E-Ten shows off Windows Mobile smartphones at Computex

Taiwan’s E-Ten Information Systems is showing off three new handsets that run Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 at Computex, with all three set to launch after Acer’s proposed acquisition of the company.

E-Ten will launch two of the 3G touch-screen smartphones by the end of October, the X900 and DX900. The V900, which boasts mobile TV, will come out later, an E-Ten representative said.

Acer agreed to buy E-Ten earlier this year for NT$9 billion ($296.1 million) in order to add smartphones to its product lines. The company predicts smartphones will become as much as 10 percent of its revenue within the next few years.

An Acer official said her company could not comment on whether the E-Ten products would become Acer products because the acquisition isn’t complete yet.

But Acer has said that its first branded smartphones will be out by the end of this year and will run Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS.

The company has said it will finalize the acquisition of E-Ten in the third quarter, so by the end of September at the latest. That means the three E-Ten smartphones coming out later this year could end up being Acer’s first smartphones on the market.

E-Ten representatives declined to comment.

All three of the new smartphones boast fast data download speeds via UMTS/HSDPA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System/High Speed Downlink Packet Access), GSM/EDGE quad-band with built-in GPS as well as Wi-Fi 802.11b/g. They also carry 3-megapixel cameras and have functions specific to themselves.

The DX900, for example, can carry two SIM cards, while the V900 offers mobile TV, FM radio, and a TV-out slot.

The boards of directors at Acer and E-Ten have already approved the deal, but they still face shareholder votes and approval by government regulators.

The E-Ten deal follows a string of acquisitions by Acer, including the purchase last year of PC maker Gateway and the recent deal to buy Packard Bell, the European electronics maker.