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Acer shows off Android netbook, smartphone

The manufacturer demonstrated its first Android handset, the Liquid, alongside the UK's first Android-toting netbook at a London event on Wednesday
By David Meyer, Contributor
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1 of 10 David Meyer/ZDNET

On Wednesday, Acer showed off some of its latest PCs, netbooks and smartphones at a London hotel.

One of the biggest draws at the show was the Aspire One D250 netbook, a product that is already on sale but will soon be available with Android as one of its operating system options.

Users of the dual-boot machine can fire up Google's operating system — which has until now been seen only on smartphones in the UK — for a quick start, or choose Windows 7 for a more full-featured experience.

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According to Acer, choosing the Android OS will let the user start using applications within 18 seconds of turning the machine on, and shut down the device within three seconds.

The Android OS, as implemented on the D250, includes functionality such as email and chat, as well as web browsing through the Android browser or through Firefox.

Acer's implementation of Android on the D250 does not make significant changes to the look of the OS, compared with the version found on smartphones.

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Acer unveiled its first Android smartphone, the Liquid, at the exhibit.

The Liquid is the first Android handset to be released using Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, and also the first to be released using version 1.6 — also known as 'Donut' — of the OS.

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The Liquid handset has a wide-VGA, high-definition capacitive touchscreen.

The Android device has a five-megapixel autofocus camera with geo-tagging and self-time functionality, as well as the ability to choose between ISO settings.

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On the Liquid, Acer has implemented its own user interface (UI) on top of Android 1.6.

The UI skin lets the user flip through applications using tabs that stick out from the edge of the screen.

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At the exhibit, Acer showed off its Aspire 5738DG laptop, which lets the user watch media in 3D.

The notebook comes with polariser glasses to make certain content viewable in 3D, thanks to a special film that coats the screen.

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Acer's Aspire 1820P notebook has a convertible tablet display that allows multitouch input.

Windows 7, which the 1820P uses, is the first version of Microsoft's operating system to have touchscreen functionality baked in from the start.

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The Aspire 5738P notebook also features touchscreen functionality.

This picture shows the laptop running Acer's TouchPortal, which lets the user drag and drop photos onto a photo wall and access multimedia files and devices using virtual buttons.

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Acer also showed off all-in-one touchscreen devices such as the Aspire Z5610, which has a 23-inch multitouch display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

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Acer, being a sponsor of the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Olympic Games in London, is bringing out special Olympic editions of its Aspire 4810T and 1410 notebooks.

The Olympic 1410, pictured, has a 11.6-inch screen, is less than 2.5cm thick and weighs 1.4kg.

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