Acer launches first 8-inch Windows tablet, plans touchscreens everywhere

Acer launches first 8-inch Windows tablet, plans touchscreens everywhere

Acer took the wraps off the world’s first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet today at Computex, a giant computer tradeshow in Taipei.

Continuing the run of lucky 8s, the company also said that 80 percent of its products would feature touchscreen technology by 2015, or perhaps as early as 2014.

25 percent of Acer’s notebook sales were touchscreen-enabled, according to Reuters, and the company expects that number to rise to 30-35 percent. Acer is the world’s fourth-largest PC vendor after Dell, HP, and Lenovo.



According to ZDNet, Acer’s Iconia W3-810 tablet will have the following specs:

•     8.1-inch display with 1,280 x 800 pixels
•     1.8GHz Atom Z2760 processor, a dual-core chip
•     8 hours of battery life

Other specs, not including the numeral 8, will include:

•     2GB of memory
•     Either 32GB or 64GB of storage
•     MicroSD slot for expansion storage
•     Micro-HDMI and USB ports
•     Option Bluetooth keyboard
•     Weight of 500 grams, or about 1 pound 1.7 ounces
•     Thickness of 11.4mm, or 0.45 inches

It will come with Microsoft Office Home & Student edition pre-installed, and will cost $379 and up.

That price is pretty low, given that it includes a version of Office. If you are one of those people who hasn’t yet made the migration to Google Docs, this could be a very attractive tablet option.

As far as the touchscreen prediction, it is a clear sign that the market is moving toward a new interface format for all devices, not just smartphones and tablets.

Acer, whose president Jim Wong has had harsh words for Windows 8 before, is clearly willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt. It’s far from betting the whole farm on Redmond’s horse, however — Acer will continue to produce Android tablets and Chromebooks.

Information Source : venturebeat.com