Acer starts rolling out Android 3.1 update for the Iconia Tab A500

Almost on schedule, Acer has started pushing out an update for its Iconia Tab A500 that will upgrade the 10-inch slate to Android 3.1. If you’ll recall, the update actually leaked late last month, but would have required folks to take the risk of flashing their tablets. As is often the case, it’s unclear how long the roll-out will last, so don’t be crestfallen if you can’t enjoy those resizeable widgets just yet. For those of you who did wake up to an update, have at it — and do tell us how it goes.

Acer starts rolling out Android 3.1 update for the Iconia Tab A500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gateway updates its ID and NV laptops with USB 3.0, Sandy Bridge and Llano internals

Acer’s had its day (or two) unveiling back-to-school laptops, and now it’s its sister brand Gateway’s turn. The outfit just announced the 15.6-inch NV series and the 14-inch ID47, both of which include USB 3.0 and a choice of Sandy Bridge processors. (In the case of that entry-level NV, you can also opt for one of AMD’s fresh-off-the-line Llano chips.) But the company did more than just give its notebooks a spec bump — it also tweaked their designs, adding a chiclet keyboard to the NV series, while the metal-clad ID’s trackpad is 20 percent larger and no longer glows like a mood ring. The ID47 also has a 14-inch display crammed into a chassis usually paired with 13.3-inch panels, as well as a non-removable battery that promises up to eight hours of juice. (The NV is rated for up to four hours.) And, in an unusual twist, our friends in Canada will get additional choices, including a 15.6-inch version of the ID, as well as select models with NVIDIA Optimus. Both the ID47 and NV55 / NV57 are available now, with the ID starting at $629.99 and $799 Canadian, and the NV fetching $529.99 and $499 Canadian. Check out the various configurations after the break, with lots ‘o photos below.

Update: Lots of you are asking about the screen resolution on these guys. It’s not in the press release, but the answer is 1366 x 768, across the board.

Gallery: Gateway ID47

Continue reading Gateway updates its ID and NV laptops with USB 3.0, Sandy Bridge and Llano internals

Gateway updates its ID and NV laptops with USB 3.0, Sandy Bridge and Llano internals originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer planning a sliding Android tab for the holidays, won’t fit in your stocking

Acer Sliding Tab

Rumor has it that ASUS wont be the only company with a sliding Android tablet this holiday season — DigiTimes claims to have it on good authority that Acer will be launching its own 10.1-inch slate with a peekaboo QWERTY stashed behind the screen. The ARM-powered device is reportedly being manufactured by Compal, but beyond that your guess is as good as ours. By the time it lands we should be getting our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, but it’s a pretty safe bet if this unnamed device does ship later this year, it’ll do so with Honeycomb on board.

Acer planning a sliding Android tab for the holidays, won’t fit in your stocking originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer announces Aspire One Happy 2 netbook for the US market, shows its commitment to pastels

Given that it’s not 2008 and all, it’s not every week that we tell you about a new Atom-powered-netbook — not that any of the usual suspects seem likely to throw in the towel anytime soon. Acer just announced availability for the Acer Aspire Happy 2, that rippled, Easter Egg-colored number that reared its head back in April. As you’d expect, it runs on a dual-core Atom N570 CPU — a small upgrade over the N450 the last generation offered. And while it still has the usual 10.1-inch display, 250GB hard drive, and WiFi radio, it steps down to 1GB of RAM from 2GB. Aside from the predictable specs, Acer is clearly trying to make dented laptops happen, in case that wasn’t already obvious. That and pastels. “Banana Cream,” “Blueberry Shake,” “Strawberry Yogurt,” and “Papaya Milk” sound like your tall glass of crushed fruit? She’s available as you read this for $269.99.

Continue reading Acer announces Aspire One Happy 2 netbook for the US market, shows its commitment to pastels

Acer announces Aspire One Happy 2 netbook for the US market, shows its commitment to pastels originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s AC700 Chromebook coming to the US this month for $350, 3G model arriving later this summer

Samsung’s beautiful-but-pricey Series 5 Chromebook too rich for your blood? Fear not, cloud-dwellers. Acer just announced that its Chromebook, dubbed the AC700, will go on sale in the states this month for $349.99, to be followed by a 3G-equipped version later this summer. If you’re part of the niche market that would happily live in Chrome OS in exchange for instant-on access, be advised that it runs on an Atom N570 processor and 2GB of RAM, and has 16GB of flash storage, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 4-in-1 memory card reader. We’ll be curious to see how the build quality compares to the Series 5’s, though for some people, that $70 price gulf will render that a moot point. PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer’s AC700 Chromebook coming to the US this month for $350, 3G model arriving later this summer

Acer’s AC700 Chromebook coming to the US this month for $350, 3G model arriving later this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 3.1 update for Acer Iconia Tab A500 leaks out in China, can be downloaded worldwide

If you have an Iconia Tab A500 and an unbridled passion for running the latest Android software, we’ve got good news for you. Acer’s 3.1 update for the 10-inch Tegra 2 slate has actually slipped out a little early and can now be downloaded at the source link below. It brings the resizable widgets and other goodies that Xoom and Eee Pad Transformer users have been savoring for a while, though that’s naturally not been enough for some and there are already custom ROMs built off this leak that augment the upgrade with superuser privileges. Alternatively, should you be disinclined to flash your own tablet, you can just wait for Acer to start beaming Android 3.1 over the air to its European A500s on July 5th.

Android 3.1 update for Acer Iconia Tab A500 leaks out in China, can be downloaded worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia Tab A500 to get Android 3.1 on 5th of July, at least in Deutschland

The Iconia Tab A500, Acer’s “better choice” tablet, is set to join the ranks of Android 3.1 slates on the 5th of July, according to the company’s German Facebook page. That’s a little later than the June timeframe we’d initially been promised, but the precision of giving an actual date this time around inspires confidence that the OTA goodies will indeed be delivered. So far, we’ve only seen Acer announce this news on its German portal, so please keep your optimism in cautious gear if you reside outside the Bundesrepublik. The only certain Android update is the one that’s already on your device.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 to get Android 3.1 on 5th of July, at least in Deutschland originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated)

Typically, the whole fun of spotting products in the wild is that they haven’t been officially announced to the world yet, but in the case of the Acer Iconia Tab A100, we’re just amazed it’s finally here, and that it’s so… unassuming. Just weeks after rearing its head in FCC drawings, the delayed Tab has quietly surfaced at Walmart with a price tag of $349. That sticker there says it all, but for the money you’ll get Tegra 2 innards with 8GB of internal storage, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5 megapixel one ’round the back. And of course, it runs Android 3.0 at a time when most other 7-inchers still tap out at Android 2.3 — possibly the reason it was delayed in the first place. There’s no listing on Walmart’s website just yet, and our tipsters indicated it wasn’t actually on display. Still, if we’re seeing a price and tag, that means we’re beyond the point of any more delays… right?

Update: What you see in the wild is a display tag — not the elusive A100, of course. You can’t pop into a Walmart to buy one yet, but if that sticker is any indication, that’ll change soon.

Update 2: At least one reader says he not only saw, but played with the A100 at the Walmart in Leavenworth, Kansas, and even double-checked the model number when he saw the price. So depending on where you live, the tablet may have already landed at a Walmart near you.

Update 3: One sneaky reader snagged a sheet of wally-world pricetags, see the A100’s barcode hanging with tags for the Iconia A500 and HP Touchpad after the break.

[Thanks, Mat, David, Jared, and Clyde]

Continue reading Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated)

Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer announces Predator G5910 for the UK with up to 8TB of storage, ‘combat-machine’ design cues

Acer’s been mighty busy the past few days, trotting out laptops, desktops, a media streamer, and a multitouch monitor, to boot. But the company wasn’t ready to call it a week just yet — the outfit also announced the Predator G5910 gaming rig for the UK gaming crowd. As you might gather from its reddish accents and claw-like doors — a “combat-machine” aesthetic, according to Acer — this is a power tower. These bad boys pack quad-core, desktop-grade Core i5 and i7 processors, up to 16GB of memory, 10 USB 2.0 ports, a 12-in-1 memory card slot, two swappable hard drive bays, and as much as 8TB of storage spread across four SATA drives. In terms of graphics, the most specific thing Acer is saying is that it’s compatible with NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon cards, and that it’s NVIDIA 3D Vision-capable. You can also overclock this guy using Intel’s own Extreme Tuning Utility, but only if you opt for a K-series CPU. This would mean the machine has a P67 chipset — which is what retailers in other European countries are listing — and not the H67 listed in the press release. As final flourishes, Acer threw in a handle on the back, and an angled deck on top to keep your inevitable morass of cables under control. UK shoppers can find it in mid-July starting at £599 VAT. PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer announces Predator G5910 for the UK with up to 8TB of storage, ‘combat-machine’ design cues

Acer announces Predator G5910 for the UK with up to 8TB of storage, ‘combat-machine’ design cues originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer unveils Aspire Ethos laptops built to please eyes and ears in the US and Canada

We got acquainted with Acer’s new Aspire Ethos 8951G and 5951G laptops a week ago, and told you all about its hot hardware and its £999 price in the UK. Well, now these marvelous multimedia machines have journeyed across the Atlantic and brought their nifty detachable touchpads, which double as multimedia remotes, with them. The North American versions (named AS8951G and AS5951G) also pack the same 18.4-inch and 15.6-inch HD displays and USB 3.0 ports as their British counterparts. There’s Core i5 and Core i7 Sandy Bridge silicon and GeForce GT 555M graphics to give you plenty gaming grunt, and to ensure that the sounds match the visuals, both models pump out 5.1 channel surround sound. Low end audio in the AS5951G comes courtesy of a bass booster, while its big brother has a small subwoofer stuffed in its underside. So, what’s the damage to your wallet for these two black beauties? The AS5951G and AS8951G run $1,400 and $1,600, respectively, here in the States, while prices start at $1,200 and $1,500 CAD for our friends in the Great White North. Interested parties can find the full nitty gritty in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer unveils Aspire Ethos laptops built to please eyes and ears in the US and Canada

Acer unveils Aspire Ethos laptops built to please eyes and ears in the US and Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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