Acer smartphone to debut at Mobile World Congress

Range of handsets to be on show in Barcelona

Acer's new smartphones are not unlike the Glofiish DX900

Taiwanese netbook maker Acer will launch its own brand of smartphones at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona next week, and analysts believe that the firm plans to introduce numerous different handsets.

Several online stores in Taiwan and the UK have already started taking pre-orders for an Acer handset strikingly similar to the Glofiish DX900, released in mid-2008 by Taiwanese firm E-Ten Information Systems, which Acer acquired in the third quarter of last year.

The DX900 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and boasts dual SIM cards, GSM/Edge and 3.5G/HSDPA. It also features a 2.8in VGA touch-screen and 3-megapixel camera.

Acer said that it will release more details at the event in Barcelona next week, but it is assumed that the new device will not differ significantly from the DX900 although it could run on a newer version of Windows Mobile, possibly version 6.5.

Having dual SIM card slots means the phone will be able to connect to two networks at the same time, useful in cases where a user wants to surf the internet while making a call.

The phone, which will reportedly also come with Wi-Fi and GPS, is currently priced at around $570 (£385) as a pre-order at online stores.