Acer subsidiary Gateway have been showing off their all-in-one touchscreen PC, and with a multitouch-capable 23-inch Full HD display it’s certainly no slouch. Unlike touchscreen nettops, the Gateway ZX6800 packs an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and DDR3 memory, and runs Windows 7.
After rumors back in April that HP were planning to launch a 3D laptop courtesy of NVIDIA’s GeForce 3D technology, now comes word that Acer are planning their own 3D rival. According to Campbell Kan, VP of Acer’s mobile computing business unit, the 15.6-inch Aspire 3D laptop will arrive at the end of October 2009, and require stereoscopic glasses in order for the 3D effect to be viewed.
When Acer global vice-president Jim Wong said the company would continue to supply Windows netbooks alongside their new Android netbooks, we didn’t expect that to mean dual-booting. However, much to Linux-lovers dismay (and in fact anybody who wanted to avoid the so-called “Windows tax” of roughly $25 for an XP license), company president JT Wang has now confirmed that at least the first wave of Android netbooks will come with both open-source and Microsoft OS.
Acer’s F900 smartphone – first announced back at Mobile World Congress in February – has finally launched. Offering Windows Mobile 6.1, the F900 has a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen, HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity and Acer’s new 2.0 User Interface on top of the Microsoft OS.
The F900 is shipped with Internet Explorer 6 with Adobe Flash Lite support, together with Acer’s Easy Keyboard. There’s also a YouTube app, Google Maps and GPS. Around the back, there’s a 3-megapixel camera.
The Acer F900 is now available in the UK, unlocked, at £429 ($709). No word on whether Acer will be offering upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.5 once the new OS reaches the market, but the fact that the F900 has a Windows-logo key (a feature of WM6.5 devices) rather than the traditional Home icon does suggest that owners will be able to update.
Acer have brought their F1 Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone to Computex, and there’s finally a spec sheet to go with the prototype. We now know that the F1 is based on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor – the same as Toshiba’s TG01 - paired with a spacious 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen and 5-megapixel autofocus camera.
Acer’s Timeline range of ultraportable notebooks has been priced for the US, and whereas we were expecting a starting price of around $699 Acer are actually delivering a $598 entry-level machine. That gets you the 15.6-inch Timeline with Intel’s 1.3GHz Pentium SU2700 and 3GB of DDR3 RAM; if you want one of the 14-inch or 13.3-inch models budget $699.99 or $899.99 accordingly.
Acer’s Jim Wong, global president for IT products, has confirmed that the company plan to launch an Android-based netbook in Q3 this year. Full details of the netbook are unknown, but it’s believed to be based on the same Intel Atom processors as Acer’s existing netbook range.
As you might expect, Computex brings with it not only official news but plenty of rumor, and the first netbook whispers suggest that the segment is growing increasingly competitive. ASUS – when they’re not slapping Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets into Eee PCs – are tipped to be evaluating NVIDIA’s Ion GPU for future products, according to industry sources, while they also suggest that the Eee Box B1006 nettop spotted on Friday will use Ion when it launches in Q3 2009.
Acer netbook rumors after the cut
Acer have announced their first consumer NAS running Windows Home Server, the Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N. It may not have a snappy name, but it does have 1TB of standard storage plus three hot-swappable 3.5-inch hard-drive bays for a total of 7TB capacity. There are also five USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA connection.
The Acer Aspire One 751 is such a good looking netbook that we were willing to give it a second chance. After disappointing with the first round of testing, primarily because of the underpowered Intel Atom Z520 1.3GHz processor, we crossed our fingers that a second round would prove them to be some bizarre aberration. Sadly, going by the figures at NetbookNews.it, our hopes are unfounded.
Video of the 751 falling flat after the cut
SlashGear Japan
