LiquidLeap
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Acer outs three new models of its Liquid Leap wearable
Last month, Acer teased a trio of new wearables in New York City. Today it's making them official. Enter the Liquid Leap Active, Leap Curve and Leap Fit, all designed with fitness, activity tracking and removable bands in mind. The Fit and Curve both come with a heart rate sensor, while the Active focuses on offering features such as sleep pattern-monitoring. Acer's staying mum on pricing and availability right now, but the company did say we'll learn those details at Computex 2015 next week. In the meantime, at least there's some eye candy to hold you over until then.
Acer CEO: Better to make an imperfect smartwatch than none at all
Acer is in trouble, but that's not Jason Chen's fault. The CEO, who's only been on the job five months, inherited an organization besieged by a shrinking PC market and record losses. So how is he doing? Too soon to say, really, but there are signs Acer might be turning over a new leaf: The company this week unveiled a tablet, a bunch of smartphones and its first smartwatch, the Liquid Leap. No PCs, though. If nothing else, it's clear the firm is eager to branch out beyond cheap laptops.
Hands-on with the Liquid Leap: Acer's first wearable tries to be everything to everyone
Thanks to a quick tease a few weeks back, we already knew Acer was on the verge of revealing its first smartwatch. Until today, though, we had all talk -- It's a smartwatch! It's a fitness tracker! -- but virtually no details. Now, at Computex, we're getting our first look at the Liquid Leap, due out later this year. The best way to think of this (other than as a "me too" device) is that it's a wristband trying really hard to be a jack-of-all-trades. In addition to doing typical smartwatch things (call and SMS notifications), it tracks your sleep, steps, distance traveled and calories burned. It can also pause, play and skip music tracks. Like other fitness trackers, it's waterproof, though it's far more discreet than your average sports watch. For now, Acer is being coy about the price, except to say it'll cost less than €99 in Europe. Without a price, then, it's hard to say how good a value this will be when it goes on sale in Q3. That doesn't mean we can't tell you more about how it works, though. So join us, won't you?
