By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, IP Communications Magazines
Yet another smartphone will soon make an appearance. This one, called Stream, is from Taiwan-based PC company Acer (News – Alert) and is based on the Android 2.1 operating system.
The company calls it “the perfect entertainment machine.”
The Stream’s interface doesn’t attempt to duplicate the iPhone (News – Alert) screen, as so many others do. Instead, it offers a status bar to divide application icons from application history, according to a report on the matter, which says popular apps like Facebook, Nemo, Spinlets and Twitter come preinstalled.
Acer says the user interface was designed to allow users to, in its own words:
- Enjoy smooth animations and fine graphics: surf between photos and video thanks to the stunningly fluid 3D interface and unlock the phone by a ‘peeling’ gesture, assure a cool but very functional detail!
- Read information straight from the lock screen widget: accessing ambient information on the idle screen gives the user what he needs before he even asks for it.
- Quickly start your favorite applications with one tap: the status bar appears as an innovative divider between logical spaces. It shows all the essential information, providing shortcuts to most frequently used settings and its position allows a very easy access to the settings or notifications.
- Easily switch applications with the History panel: the top part of the Home screen has been dedicated to applications history, with the benefit of reducing complexity and providing significant cues for navigation.
- Reorder applications across several pages at their convenience: Apps can be moved around from one page to another or easily uninstalled by simply dragging them to the bin.
- Customize the phone according to specific needs:a simple customization page accessible from the Home screen will be a pleasant surprise, enabling customers to tailor their smartphone through wallpaper and sound personalization.
The Stream employs a Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM (News – Alert), 2GB of internal Flash memory, and a 8GB memory card. Wireless features native to the device include Bluetooth, GPS, HSPA and Wi-Fi.
As noted recently by TMCnet, Acer holds the No. 1 market share for PCs in Western Europe, according to Gartner (News – Alert).
“In the first quarter of 2010, the PC market defied the economic conditions as consumers continued to purchase PCs to the detriment of other consumer electronic products,” said Ranjit Atwal, principal analyst at Gartner. “Western Europe recovered quicker than expected from the weak performance experienced in 2009.”
It’s slated for availability during the second half at an as-yet-unclosed price tag (News – Alert).
Edited by Marisa Torrieri
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