Here are the official prices of Windows Mobile ACER handhelds in the Philippines:

ACER DX900 (Php 29,990.00) - Dual SIM Windows Mobile device

ACER DX650 (Php 24,990.00) - Dual face (numerical keypad and touch screen)

ACER X960 (Php 28,990.00) - High end HSPA connectivity

ACER F900 (Php 35,990.00) - 3.8 inch touch screen

ACER M900 (Php 39,990.00) - high end device with QWERTY keyboard

[image c/o AMPR / ACER PH]

ACER unveiled their new line of smartphone handhelds today. One of their proprietary features is the addition of the new ACER Shell GUI that goes above Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6.5 (after Q2 device releases). The technology emulates the touch scroll functions HTC and the iPhone have come out with. The head of ACER’s list of devices is actually the tail end for Glofiish with their SPB Shell UI. ACER merely upgraded the response time and virtual desktop features as seen in the photos above.

[photos c/o author]

The Garmin nuviphone can actually be a serious consideration for mobile phone users who want something kick ass huge. Imagine a 3.5 inch screen, hefty form factor, HSDPA, and GPS navigation maps. The nuviphone announces Garmin’s take on the mobile phone industry, which really tells more about how they want to bring their GPS navigation experience down to the mobile phone user. If you’ve used Garmin products before, you’ll definitely take a second look at this device.

Again, Garmin should heavily consider third party application support rather than remain in a closed platform. Killer device? We’ll see when they launch this in Q3 2008.

The phone seems to be a direct competitor to the N95. And the iPhone. But heck, everything competes with the iPhone nowadays. The nuviphone will be announced at the Barcelona 3GSM this coming February.

We’ve previously talked about the Verzio Duplii and Twinn, one of the more elegant dual SIM solutions to come out in Asia. At CES 2008, we are seeing dual SIM smartphones - like this one from Haier. Although there is already a big advantage in using dual SIM cards for regular phones, having two SIM cards for smartphones offer an additional value - you see, not all mobile phone plans are made the same. Having dual SIMs allows you to choose which number to use for data and for calls. By competence, some carriers usually offer better data plans than free calls and SMS while the other half offer the exact opposite.

Should telcos take this new development into account in the future of brand planning? Telcos have always built their brand around lock in exclusivity which actually get circumvented with unlocking software. I’m not sure how common this was in the US before the proliferation of the iPhone, but in Asia, it was pretty much an open secret. I think telcos should start bending down towards non-exclusive post paid line deals.

Resembling much of the Palm Tungsten W of old, the ASUS M530w is a thumb board navigation smartphone that seems to make sense, just from looking at the real estate. It comes with a nfastastic array of connectivity options including Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g which is really a staple in today’s market for enterprise phones.

The main selling point of the ASUS M530w is its suggested retail price which of late has not yet been announced. However, it is easily surmised that the phone will be very affordable as it is the staple of ASUS to release good products at very affordble prices. Stay tuned for this phone - it’s a good buy in spite of its lack of HSDPA.

Photo courtesy of CNET.

You know, this kinda reminds me of the BenQ-Siemens P50. Interestingly enough, the ASUS P750 looks like an all around solid smartphone. Running on Windows Mobile 6 (with handwriting recognition), the P750 comes with a fast HSDPA connectivity feature as well as wireless 802.11g. Selling points include a 3MP camera, all around connectivity with push email and GPS.

Announced two months ago, the ASUS P750 will be available soon. For more specs, proceed here. The holidays are just around the corner — this is definitely a good buy!

Windows Vista has a little brother in Windows Mobile. At least that is where it seems to be going. The SideShow application turns your mobile device into a small “Tempest Junior” for the huge desktop “Thunder Sub.”

Here are a few things up for the testing grounds according to the devs:

* New Portrait QVGA UI designed for remote controls
* New Universal driver for Windows SideShow that supports USB and Bluetooth communication
* New Simulator that uses the Universal driver
* New user switching UI for devices operating in the assigned user mode
* New Bluetooth menu commands
* Support for Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian languages

Gee. Although SideShow works with mobile devices with two screens, there has to be a way to link it up to your mobile phone to view pertinent information. Since SideShow uses gadgets, I guess an upgrade to the WM OS would allow support for these.

Would you rather have to pay for a monthly subscription for phone services or would you rather grab a free service that is supported by advertising? The IDC released findings that more than 1 in every 3 cellphones released in the future of 2011 will be a smartphone - more capable of surfing the web, doing multimedia, and thus having access to more types of content than your typical cellphone.

Currently operators make money through subscriptions to their services. For instance, some companies charge for e-mail service, ringtone downloads or voting on television game shows.

But to get a slice of the mobile Internet age, companies will have to rely on advertising to get their products to consumers, analysts say.

“You have $110 billion spent on TV [advertising]. By 2008 you’ll see big shifts, to mobile and social networks,” said W2 Group chief executive Larry Weber.

According to the firm eMarketer, $16 billion will be spent on advertising on cellphones in 2011, 10 times more than today.[Inquirer]

But would I really want my mobile phone to display advertising all the time? First off, free services, though FREE don’t look too classy. Imagine I’m a business executive trying to show my phone to other people and ads of “single women want to play” start popping up? Doesn’t that make it a tad too scary?

Sinbad Search combines the gloy of mobile phone search and RSS feeds. The search application employs the use of modules allowing you to customize the application to meet your different demands. What it does, really, is allow blogs, websites and other modules to be installed as a feed onto the reader. Then you can search for information within the feeds that are downloaded.

You can get this application at www.sinbadsearch.com.

First it was Apple. And then Google announced their own. Now Skype is joining the bandwagon too. Yes, Skype is partnering with telcos to release their first cell phone.

Code-named the “white phone,” the Skype handset will be introduced by late October in Britain, Italy, Hong Kong, and Australia, and will reach 3’s other five markets later, BusinessWeek has learned. There are no immediate plans to bring the device to North America, though the companies may try to license it to other carriers or sell versions straight to consumers for them to use on other networks.[Full Article]

Two things:

First, unlike the iPhone, the Skype Phone will be available on a massive scale throughout the world. This shows the growing demand of international VoIP calls from everywhere else. Second, the seemingly nonchalance of telcos to not minding an exclusivity deal only shows that there is big business in data calls.

The Skype phone will feature multimedia capabilities, high speed browsing, and of course a huge Skype button that allows for easy data calls.