Acer suprised a few folks in Barcelona this week with the unveiling of their slightly modified version of last year’s Acer Liquid. Called the Acer Liquid e, the new phone will ship with Android 2.1. The phone is otherwise pretty much the same as the original Liquid. In fact, as far as we can tell so far, this is exactly the same as the original Liquid except it’s running 2.1. They’ve even left the Snapdragon processor running the thing underclocked at 768MHz. Acer had claimed that they were going to be releasing a number of Android handsets this year, but surely patching up your first one and giving it a new phone doesn’t count?

Still, a number of people may have been put off the original Liquid because it was running an older version of Android, and it always was a damned fine looking phone.

Here’s the official press release-

Acer Liquid e
Socialize in high definition

Barcelona, 15-18 february 2010 – Acer is proud to present Liquid e, the new version of the already well known Liquid smartphone.

Acer Liquid e features the latest Android™ 2.1 Operating System (aka Éclair). Building on the processing and graphical capabilities of the Qualcomm™ Snapdragon™ and its high definition screen, Liquid e is the state-of-the-art for multimedia, web browsing, and social media integration. It should thrill both avid users of internet on-the-go and new users eager to experience the rich possibilities offered by this innovative device.

This appealing high definition smartphone is the ideal solution for users demanding the best from their devices and in particular for high-definition video playback or streaming, gaming and browsing smoothly rich-content internet sites.

What’s new on Liquid e with Android Éclair 2.1:
• Home screens – The new version now handles five home screens by default, allowing users to easily install more applications from the rich selection available on the Android Market, as well as shortcuts and widgets;
• Quick Contacts – a feature that lets users easily switch between the address book and the social network applications;
• Live wallpapers to customize your Liquid e on the fly;
• A new keyboard layout with an extended dictionary for predictive input;
• An updated version of the Android browser, supporting HTML5, double-tap zooming, video tagging support and geo-location API support.

With its 3.5″ high-definition capacitive touch screen, Acer Liquid e offers an unparalleled experience when watching pictures or videos, and proposes an abundance of new applications on Androidâ„¢ Smart Handhelds – games, professional applications and web applets that will enrich the end user experience.

Powered by the powerful Qualcommâ„¢ Snapdragonâ„¢ processor, Acer Liquid e 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 capabilities and high-speed internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragonâ„¢ brings to life the Androidâ„¢ experience: no idle-time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia content. 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.

Full spec sheet-