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Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray - WSJ.com

The Taiwan company said Tuesday it will release three touchscreen tablets next year. The first, based on Microsoft's Windows platform, will have a 10.1 inch screen and be released in February.

The company will also release two tablets using Google's Android platform in April, one with a 7-inch screen and one with a 10.1-inch screen.

Acer didn't provide details about pricing or carrier distribution during its product event. Executives said pricing hasn't yet been determined, and the tablets haven't yet officially been named.

Acer is the latest personal-computer maker to join the tablet bandwagon after Apple Inc.'s iPad, released in April, attracted strong consumer demand. Samsung Electronics Co. has begun selling a Google-based tablet with a 7-inch screen. Other companies, including BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co., have announced plans to introduce tablets to compete with Apple's product.

At the launch event in New York, Chief Executive Gianfranco Lanci said people are moving from creating content to consuming content, and they need a variety of devices for the different needs.

Full Article -- Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray - WSJ.com

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Hands on

As expected, Acer announced not one, but three tablets today. However, even the company's CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, admitted that the 5-incher it also unveiled is primarily a phone. All these devices were in scarce supply at Acer's downtown Manhattan product unveiling, but we managed to grab a few moments with the still-unnamed 10-inch Android tablet.

Roughly a half-inch thick and somewhat long longer (or narrower—it has a 16:9 aspect ratio) and heavier than the Apple iPad, the Acer tablet runs Android, though it wasn't clear which version. Acer execs said its release schedule for these Android tablets is dependent on when the tablet version of Android (code-named Honeycomb) is ready.

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The device offers no front button, but does have power and screen lock on one side, an SD slot on another, and a docking port for the optional, full-sized keyboard dock. There are two cameras, one on the back and another on the front. Acer didn't announce the resolution, though we know the camera on the 5-inch smartphone is 8 megapixels, so it might not be a stretch to assume the same about this device's primary image capture hardware. The company also left out details on the exact screen resolution, though we can report that it's bright, sharp, and highly reflective. There's also a mini HDMI port for playing back content on your HDTV. The gray, brushed metal device is easy to hold and, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Tab, didn't feel as if it might slide out of your hands.

Powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU, the tablet has some serious graphics chops. We saw it play a 3D game during the on-stage demo and then watched as it effortlessly handled 1080p HD video streaming from a nearby Acer laptop. Both devices feature DLNA-enabled Clear.fi, Acer's new WiFi-based content streaming and sharing technology. Acer execs said Clear.Fi. will help users create a "personal cloud."

I touched the screen to pause the movie and realized that there was no obvious way to return to the very Android-like home-screen. Acer representatives explained that there will be a software-based home button when the product ships next year.

The few gestures we were allowed to try on the tablet worked well, but the Acer representative watching over us as we held the device seemed particularly anxious. Before we knew it, he had snatched it back and our time with the Acer 10.1-Inch Android Tablet was over.

Pictures/video included