Jul 26

Acer’s Android-powered Stream confirmed for Expansys-exclusive August 9th launch

Posted in: Android, stream, Today's Chili, video
Acer’s Android-powered Stream phone already got official way back in May — and we got our hands on it at Computex in June — but the company has only just now confirmed a launch date. According to Acer, the Stream will be rolling out on August 9th, and it’ll be exclusive to UK-based online retailer Expansys, at least initially. As for the phone itself, you can expect a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, Android 2.1 for an OS, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording (no flash, though), an HDMI out port, and full DLNA / UPnP support for media streaming (hence the name). Of course, being exclusive to Expansys also means you won’t be getting a subsidized price — look for this one to set you back £399, or just over $600. Full press release is after the break.

Update: And it looks like we’ve got our first unboxing with the final retail packaging. Video’s after the break.

Continue reading Acer’s Android-powered Stream confirmed for Expansys-exclusive August 9th launch

Acer’s Android-powered Stream confirmed for Expansys-exclusive August 9th launch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MobileBurn  |  sourceAndroid Community, Expansys  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , ,
Jul 26

Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody

Posted in: CoreI7, intel, NVIDIA, Today's Chili
If you’ve seen this bad boy there’s no way you can forget it: from the DeLorean-esque cover to the two-tone paint job, the Aspire Predator AG7750 is the gaming desktop you don’t want to leave alone with your children or small pets. Starting at $1999, you get Windows 7 Home Premium, an Intel Core i7-930 CPU, 12GB SDRAM, NVIDIA GTX 470 graphics card, all sorts of storage options, and more. Is it just us, or are these things getting progressively sillier as time goes on? Available now at “select retail outlets” (that would be “select” as in “selected,” not as in “privileged”). PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody

Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAcer  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Jul 26

Acer debuts S201HL, S211HL and S231HL LCD monitors

Posted in: LCD, monitor, screen, Today's Chili

Tired of smacking your LCD around just to get the backlight to function for a few minutes? Acer feels your pain, and it’s offering up a new trio of monitors here in the US for those suffering the ancient panel blues. The new S1 series checks in between 13mm and 15mm thick, and the company is making ’em available in 20-, 21.5- and 23-inch sizes. As you’d expect, the whole lot offers white LED backlighting, an Energy Star 5.0 sticker, 12,000,000:1 (dynamic) contrast ratio, 5ms response time, 250 nits of brightness and 16.7m colors. The bigger two offer a native 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (while we’re left to wonder on the little guy), with connections including VGA, DVI and HDMI (23-inch only). They’ll be splashing down soon on US shelves for $169.99 (S201HL), $219.99 (S211HL) and $269.99 (S231HL).

Continue reading Acer debuts S201HL, S211HL and S231HL LCD monitors

Acer debuts S201HL, S211HL and S231HL LCD monitors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Jul 16

Acer gains ground on HP as ASUS bumps Toshiba out of top five global PC vendors

Posted in: ASUS, HP, lenovo, sales, stats, Today's Chili, Toshiba, usa

Did you know that since the inception of the great and glorious PC industry the world leader in shipments has always been an American company? The biggest threat to this hometown hegemony right now looks to be coming from Taiwan, as Gartner’s latest figures show significant growth from both Acer and ASUS, with the latter improving its global shipments by a stonking 78.5% between this time last year and now. Acer’s ascent was a more modest 31.6%, though the whole PC market has taken a big uptick from 2009 with a 20.7% average growth in shipments. That’s meant that even though HP and Dell have registered double-digit growth, both lost market share over that time. Toshiba has similarly had a strong showing, but ASUS’ exponential growth has relegated the Japanese company to sixth in the world. That Toshibasus merger isn’t looking like such a bad idea now, is it Toshiba?

Acer gains ground on HP as ASUS bumps Toshiba out of top five global PC vendors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New York Times  |  sourceGartner  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Jul 14

Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

Posted in: cloud, Linux, netbook, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, video

We’re always skeptical when it comes to underground operating systems whipped up for one specific purpose, but Jolicloud has managed to continually impress us with each passing build. Now, at long last, the netbook-centric OS has arrived at the magical 1.0, and our comrades over at Netbook News have managed to score an early copy. Better still, they’re showcasing it on Acer’s just-released Aspire One 533, and if the bootup speed is any indication, we’d say the two are a match made in heaven. The 1.0 version sure looks grown-up compared to those earlier builds, and while we suspect it would take a bit of getting used to before we really found ourselves comfortable in an app-driven desktop OS, we definitely like the looks of it. Feel free to hop on past the break for a lengthy video demonstration of the refaced system, and if you’re currently using an earlier version, the company has informed the world that upgrades will start slipping out as early as this week.

Continue reading Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNetbook News  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Jul 14

Laptop’s 2010 tech support showdown reveals ugly truth: you’re (almost) on your own

Posted in: Apple, ASUS, HP, issue, laptop, lenovo, msi, notebook, problem, samsung, sony, Today's Chili, Toshiba

Dealing with warranties is one thing — it’s almost always a crap-shoot, and you’re continually pressing your luck when trying to get something covered without any out-of-pocket expense. But how’s about the tech support that’s so whimsically promised with so many laptops these days? Our pals over at Laptop put in an inordinate amount of work in order to find out, pinging a full dozen manufacturers via phone and chat in order to measure hold time, level of support offered and overall satisfaction. Just about every major laptop maker was included (Acer, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and Fujitsu, just to name a few), and an in-depth report of their findings was posted for each one. In general, though, they found that most companies wouldn’t hang around long enough to answer those nagging questions that typically end up in forums (“How do I remove bloatware?”), oftentimes pointing the caller to a paid alternative that would actually take the time to address their issues. If you’re considering a new machine, and you aren’t exactly one of those nerdy go-getters who can troubleshoot everything yourself, you should certainly give the source links below a look. Just try not to get too depressed, cool?

Laptop’s 2010 tech support showdown reveals ugly truth: you’re (almost) on your own originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLaptop [1], [2]  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Jul 14

Acer said to be launching 7-, 10-inch Android tablets before the end of the year

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, rumor, tablet, Today's Chili
Acer’s already offered some indication that it planned to launch at least one Android-based tablet before the end of the year, and it looks like we’re starting to get few more tidbits of information. According to DigiTimes (reasonably reliable when it comes to Acer rumors), the company is planning to launch both 7-inch and 10-inch tablets sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, both of which will reportedly be ARM-based and run Android 2.2 (complete with Flash support_. Details are otherwise still pretty light, but DigiTimes is backing up earlier talk that Acer’s looking to partner with mobile carriers on the devices, which we presume means they’ll both at least have a 3G option.

Acer said to be launching 7-, 10-inch Android tablets before the end of the year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDigiTimes  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , ,
Jul 11

Acer’s LumiRead 600 hits the FCC with slow bursts of 2.4GHz radiation

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, Today's Chili, wifi

Acer’s 6-inch LumiRead e-reader just hit the FCC, but there’s not a lot to learn — the company smartly withheld the user’s manual and detailed images, so all we have are the triplicate forms of stalwart government employees trying to irradiate themselves. Those thankfully painless tests reveal that the Kindle-alike will have standard 802.11b/g WiFi alongside its monochrome E Ink screen, and the whole 532MHz Freescale iMX357 kit will be powered by a 3.7V, 1460mAh battery. Exciting stuff, we know. In other news, the FCC’s “ancillary equipment” list features genuine Apple iPod earbuds, and a Dell Vostro 1510 — because that’s how they roll.

Acer’s LumiRead 600 hits the FCC with slow bursts of 2.4GHz radiation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Digital Reader  |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
Jul 09

DIY: How to Install a Pixel Qi Display in Your Netbook

Posted in: Displays, e ink, netbooks, Notebooks, samsung, Today's Chili

If you are willing to take a screwdriver to your computer, Pixel Qi’s low-power displays that can switch between color LCD and black-and-white screens could be in your netbook.

The 10.1-inch displays available through makershed.com look like standard LCD screens inside the room. But take them outside and they turn into low-power e-paper like display.

Pixel Qi first showed the screens in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The display called 3Qi operates in three modes: a full-color LCD transmissive mode; a low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a transflective mode that makes the LCD display visible in sunlight.

Pixel Qi has started selling the displays directly to consumers though the company is also working with with PC manufacturers.

For now, Pixel Qi says it can guarantee the compatibility of the displays, which cost $275 each, with only two models of netbooks–the Samsung N130 and Lenovo S10. But the screen  works in most other models, says the company.

Swapping out existing netbooks screens for those from Pixel Qi is a simple DIY tweak, says Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen.

“Changing the screen of your netbook is easy, the process takes about 5-10 minutes using a small screwdriver. It’s simple,” she wrote on her blog.

Users have to remove the front plastic bezel of the existing display in their netbook, unlatch the screen, plug Pixel Qi’s display in its place and snap on the screws.

But if you like to see what the process really is like, check out this video from Make magazine.  The 10-minute long video shows how to remove the display off an Acer Aspire One netbook.

Seems like this will be a breeze to do at home and the results should be worth it. Pixel Qi screens consume 80 percent less power in the reflective e-paper-like mode, says Jepsen.

See Also:

Photo: Pixel Qi screen/Priya Ganapati

[via Ubergizmo via Liliputing]




No Comments | Tags: , ,
Jul 09

Acer TimelineX 4820T review

Posted in: review, Today's Chili

Pulling the 14-inch Acer TimelineX 4820T from its box, one thing went through our mind: this could be the perfect thin and light laptop. The $717 system is about an inch thick, weighs only 4.7 pounds, and still has an onboard DVD drive. And unlike the past Acer Timelines and their sissy ULV processors, it has a standard voltage Core i3-350M CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. Oh, and it promises over seven hours of battery life. Sound like the perfect no-compromise ultrathin laptop to you too, right? Well, even after our unboxing, the TimelineX 4820T did live up to many of our expectations, but disappointed in some unfortunate others. We’ll explain it all in our full review after the break.

Gallery: Acer TimelineX 4820T review

Continue reading Acer TimelineX 4820T review

Acer TimelineX 4820T review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: