Acer will launch non-Windows Mobile smartphones

Acer plans on producing smartphones running on platforms besides Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS by the end of the year, the company confirmed.

Acer representatives in Taipei, Taiwan, confirmed that they will launch handsets running on alternative platforms before the year is out, but declined to say which operating systems the phones would use. When Acer launched their lineup of smartphones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, company officials hinted that Acer was thinking of launching phones using Google's Android platform.

All of Acer's phones run on a widget-based version of Windows Mobile 6.1. Acer has said it plans on releasing phones later this year, most likely in the third or fourth quarter, running on Windows Mobile 6.5.

Aymar de Lencquesaing, Acer's senior corporate vice president and president of Acer's handheld business group, said at the launch event in February that carrier agreements would be announced market by market in the coming months, and that some markets may not get all of the products.

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