Acer announced the Stream smartphone today, and man, this thing has some beefy specs. The Stream is a 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen device running on Android 2.1. It includes the newly popular 1Ghz Snapdragon processor w/ 512MB RAM, a 5MP camera with 720p video recording, 2GB storage (upgradeable to 8GB w/ a microSD slot), HDMI out, GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth. It’s also packing a “brand-new user interface,” with “smooth animations and finegraphics” and what looks to be lots of user customization. Hey, everyone likes some fine graphics.

Pricing and availability for the Stream are currently unavailable.

Powerful. Spectacular. Cutting-edge technologies. State-of-the-art connectivity. Ultra-fast. Highly sensitive. These are just some of the words that best describeAcer Stream, the latest technological jewel of the Taiwanese company. Defining it a smartphone would be reductive. In fact, Acer Stream is the utmost expression of technology, design, performance and entertainment.

Acer Stream is a high-end multimedia smartphone, optimized for watching movies, listening to music and enjoying web browsing like at home. Perfect for most demanding users who look for the best in entertainment.

Elegant and minimalist in design, Acer Stream is made from highly resistant materials and offers truly outstanding user interface and technical features, all in just 11.2 mm, ensuring users a unique and unrepeatable experience.

The completely brand new user interface has been totally redesigned in order to focus on what is essential to users and guarantee a simple and quick access to what matters to them.
- Enjoy smooth animations and fine graphics: surf between photos and video thanks to the stunningly fluid 3D interface and unlock the phone by a ‘peeling’ gesture, assure a cool but very functional detail!
- Read information straight from the lock screen widget: accessing ambient information on the idle screen gives the user what he needs before he even asks for it.
- Quickly start your favorite applications with one tap: the status bar appears as an innovative divider between logical spaces. It shows all the essential information, providing shortcuts to most frequently used settings and its position allows a very easy access to the settings or notifications.
- Easily switch applications with the History panel: the top part of the Home screen has been dedicated to applications history, with the benefit of reducing complexity and providing significant cues for navigation.
- Reorder applications across several pages at their convenience: Apps can be moved around from one page to another or easily uninstalled by simply dragging them to the bin.
- Customize the phone according to specific needs:a simple customization page accessible from the Home screen will be a pleasant surprise, enabling customers to tailor their smartphone through wallpaper and sound personalization.

Coupled with three types of predictive keyboards, a smart dialer and a redesigned contacts list, the Acer user interface makes using the smartphone an efficient and delightful experience.

Social and entertaining: All the most popular applications are pre-installed: Nemo player to enjoy multimedia content to the fullest, Acer UrFooz to create your virtual “look-a-like”, add your profile and bookmarks and post it to your social networks, Facebook™ and Twidroid perfectly integrated into the address book.
And for music addicts Acer Stream features Spinlets™, a completely free streaming service that lets you browse and listen to major music labels and record companies for great music and instantly post what you find to your favorite Social Networking sites.

Main features:
Superb display quality: the touch screen with Amoled technology boasts 1.67 million exceptionally bright colors, through a generous 3.7″ WVGA display. Furthermore, its incredible contrast (superior 2000:1) makes for clear images and perfect legibility in any environment and light condition. Moreover, this type of display consumes less energy to help increase battery life.

Ultrafast connectivity 3G+ for streaming: HSDPA 7.2 Mbps in download, Bluetooth and WiFi n, enabling faster transmission of multimedia content than ever!

Power and performance: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor, with its 512 MB RAM, makes the Acer Stream one of the fastest and most reactive phones on the market. The operating system behind Stream is Android version 2.1, better known as
Éclair.

Unique and high-quality multimedia features, enabling the recording of HD videos up to 720p. Listening to your favorite music or the radio with RDS has never been so pleasant; enjoy the Dolby Mobile quality, with powerful bass and crystal-clear clarity for an unparalleled purity of sound. UPnP technology enables content sharing with other devices. Furthermore, a 5MP photocamera and integrated GPS system allow photos and videos to be geotagged. Last but not least, you can connect the Acer Stream to your home TV with HDMI port and watch a movie on a larger screen.

2GB of internal Flash memory is ideal for downloading tons of applications and 3D games, while an 8GB memory card as free bundle and a micro-SD card slot support up to 32GB enables users to enjoy their favorite multimedia content at all times.

What I consider to be a totally odd product combination, the Twilight Air Purifier concept lets you stream videos and images across its OLED sheet surface.  WTF you ask?  Beyond cooling and circulating air, it is also a media viewer.  The pictures tell a story of a huge sheet hanging somewhere in a room with images draped across it.  Seems like something we would have seen in Minority Report.

Winner of Whirlpool’s Inova Award, the design is based on “future trends of architecture and behavior” and was developed by some Brazilian Industrial Design students.  Crazy!  Is this something you’d imagine yourself buying in the future?

[via Ubergizmo]

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In the past year I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Audioengine’s Wireless Audio Solutions.  Unfortunately, there claims of ‘wireless’ were slightly inhibited by a necessary AC adapter.  Enter the i2i Stream from Aerielle.

Included in the package are two wireless audio devices that can both send and receive audio, 2 headphone to headphones cords in 2 lengths, 2 headphone to 2.5mm jack cords in two lengths and a standard 4-pin to 6-pin USB cord for charging.  I should mention that i2i failed to provide an audio RCA to headphone cord, which might prove bothersome to those looking to hook up the system to their home’s stereo system.  Also worth noting is the lack of compatibility of the included headphone cords with the Gen 1 iPhone (they’re just a bit too fat, but with some force fit).

So what makes i2i’s offering different from Audioengines? First off, inputs and output are predicated on the trustee headphone cord, which means you can use the Stream with any device sporting a headphone jack.  Output is via a 3.5mm  jack, where as input is courtesy of a 2.5mm jack.  Audioengine’s offering on the other hands uses either a USB out (W1s) or iPod dock connector (W2s).  Much like Audioengine’s wireless offering, audio is transmitted over a tweaked 802.11 spectrum.  Additionally, the i2i Stream can be charged and are in fact designed to operate via a built-in battery!

Setting up the i2i Stream just requires plugging them in to a USB port and charging the built-in battery. Unfortunately, they only included one USB cord, so unless you have a spare one kicking around, charging will be increased a two fold, which equates to about 4 hours.  Once charged it’s just as simple as plugging your iPod (or any MP3 player with a headphone out) into one of the i2i Streams and plugging the other into a pair of powered speakers or stereo system.  After that, you’ll just need to power on, assign the devices as a sender or receiver (the buttons are a bit cryptic for this) and select a matching color (channel).  I should mention that the i2i Stream features a total of 7 channels meaning you can have a whole army of these things distributed around your house and switch audio in a room according to color (purple, green, yellow, orange, etc).  To increase each send/receiver’s volume you’ll just need to flick the power button up or down.

Now the biggy: performance  Although I didn’t think the i2i’s sounded quiet as good as Audioengine’s W2 or W1, the true wireless offering (i.e. no AC plug necessary) makes the i2i the real deal wireless audio solution for any device.  i2i specs the i2i Stream at about 7 hours per charge, and based on my testing I received something in that neighborhood.  Connection wise the i2i Stream exhibited no tendencies towards static or drop out, even from one room to the next.  The ‘channel select’ button is large and easy to push, which is great, but may lead to inadvertent channel changing if you are to carry the Stream around in your pocket, something that might slightly hinder the overall wireless experience.

Although the built-in batteries do liberate you from the corded experience, those who want to permanently affix these in a room may find Audioengine’s solution a bit more accommodating.  With that said, i2i’s Stream might be the perfect resolve for those traveling or on vacation, where as Audioengine’s is better suited for the at home experience.  There’s simply no reason why you can’t own both.

Pros:

• Battery powered, so true cord free wireless audio
• Small size
• Easy to use
• Multi channel
• Each Stream can be either a sender or receiver
• Works with any device that has a headphone jack

Cons

• No AC plug for fixed home experience
• Send/receive buttons cryptic
• 2.5mm input jack isn’t a widely used format for audio
• One USB cord provide in packaging
• Headphone cords aren’t Gen 1 iPhone compatible

Buy – $90

Features:

• Stream music, photos, video, etc to your home’s stereo in HD (supports Windows Media 9 or MPEG4)
• HDMI output and digital audio outs and USB input

Buy it: D-Link MediaLounge DSM-520 Wireless HD Media Player – $92