E-Ten has been making a splash with its "Glofiish" range of Windows Mobile phones, including the
X650,
X600,
M700, and
X500+ seen below. These devices offer consumer-friendly features such as full VGA displays, GPS, and FM transmitters for sending music to car radios.
E-Ten's Glofiish X650, X600, M700, and X500+
(Clockwise from top left; click on each for further information)
Meanwhile, Acer -- the world's third largest PC manufacturer according to the Gartner Group -- has produced few phones. Instead, it has been associated with unconnected PDAs, enterprise-oriented devices mired in a sinking market. According to research released last month by IDC, the fourth quarter of 2007 saw a year-on-year decrease in unconnected PDA sales of more than 53 percent. Overall sales for 2007 were down 43 percent in 2006.
IDC
reported a year ago that Acer was the fifth-largest vendor of PDAs (behind Palm, HP, Mio, and Dell) in the last quarter of 2006. By the first quarter of 2007, however, it had
fallen to sixth place.
Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's mobile devices technology and trends team, says, "User interest has shifted away from handheld devices to others that can perform the same tasks, but can also make phone calls."
Acer acquired Gateway in 2007 and recently announced plans to scoop up Dutch computer maker Packard Bell. The company provided no information on how E-Ten's phones will be branded in future.
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