Acer has recently gone live with the newest member of their Android-powered line up, the Acer Liquid E. The device set to take the markets soon will be powered by the impressive Android 2.1 OS and will pack a Qualcomm 8250 768 MHz snapdragon processor, one of the most powerful processors available to smart phones on the market today. In all truth, however, the Liquid E is simply an updated form of one of Acer's other recent releases, the Liquid. With similar specs and load outs the only real difference is seen in the form of the operating system it runs, yet even that can mean a huge step up from the previous phone version seen earlier.

The new 2.1 Android, also known as "Eclair", delivers a number of upgrades over the previous 1.6 "Donut" version, affording all users an overall much friendlier phone experience. Still, this does beg the question among many industry analysts why Acer did not simply issue an upgrade to the existing Liquid phone rather than investing more time and money into the complete new design of the Liquid E - a question that is still yet to be answered as of late.

Regardless, the Liquid E still packs an impressive 3.5-inch TFT capacitive touch screen (for ultra-friendly finger and thumb usage). Although it would have been nice to see a bit more than a measly 256k colors, the 480x800 WVGA resolution generally more than makes up for this. The device also sports a great media player to play back a number of different file formats, and with the added functionality of viewing YouTube, this makes entertainment a breeze.

Camera-wise, the Liquid E does sport a fairly decent five-megapixel camera, and along with a wide range of pre-installed as well as downloadable applications it's a breeze to quickly upload any photos you take to social media sites like Facebook and Flickr. Another big plus is that the camera comes with an LED flash (something not seen on all phones these days) as well as decent video capturing at 20fps, a relatively good auto-focus and even geotagging (for those interested in sharing the exact location a picture is shot from at any given moment).

The big bonus for the Liquid E comes in the form of its actual interface, though. Since the Liquid E is running the new Android 2.1 system that means the home screen is actually five screens, all of which are able to be interacted with in a 3-D viewing mode so that users can easily select which screen they want to zoom in on at any given time. Combined with the Snapdragon processor for quality application running this means a smooth, quality experience from the home screen onwards.

All in all, the new version of Android really does soup things up, although potential users might want to hold off to see what Acer's next handset has to offer by way of improved specs before making the leap to the Liquid E as of right this moment.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Hong Kong Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Singapore Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Smartphone Phone Acer Liquid E S100 Unlocked 3G NEW US $210.99 --> Ends In 11h 2m <--

unlock code for Rogers Mobility Fido Canada Acer Liquid E UNLOCKING UNLOCKED US $5.45 --> Ends In 4d 1h 29m <--

unlock code for Rogers Fido Acer Liquid E US $9.99 --> Ends In 18d 7h 22m <--

BNIB ACER LIQUID E FERRARI RED FACTORY UNLOCKED EDITION GSM OEM ferrari edition US $1,199.00 --> Ends In 29d 23h 10m <--

BNIB ACER LIQUID E FERRARI RED FACTORY UNLOCKED EDITION US $1,246.23 --> Ends In 26d 3h 13m <--

Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition S100 Unlocked BRAND NEW US $595.00 --> Ends In 15h 19m <--

Most people are likely to dismiss the Motorola Cliq XT as nothing but a slightly updated version of the original Cliq from last year. While that may be true to an extent, this device actually deserves better recognition as it improves upon its predecessor in many ways. Heck, they could have named it something else and it wouldn't have been such an issue.

Physically, the most noticeable change from the Cliq is the omission of a physical keyboard. While the general look is similar, the new phone is taller and wider, while reclaiming more portability by being lighter and slimmer. It comes with a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen (320 x 480 resolution) that manages excellent colors, but is noticeably less vibrant than higher-end smartphones like the Motorola Droid. The touchscreen comes with both multi-touch (which works on most apps, but not on Google Maps) and Swype (for text input). While it also offers a traditional onscreen keyboard, we did find Swype a much better mode of input once you get used to it.

As a phone, the Cliq XT manages excellent call quality. Everything went through loud and clear on both ends, with rich sound and plenty of volume. The speakerphone performed similarly, with nothing but an occasional, ignorable buzz to break up the near-perfect sound. Battery is rated at 6.5 hours of talk time, which should last for a good two days or more.

The phone pairs both 3G and WiFi, allowing you to have access to fast broadband internet in most situations. Onboard Webkit-based browser performed admirably, loading pages fast and accurately. With pinch-to-zoom and Flash Lite, it allows for a great browsing experience. While the phone uses the same 526Mhz processor as its predecessor, it performed faster in almost every way. It's a sufficiently speedy phone, exhibiting none of the frustrating sluggishness we found on other Motorola phones like the aforementioned Cliq and the Backflip.

Feature set is similar to the Cliq, coming with both Android 1.5 and Motoblur out of the box. As expected, it's got all the usual stuff you can expect from such a combination - Motoblur's social-friendly functions, Google's suite of apps and terrific messaging capabilities, among others. One pleasant surprise is the changes Motorola did to Android's music player, turning out one that not only looks better, but comes with more features too. My favorite additions: running streams from Shoutcast, YouTube and GoTV, as well as the integration with TuneWiki.

The 5.0 megapixel camera module comes with LED flash and autofocus. It only allows for standard editing options, but manages excellent photos. There is a bit of shutter lag, though, so it's not perfect. Other features include quad-band roaming and Bluetooth 2.0.

Overall, the Motorola Cliq XT is easily one of the better mid-range Android phones right now. It's not yet on sale, but is expected to go for around $149.99 with a contract from T-Mobile. At that price, it's easily a better buy than either the Cliq, Backflip or any of the even cheaper Android handsets around.

Sometimes, a unique design may be all you need to sell a new handset.  That could be what they're banking on with the Motorola Backflip, a smartphone with various physical innovations that you might find enticing (or retarded, whichever the case may be).

Physically, the unique flip design definitely makes it a noteworthy device.  While it looks like the Motorola Cliq at first glance, look closer and you'll see the huge differences.  When closed, the keyboard sits in the back of the phone, such that it flips open to the bottom of the horizontal 3.1-inch display.  Sure, it's a novel way to implement a clamshell for a touchscreen device, but the fact that your keys are exposed 100% of the time definitely doesn't inspire confidence.  They also added trackpads behind the display, which are supposed to allow you to navigate the UI without your hands getting in the way.  It works well, although, it's hard to see a real need for it.

As a phone, the Backflip manages average call quality.  It was good on our end, although callers sometimes reported issues on theirs.  We're not sure if it was their phone or ours causing it, however.  The speakerphone was excellent, definitely better than average.  Battery is rated at 6 hours, which should be good for at least two days of normal use.

Positioned as more of an entry-level smartphone, it's equipped with a rather underpowered 528MHz Qualcomm processor.  It only runs Android 1.5 too and performance wasn't the best - there were definite lags even with simpler tasks, such as opening your inbox and scrolling through lists.  As such, it might be a good idea to forget ever upgrading the OS here to a newer version.

It comes with Motoblur and you can read our reviews of other similarly-equipped Motorola phones (Cliq, Devour) to get the skinny on that.  Features are around what you'd expect.  You get the usual Android fare (Google's software suite and read-only QuickOffice), Webkit-based HTML browser (very fast page loads over 3G, by the way), aGPS, WiFi and Bluetooth.

While it continues to use Android's lackluster music player, the Backflip comes with excellent sound quality.  The onboard speakers manage gorgeous sounds, definitely a notch above what you normally get from a phone.  Camera appeared great at 5 megapixels of resolution, but the quality of shots left plenty to be desired.

Overall, the Motorola Backflip is a decent choice for an entry-level Android smartphone.  There are definite performance issues, but it covers the range of features well and it's an excellent music phone.  Price sounds good too - $99 with a two-year contract from AT&T (not sure how much for unlocked versions elsewhere).

The Motorola Cliq (aka Motorola Dext outside of the US) is the company's first Android phone, armed with a full QWERTY keyboard and integrated social networking features.   Powered by the ever-improving mobile OS, the handset truly breathes new life into Motorola's fledgling mobile efforts.

Physically, the Cliq isn't that much of a looker.  It's not objectionable - far from it; there's just very little to be excited about.  Beyond the looks, it's a well-thought-out phone with a decent build (we did detect some flimsiness in construction) and a sturdy sliding mechanism.  The 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen is bright and clear with snappy response, while the physical QWERTY panel features large and raised keys (albeit, with little travel in-between).

MotoBlur is the big custom tweak for the Cliq, integrating plenty of social networking features into various aspects of Android.  Sign in to your various social media accounts (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm), for instance, and the software will immediately grab all your contacts, integrating them into your address book.  You can send all sorts of messages and profile updates directly from the phone, as well as integrating tons of widgets for social media purposes.    All in all, MotoBlur is an excellent, near-seamless addition to Android - one that makes it more fun.  It's not perfect (some widgets are flaky), but it's an A+ effort.

As a phone, the Cliq manages average quality calls (voice is audible and clear, but it picks up some noise) and below average speakerphone performance.  I'd ditch using the speakers entirely, if I were you.  Battery is rated at six hours of talk time, but I'll be surprised if this lasts you more than a day.  If you use your phone a lot, you will probably need to bring a charger along.

Feature set is pretty rich.  Being an Android phone, it comes with the full set of capabilities innate in the OS, including a rich suite of Google-based apps, wide range of messaging support and more.  Add to that a few custom niceties, such as online backup and remote wiping, along with further extensibility via the Android Market.

Web connectivity is fast with both Wi-Fi and HSDPA available.  Be forewarned, though, that the screen doesn't support multi-touch, which could mean a harder time browsing for those used to performing gestures for browser commands.  Other features include a 5.0 megapixel camera (plenty of editing options but only average quality stills), a 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS and microSDHC expansion.

Overall, the Motorola Cliq is a powerful phone at an affordable price - an excellent combination.  While it's neither the sexiest nor the sturdiest piece of hardware available, it brings plenty talents that can make you forget those drawbacks.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Hong Kong Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Singapore Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

WALL AC CAR CHARGER CELL PHONE FOR MOTOROLA VE440 CLIQ US $1.99 --> Ends In 59m <--

For Motorola Cliq XT Cliq Horizontal Leather Case US $7.50 --> Ends In 1h 5m <--

2 Screen Protector Motorola XPRT Photon X2 Cliq 2 US $10.49 --> Ends In 1h 25m <--

Motorola has officially introduced their first Android phone.  Representing the company's most exciting release for quite some time, the new handset will be known as the Motorola Cliq in the US, and as the Motorola Dext to the rest of the world.

Formerly rumored to be called Morison, the new handset sports a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, along with a full touchscreen display.    Dimensions are pretty standard for a touchscreen smartphone, measuring 4.49 x 2.28 x 0.62 inches and weighing 5.6 ounces.

Specs include a 3.1-inch touchscreen display (320 x 480 resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera, aGPS, 3G support, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth and a 3.5mm audio jack.  It will be running Android 1.5 Cupcake and will come preloaded with a number of apps, including Google's suite of software tools, a number of email clients, media players, a full HTML browser, an Amazon MP3 store, Last.FM, QuickOffice Suite and Imeem.

Featured prominently during the announcement is MotoBlur, Motorola's user interface for the Android platform.  More than a simple skin, however, it adds a number of interesting capabilities to the OS, including some very impressive homescreen widgets, full social networking integration (including syncing your contacts) and a universal inbox.  Motorola seems to have taken the best parts of HTC's Sense UI and mixed it with Palm's Synergy feature to mighty impressive results.

Will the Motorola Cliq finally put the company back on the map?  That remains to be seen, as the competition in the Android space grows tighter towards the end of the year.  US release for the handset is slated later in the fall, with international availability (as the Motorola Dext) scheduled for 2010.  It will be available in two colors, titanium and winter white.

[via CNET]