It’s been a while since PC-maker Acer released a Microsoft-powered smartphone. Looking back, the company’s only Windows Phone device was released 3 years ago in 2011 running Windows Phone 7.5. Yeah it’s been that long.
Acer’s execs noted last year that its smartphone team was very enthusiastic about Windows Phone 8 but because “no one knows about [the OS]” they decided not to launch a WP8-powered smartphone. The company was not included in Microsoft’s list of hardware partners during the launch of Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 8.1 for that matter, but all hope is not lost.
According to Gizbot, who met with Acer officials at the Liquid-series smartphone launch event, the company is planning to launch a “slew of Windows Phone smartphones” during the first half of 2015. If that’s true we should hear or maybe see some of the devices during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, or Mobile World Congress in March.
There is no mention of the device specifications, or exact availability dates, but the devices will likely be running Windows Phone 8.1 since Windows 10 for phones won’t be due till later in the year. Based on Gizbot’s ‘internal sources’, Acer is looking to launch a smartphone with a 64-bit processor, whether or not this smartphone will be running Windows Phone or Android is unknown.
Also note that the comments made by Acer executives here are not part of an official announcement, so take it with a grain of salt.
