Acer is rolling out an Android-running smartphone called the Stream, the LumiRead e-reader, a 23-inch all-in-one PC, and an Aspire 5745P notebook.
No information has been offered yet about when the products, which were announced May 27 during a press conference in China, may arrive in the US or the UK. When they do, however, they’re likely to find more than a few fans.
There’s also 2GB of internal flash memory, an 8GB memory card, and a microSD slot that supports up to 32GB of memory. These are paired with a “stunningly fluid 3D interface,” per Acer. The 3.7-inch WVGA display offers 2000:1 contrast. Applications can be launched with a single tap, and the homepage can be customised with widgets, wallpapers and even sounds. With the Android OS, multitasking is a given, and users can switch between applications using a “History” panel at the top of the display.
The Stream measures 11.2mm thin — that’s 0.4 inches — and comes with a 5-megapixel camera, integrated GPS, 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and three types of predictive keyboards to choose from.
Additional features include a Nemo multimedia player, and a streaming service called Spinlets that lets users browse and listen to music, and share what they like on social-networking sites.
Also likely to attract interest is the clean, white LumiRead, which like Amazon’s Kindle sticks with an e-Ink non-glare display meant to mimic a book or newsprint.
The LumiRead can deliver up e-books and audio books, and no shortage of either —Acer has signed agreements with Barnes and Noble and Germany’s Libri.de to offer LumiRead users access to their e-bookstores, and similar agreements are in the works to offer French and Italian titles.
The display on the LumiRead is 6 inches, and inside is 2GB of flash memory. There’s a microSD card slot, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and an ISBN scanner, so users can zap codes and create their own book wish lists. A web browser is also on board, which should pair nicely with the qwerty keypad below the LumiRead’s display.
Like recent all-in-one offerings from competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, Acer’s aluminum-cased Z5710 was designed for kitchen counters and family rooms. The emphasis here is on the 23-inch, 1,920 by 1,080 resolution touch display, which is paired with a Dolby Home Theater v3 with 5.1 channels and HD surround-sound support.
There’s a slot-in optical drive, a multi-in-one card reader, and HDMI port and an optional TV tuner.
The Aspire 5745P notebook likewise emphasises a high-end multimedia experience, pairing a 15.6-inch HD LED-backlit touchscreen with an Intel Core processor, DDR3 (double-data rate) memory speeds and a Dolby Home Theater v3 sound system. It’s also Energy Star certified and comes with Acer’s PowerSmart Manager, for making the juice last.
Acer’s multitouch technology — “We’re living in a touch era,” says the press release — is shared across the displays on the smartphone, desktop and notebook, making for both easy input and a natural, intuitive experience across the devices.
Acer, often competing neck-and-neck with US competitor Dell, held the second-largest worldwide market share during the first quarter of 2010, shipping 12 million units and showing 54.3 percent year-on-year growth.
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