Acer jumps on the smart bandwagon

Acer is the latest in a growing line of smartphone makers to dip their toes in the wearables market and with a very similar product. Samsung has the Gear Fit, Huawei has the TalkBand B1, Sony has the SmartBand and LG has the LifeBand Touch.

The Liquid Leap provides the wearer with text message and call notifications and, when it isn't relaying information from a smartphone, can track fitness too.

One of a host of new products revealed at a special launch event in New York on Tuesday, the band is just 17mm thick so should be comfortable to wear all day and is meant to keep things simple, or so says Acer.

Its battery is good for five days and when it launches in July or possibly August (Acer is being a little vague) it will be offered alongside the company's new flagship phone -- the Liquid Jade, also showcased at the event -- as a package as well as being sold as a standalone product.

Acer is the latest in a growing line of smartphone makers to dip their toes in the wearables market and with a very similar product. Samsung has the Gear Fit, Huawei has the TalkBand B1, Sony has the SmartBand and LG has the LifeBand Touch.

And all of them were announced this year and all of them are designed as fitness and activity trackers that can also, to a greater or lesser extent, support smartphone notifications.

And although Acer was happy to announce the Liquid Leap on Tuesday, it didn't reveal any real specifications or allow journalists any real hands-on time.

That will be coming in June at the Computex conference and tech show in Taiwan. This suggests two things: that Acer is saving the big news for an event in its home country and secondly, that the band and a number of the other devices announced Tuesday, are not yet production ready.