Acer to launch Windows phones in Europe by end-2011

At least in Europe, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 stands to gain a firmer foothold of the mobile phone market before end-2011 as Taiwan-based Acer plans to release a cheap Windows Phone 7 handset there. The Allegro smartphone running Windows Phone 7.5 will carry a recommended retail price of 299 euros (P17,631), according to an article posted on TelecomPaper.com. On the other hand, Acer also plans to release the Liquid Mini Ferrari handset by the end of 2011 - an 8-GB version with the Ferrari colors and including Ferrari content. It said the Ferrari-themed phone will run Android 2.3, and come with a Bluetooth earphone and case, both with the Ferrari logo - also selling for 299 euro. But the Liquid Mini-Ferrari handset may also sell starting at 1 euro on some subscriptions bought at Phone Warehouse France, the report added. A separate article on The Next Web noted the Allegro cost "next to nothing" if bundled with a contract. Such a setup would provide Windows Phone with a strong asset, "as the platform would thus become known to bargain-conscious shoppers who are not plussed over what platform their phone runs." "It could, in other words, bring in the non-techy crowd to Windows Phone," it added. The Next Web said the Allegro handset itself is has 8 gigabytes of memory, a 3.6 inch WVGA screen, and comes in either white or black - the very minimum of the Microsoft-decided specs for a Windows Phone device. — TJD, GMA News