The Acer Iconia W3 has been leaked yet again, but this time through Acer itself, and confirming it as having an 8.1-inch 1280x768-resolution display. The company's Finnish website shows the Intel Atom-powered tablet, complete with an optional keyboard dock and Windows 8 Pro pre-installed, after previously being shown by mistake on Amazon before being pulled from view.
The leaked Acer Iconia W3, which first surfaced on the weekend has been confirmed for June 4 launch in Russia. The launch date was revealed by Acer’s general director of the Taiwanese company’s Russian office, and provides an indication for its global rollout. The device briefly appeared on the Amazon store, before it was quickly pulled.
Acer is taking on the Google Nexus 7 by shipping a budget-ranged Android tablet with a marginally bigger screen. Housing a larger-than-normal 7.9-inch IPS display running at a resolution of 1024x768, the Iconia A1 follows on the design aesthetic provided with the Iconia B1, shown earlier this year, measures just 0.44-inches thick and weighs in at 0.90 pounds.
Acer has officially announced its budget-ranged, seven-inch addition to its Iconia tablet range, though not as cheap as previously thought. The Iconia B1-A71 running Jelly Bean, as leaked late last month, will be a low-priced offering that will compete with the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire, though it will not be priced at the speculated $100 barrier.
Acer is reportedly gearing up to release a sub-$100 tablet at the start of 2013, cheaper than devices made by the company already on the market. The Iconia B1 will allegedly be an Android tablet with a seven-inch, 1024x600-resolution screen, a 1.2GHz processor, and similar specifications to the Amazon Kindle Fire, with its $99 price tag aimed at penetrating emerging markets rather than the US.
Acer has revealed the pricing and ship dates for its second Windows 8-powered tablet, the Iconia W510. It will slot in below the Iconia W700 and follow that tablet's October 26 release date, arriving in stores on November 9. It will carry a $500 starting price and pack a 10.1-inch, IPS touchscreen with 1,366x768 resolution.
Oliver Ahrens, Acer's senior VP and Europe president, has declared Microsoft's secretive Surface line of tablets doomed to failure. Specifically citing business focus issues and a change in core business principles, Ahrens urged Acer's primary software partner to focus on Windows 8 and pre-existing business arrangements instead of the potentially-risky product launch. "Microsoft is working with two dozen PC vendors worldwide, including the local guys, whereas Apple is alone, it can more or less do what it wants," Ahrens said when further questioned about potential problems with the tablet.
A day ahead of Black Friday, Microsoft has posted a teaser page for its own online store's discounts. The company plans to give away free Windows Phones to anyone who signs up for a two-year contract, undercutting even a one-cent Amazon deal. It's not known if this includes a modern phone like the Focus S or is limited to older hardware.
Microsoft continued its campaign of profiting from Android's success on Thursday with new patent licensing deals through Acer and ViewSonic. The deals will see each pay royalties for their Android devices, such as the Iconia Smart and ViewPads. In spite of Acer being one of the first Chromebook makers, only ViewSonic of the two will also pay royalties for any Chrome OS devices it makes.
Acer continues to reduce its orders for traditional PC notebook parts through August as it continues to struggle in the face of the iPad effect. According to Digitimes Taiwanese supply chain sources, Acer is unlikely to boost parts orders until September. In particular, its once popular netbooks have lost any sales momentum, while it continues to realign its growth strategy around its Iconia Android-powered tablet range.
Chainfire has released a new DSLR Controller beta app ($8.50 Android Market) for controlling Canon's DSLR range of cameras through an Android tablet device, with the only phone supported thus far is the Samsung Galaxy S2 with firmware 2.3.4 or newer. The Beta version connects over USB and requires that the Android device has USB host support. It allows touch focus adjustment, Live View, zoom, a histogram, bulb capture, and control over most other settings.
Acer said that the long-awaited Android 3.1 touchup for its 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 would be coming as an OTA update beginning July 5. The announcement came on company's German Facebook page. The Iconia Tab A500 is the last Android tablet to upgrade from the original flavor of Honeycomb. The Motorola Xoom tablet was the first to update, in early May.
Apple is expecting a large surge in demand for the iPad 2 in the back-to-school period, leaked supply numbers hint. One of the tablet's panel makers, Chimei Innolux, is expected to ship 400,000 to 500,000 iPads in June but more than double that to crest over one million a month in July. Combined with manufacturing from TPK and Wintek, the data led Digitims to word of shipments of 3.5 million to four million iPads every month, or 10.5 million to 12 million every quarter.
Acer shot back at its ex-CEO Gianfranco Lanci's claims that their nationalism held the company back with a statement later on Tuesday. The PC builder rejected the notion that Lanci had been thwarted in countering the iPad by Taiwan executives' refusal to hire more foreign engineers. It also didn't see the CEO's nationality as a problem and cared only about whether its leader could foster long-term growth, which Lanci couldn't based on Digitimes' account of events.
ASUS has had to whittle back its Eee PC shipments after sustained impact from tablets like the iPad, tipsters said Monday evening. It moved just 350,000 netbooks in April after tablets still "significantly impacted the demand," Digitimes claimed. In response, it would shoot back with a "killer" new Eee PC in June and an ultra-budget model at below $199 to widen the price gap with Apple and others.
Acer’s 7-inch Iconia A100 and A101 Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablets are set to arrive May 14. The devices, which are already up for pre-order in the UK, come with either a 3G + Wi-Fi (A101) or Wi-Fi-only (A100) configurations. Both devices run the Tegra 250 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1GHz matched with 512MB of RAM and incorporate 8GB of memory expandable with microSDs.
Acer's shift to mobile may have taken an immediate effect on its production, part supplier insiders said Monday. Orders for its Aspire One netbooks are supposedly being gradually replaced with its Iconia Tab models this month, with the A500 now on sale at Best Buy. As many as 400,000 to 500,000 of the 10-inch touchscreens for the Android-based A500 and Windows-based W500 had been ordered for April, Digitimes said.
Acer on Friday reported its lowest profit in over six years in what was largely a validation of estimates that it had been damaged by the iPad. Its net income dropped 64 percent to the equivalent of just over $41.53 million, the lowest the company had seen since spring 2004. The company also warned that its troubles weren't over and that its shipments might drop for the third quarter in a row for spring.
Acer has begun shipping the Iconia W500, a tablet equipped to run Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional. The device appears to be an adaptation of the Android 3.0-based A500, but with an AMD dual-core Fusion processor and Radeon integrated graphics. Both tablets integrate 10.1-inch displays with LED backlighting and 1280x800 resolution.
An ASUS contact confirmed later on Wednesday that the Eee Pad Transformer would reach the US by the end of the month. According to those talking to in-transition tech blogger Joanna Stern, the trick Android 3.0 tablet should reach Best Buy and other stores for the rumored $399. Its trademark keyboard dock will cost a steep $150 but includes a second battery to push the battery life up to 16 hours.
Acer's long discussed Iconia Tab A100 may finally be getting close to a launch. Part builders said Wednesday that the smaller Android 3.0 slate would launch in late April or May. The design has the same Tegra 2 processor and dual cameras as the 10-inch A500 but both a lower resolution 1024x600 screen and a smaller 8GB of storage.
Acer is already optimistic enough about its Iconia Tab launches that it's increasing production, part suppliers said late Monday. Although it was conservative when it first made orders in March, Acer has supposedly bumped the order dramatically to between 500,000 and 800,000 tablets. About 400,000 to 600,000 of those would be the 10-inch A500 models where the rest would be seven-inch designs.
The Acer Iconia W500 tablet has now gone up for pre-order at B&H, revealing US pricing for the first time. The Windows 7 tablet will cost $549 and ships on April 15, according to the listing. This price includes the detachable keyboard dock and the Wi-Fi-only tablet itself.
Acer on Friday priced and dated the launch of its first tablet in the US, the Iconia Tab A500. Its 10-inch, Android 3.0-based flagship should reach Best Buy as an exclusive on April 24. The price will deliberately undercut that of the iPad 2 and will start at $450 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model.
Packard Bell has joined its parent Acer in the tablet arena by launching a model of its own. The Liberty Tab is a close cousin of the Iconia Tab A500 and chiefly mixes up the design to be more visually appealing. The Android 3.0 slate can either come in a safe Pearl White or a more conspicuous Cherry Red.
Acer CFO Tu Che-min and Chairman JT Wang on Friday outlined a consciously mobile-oriented focus for restructuring in the wake of the forced departure of its CEO Gianfranco Lanci the day before. It would name a new president before the end of April that would focus primarily on smartphones and tablets. The overall switch away from Acer's traditional computer business would require more spending on research and development, Che-min said.
Acer kicked off Tuesday by detailing the US launch of the Iconia Touchbook. Its dual 14-inch touchscreen notebook will ship for $1,200 and has just one configuration. The Iconia-6120 will have an unnamed Core i5 processor (possibly pre-Sandy Bridge), 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, and expansion that brings one USB 3.0 port as well as two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI video out.
At an event in the UK hosted by Acer and attended by RegHardware, the company announced prices for its upcoming 10.1-inch Iconia A500 and W500 tablets. The former will use Android, the latter Windows 7 as their OS. The W500 will be split into Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi with 3G models, and can be purchased on its own or with a docking keyboard.
Acer chairman JT Wang attacked the iPad again today in commentary that reflected the fallout from earlier denials. He acknowledged that the iPad damaged Acer portable sales in the past three to five months but insisted that it was simply a question of buyers waiting for the next wave of tablets to decide whether or not to buy. Netbook and notebook sales would bounce back between March and April once they could make a decision, Wang said.
Apple is looking at expanding the iPhone's screen size to four inches in what could be a battle with Android phones, component makers said Tuesday. Test production runs have reportedly gone to the larger screen area. The move as explained by Digitimes would help bridge the gap between the iPhone and the iPad.
Acer quickly stepped in with a response to a Taiwan sales manager's claims that Acer's tablet line was part of a strategy to phase out netbooks. The company claimed that its new slates were an expansion as the industry shifted. Both netbooks and tablets would exist side-by-side, it said.
Acer in a slew of introductions today brought out one of the first official 4G tablets for Verizon's LTE network. The 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 will use the "latest" version of Android, likely Honeycomb (2.4), with Acer's custom 4.5 UI on top. Its underpinnings will be based on NVIDIA's dual-core, 1GHz Tegra 2 chip and give it support for 1080p video through native HDMI output.
TheAcer Iconia dual-touchscreen notebook introduced at the end of November will ship in Spain on January 28, but for a high price. It should cost 1,499 euros ($1,985) and thus as much as high-end system despite its mid-range insides. If and when it ships in North America isn't known, though it may cost less.
Acer's special event today brought two Windows 7 computers that it hopes will both do something new. The Iconia is one of the first full-size, mainstream dual touchscreen notebooks and has two 14-inch, 1366x768 displays that both support Windows 7's multi-touch for up to 10 fingers when typing. The bottom screen is gesture-aware and can bring up the keyboard, media controls, an app launcher, a window manager and a gesture editor.
