October release for Windows Mobile 6.5 phones

Acer’s F1 smartphone will be released on 6 October in the UK, the same date as version 6.5 of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system.

Over in the US, Verizon Wireless is launching the Windows Mobile powered HTC Imagio on the same day.

The Acer F1 features a Qualcomm 1GHz processor which is fast enough to eliminate lag issues, a 3.8-inch touchscreen and a five megapixel camera with LED flash.

As far as processor speed goes, Acer’s F1 beats the HTC imagio’s 528MHz Qualcomm processor hands down.

The imagio’s touchscreen is also slightly smaller 3.6-inch, but it also offers five megapixel camera with auto-focus.

The latest version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system promises to make using phones a lot easier.

It also paves the way for the release of Windows Mobile 7 later in the year, with changes to the user interface, and offers two new services: My Phone, and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

My Phone syncs text messages, photos, video, and contacts to the Web, while Windows Marketplace for Mobile provides direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Internet.