MWC 2009: Live Report

Acer F900




Acer M900

The DX900 is a mid-range phone with dual-sim support. Being able to carry around one device with two phone number associated with it is not popular in the US, but a lot of people are doing it in Europe and Asia. The DX900 was actually the first Windows Mobile phone in the world with dual-sim support and is just rebranded ETEN DX900. Unlike the other devices announced at the MWC 2009, the DX900 will not run the new Acer Shell, but will feature the latest ETEN’s one.

The X960 is just a mid-range Windows Mobile based device, with every feature we expect to see in such device – 2.8 inch VGA screen, 3.2 mega-pixel camera and so one. There is nothing really exciting about it – decent size with decent design.

Meet the Acer Shell – Acer’s personalization for Windows Mobile OS. Like the Touch Flo (HTC) and TouchWiz (Samsung) it tries to do the operating system both finger-friendly and more intuitive. What we saw at the show were prototypes and the transitions were not smooth at all, but we still manage to like the idea. Currently, it is Acer Shell 2.0 and future versions will respectively increase the number.

Let’s start with the home screen – it shows you a virtual 3D desk with different objects (widgets) over it. It is wider than the display and by scrolling left or right you’ll see the items that are positioned on it. The cool thing is that you can rearrange them - in 3D. For example we took the Calendar and put it behind the messaging – as it goes deeper into the desk, the icon becomes smaller – really cool effect of virtual space. Most of the icons have information, for example the email has a number of new mails, the picture frame shows the last viewed image, the music player shows the last track you’ve listened to, etc. There are lots of widgets and we hope Acer will allow additional ones to be installed.


However, if people want a simpler interface, swiping a finger vertically shows the alternative home screen – a grid of icons with pages (by the way, they are marked as in the iPhone). It seems that Acer want to keep it as simple as possible, and you won’t be able to rearrange the icons here. However, once you install new applications they will appear in this list. In addition, there is a link to the Quick Menu app, which houses shortcuts to your favorite functions.


Other custom applications include favorite contacts, images gallery, music player, weather. The first one has nice thumbnails of the people but isn’t really space-friendly, showing only 4 on a page. If you have lots of friends in this list, prepare to scroll a lot. In addition there is a speed dial app which shows 10 people at a time. The Images gallery is what you’d expect it to be – large thumbnails with 3D effects, when you swipe a finger images will move so the next is shown, etc. Once you select a photo and want to zoom, do not search for pinching or some gestures – you’ll have to press zoom buttons to change the size. The music player seems fine although its design is rather old school. It displays the album art covers as separate CDs and once you lay the song, the disc increases its size showing progress bar, volume and other controls. Oh, and on your virtual desktop, click on the Windows and you’ll open the Weather app – it can show the current situation in a few cities but we are wondering why Acer has given it such an old-school look.



Overall, the interface looks nice – it isn’t revolutionary, isn’t really sleek but is definitely good. We hope Acer will add additional personalization, for example in the phone book and the messaging menus (in addition to the Easy Keyboard) that are some of the most commonly used apps.