 and Acer F1 both clearly look like they want to be part of the iPhone Killer Club, with a think, sleek body all (F1) or mostly (A1) consumed by a large WVGA touch screen with 800 x 480 pixel resolution and ATI graphics. The current version of Android doesn't even support this screen resolution, but the upcoming update, Android 1.6, will. The A1's touchscreen is 3.3", the F1's is 3.8".

They will both be quad-band GSM and tri-band HSPA devices going 7.2 Mbps. They'll have stereo Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi b/g, and a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. The devices will come with built-in 5 megapixel cameras with autofocus (and in the F1 for sure, built-in flash too). Also, at least the F1 (not sure about the A1) will have an FM tuner. Both devices sport Acer Suite 2.0 UI GPS receivers.

The devices' 1,350 mAh batteries will be good for about 300 minutes of talk-time and about 400 hours of standby time. As for memory, the F1 will have 300 MB of storage and the A1 will have 512 MB.

If you’re trying to choose between the Acer A1 and Acer F1, all other features and qualities are similar enough that the only real decision to make is whether you want a Google phone or a Windows Mobile phone.

The A1 will be Acer's only Android smartphone for 2009, but in addition to the F1, Acer plans to release 2 other WinMo 6.5 smartphones before year's end.

The A1 was originally rumored to be coming out in September, but whatever the reason, it seems more appropriate to be launching on the same date as Windows Mobile 65. - maybe try to steal some of its muster.