Finally materializing after months of agonizingly vague promises of Androidery, The Liquid A1 is a capacitive-screen WVGA touch phone, set to run Android 1.6 Donut—the first build of the OS to support nonstandard (read: G1) resolutions, among other things—as well as a custom social-networking-centric interface, a la HTC's Sense.

The software details are annoyingly sparing, as are the hardware specs, which for now include expected HSDPA connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera and GPS, but we really know pretty much all we need to at this point: the 1GHz processor and accompanying 3D chipset will make this the first truly fast Android phone, almost regardless of what software Acer shoulders it with to slow it down. In other words, your Android will do what you want it to, when your finger tells it to, and it will be glorious. Whenever and wherever this thing drops, that is. [Acer via Slashgear]

The Future has arrived with Acer Liquid

Acer introduces its new smartphone "Liquid" series: the world's first Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor based and world's first Android™ 1.6 high definition smartphone, combining cutting-edge technologies, software innovation and an ultra-fluid user interface to create an all-new mobile experience. It is the ideal solution for users demanding the best from their devices, and in particular outstanding multimedia, web browsing, social media integration and video streaming. It also brings smartphone product design forward with its unique and modern style.

Finally something different
Acer Liquid is the first Wide-VGA smartphone in the market benefiting from the latest release of the Android™ 1.6 Operating System (aka Donut) and the first Android™ smartphone in the market equipped with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor.

This platform brings to market unique benefits for the end users and paves the way for a new wave of innovations from the developer community:

* With its High Definition capacitive touch screen (Wide VGA), Acer Liquid offers today an unparalleled experience when watching pictures or videos. But it also holds a promise for the future: the promise of an abundance of new applications on Android™ Smart Handhelds - games, professional applications and web applets that will enrich the end user experience. Now developers can be assured that their investment will build upon a standard resolution for the years to come;
* Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor, Acer Liquid provides instant access to web pages, smooth streaming of videos or music , and instant response from popular mail, maps and search applications. The high-speed processing capability and high-speed internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragon™ brings to life the Android™ experience: no idle-time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia contents. The developer community can now take full advantage of these capabilities to bring to market innovative applications that demand raw computing power and superior handling of 3D graphics.

Unique software enhancements
Acer Liquid also bolsters a set of unique features developed by Acer and its partners:

* Improved power management to help achieve longer battery autonomy for intense users;
* A new user interface with easy access to entertainment and web bookmarks;
* An optimized camera with geo-tagging, ISO, self-timer options and accelerated auto-focus performance;
* Exclusive Spinlets™ application providing free streaming of worldwide music and video, that can be shared with friends and family through web-posting or e-mail;
* Smart integration of Facebook™, Twitter™, Youtube™, Picasa™ and Flickr™ in the address book, with realtime notification of status or content updates.

A refreshing alternative to square shapes
With ellipse curves, a choice of red, white and black colors, and a slim body shape, Liquid will please style-seeking consumers. Designed for ergonomy, Liquid fits well in the hand, and displays a smooth finish. The fluidity of its curves gives the Acer Liquid its unique character and unconventional style.

The bulbs, which cost $35 each (!), are rated for 35,000 hours of use and only consumes 4W of electricity (compared to a 25W incandescent), which means if you're afraid of the dark and run it 8 hours a day for an entire year, it'll only cost $1.75. It's fully dimmable and, unlike other LED lights, cool to the touch, thanks to the oh-so-hardcore liquid cooling. The bulbs come in "warm white" and "daylight" flavors, and are available now. [Eternaleds via Engadget]

Seiko Press Release

Barcelona, Spain — 11th Fehttp://blogs.gawker.com/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&blog_id=4#bruary 2008 - Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII), (Japan) and Varioptic Lyon (France) — Varioptic and SII announced today the signature of a cooperation agreement to develop, manufacture and market Varioptic's Liquid Lens products. The aim of this agreement is to achieve a significant penetration with Liquid Lens products in the fast growing camera module market and other large volume end equipment markets such as barcodes and webcams.

SII will use its manufacturing expertise as the number one supplier of Backup button battery and Capacitor to Cellular phone companies to produce Liquid Lens units in very high volume with aggressive cost reduction to ensure liquid lens products maintain their cost advantage for auto-focus.

SII production capacity plan is expected to reach 0.5 million units per month by 3Q of 2008 and will expand mass production capacity according to market needs.
This agreement builds on an existing production capacity for Arctic 314 and Arctic 416 liquid lenses designed for 5—Megapixel, 1/3" and 1/4'' format camera modules.

Varioptic will continue to develop the liquid lens technology and to ensure the system wide competitiveness of the Liquid Lens products. Varioptic's liquid lens feature many advantages over competing technologies in terms of cost, size, robustness, power consumption, silent operation and speed. These advantages position liquid lenses particularly well for the emerging camcorder phone market where continuous auto-focus for video is a "must-have" feature.

Commenting on this agreement, Christian Dupont, CEO of Varioptic said: "We are delighted to have signed this agreement with SII. SII's unique position as the number one Backup button battery and Capacitor supplier to the leaders in the cellular phone market meets perfectly Varioptic's objective to become the leading supplier of high quality image solutions for mobile devices. SII's proven expertise in the production of low cost miniature mechanical assemblies make them an ideal partner of Varioptic."

Takeshi Sasaki, General Manager of Micro Energy Division of Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII), added: "We look forward to working with Varioptic. Varioptic's Liquid Lenses present significant advantages for the miniature camera phone industry and other large volume end equipment applications, resulting in higher yields and reduced production costs in line with our strategy to provide quality and innovative products.''

About Seiko Instruments

Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) was established in 1937 as a key watch manufacturing company for the Seiko Group. Based on its sophisticated micromechatronics and nanotechnology techniques developed through decades of experience in precision machinery manufacturing and low-power consumption technologies, the company provides micromechatronic products and services including watch and HDD components; semiconductors, FPD and electronic devices; network solutions systems; nanotechnology equipment; scientific instruments; and large-format inkjet printers. http://www.sii.co.jp.

About Varioptic

Varioptic develops and manufactures auto focus liquid lenses for the camera phone industry. Liquid lenses feature a number of advantages over competing technologies critical for camera-phone applications such as video auto-focus and bar-code reading. These include fast and close response, very low power consumption, low cost and size, good for millions of cycles, and with no moving parts liquid lenses are extremely robust. Varioptic is located in France with a subsidiary in Taiwan and representation in China, Japan, Korea, and USA. For more information, visit www.varioptic.com.

We didn't have the time, resources, or lack of shame to put some of your better ideas to work [See: here, here, and here], but we managed to try all of the choices in the poll. We cheated a bit on the puke, but our mix was pretty gross. The results—lucky for us—were inconclusive. Of the five liquids we put in the Toughbook, none made it explode or even slow down. After flushing the whole keyboard out with water, it wasn't even sticky the next day. So when it comes to the Y7 our answer to that Question of the Day is "none of the above." But please folks, don't try this at home. [Panasonic Toughbook]

[Thanks to Sam Mindel for the video help, and Communication Corporation for their song "Slimey"!!]

Interestingly, the minute markers only account for 58 total minutes. The missing two minutes are occupied by the time it takes the pipes to drain. The custom 7ft model will run you $85,000 with prices reaching $495,000 for the 35ft model. We'd prefer the sportscar or house that said money could buy, but we'd still enjoy seeing the Liquid-Time Sculpture in action. – Mark Wilson

Liquid-Time [futureofthings]

In their current tests, they found this liquid armor is best used when painted onto current Kevlar armor in thin layers. The company wants to make the new liquid armor available for police departments, the military, and prison guards. It can protect guards from a shivving, something their current vests and armor can't.

This new armor type is cheaper than traditional fiber armor to manufacture, so we're dreaming of one day coating all underwear in this stuff—making groin hits a thing of the past. – Jason Chen

Body Armor Fit For A Superhero [BusinessWeek]