Hasta La Gadget!

For those who feel there’s not enough choice in e-readers or smartphones, here are some new options. Acer is showing a new e-reader and smartphone that more than anything else add clutter to the category.  The two devices will be shown at Computex, one of the largest trade shows for PC makers held every year in Tapei, Taiwan.

Acer’s new e -reader called LumiRead will have a 6-inch E Ink display, 2 GB flash memory (good for about 1500 books) with the option to add a MicroSD card, and a QWERTY keyboard.

There’s also an ISBN scanner built into the device so users can scan ISBN codes on the books to create their own wish list or search online libraries and book stores.

Like the Alex e-reader or Amazon’s Kindle, Acer’s LumiRead will have a internet browser and connect wirelessly using 3G or Wi-Fi.

Acer has signed agreements with Barnes & Noble and Libri.de, a German internet book retailer to offer e-books. The device will launch in the U.S. in the third quarter and be available in China and Germany towards the end of the year.

Acer isn’t talking price, which will be key to the device’s success. The e-reader market is flooded with Kindle clones and the arrival of yet another device is hardly likely to get consumers’ attention.  The ISBN code-scanning feature aside, the LumiRead feels rather pedestrian and unless Acer can beat Sony’s $170 Pocket Edition e-reader, it is difficult to see how LumiRead can get ahead.

Separately, Acer also announced a new smartphone called Stream. The Android-powered phone will have a3.7-inch touchscreen OLED display, 3G,  Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor, 512 MB RA and 2 GB of internal memory.

“Acer Stream is a high-end multimedia smartphone, optimized for watching movies, listening to music and enjoying web browsing like at home,” says Acer in a statement. “Perfect for most demanding users who look for the best in entertainment.”

That means HD video recording up to 720p, 5-megapixel camera, a GPS system that allows photos and videos to be geotagged and a HDMI port. The phone will run Android version 2.1 aka ‘Éclair.’

Based on the specs, the Stream sounds a lot like the Nexus One.  It’s likely that Acer will launch the device in Asia and Europe only. After all, the Nexus One and the HTC EVO 4G blow the Stream out of the competition in the U.S.

Acer hasn’t announced telecom carriers or pricing for the Stream.

See Also:

• $150 Kobo eReader: The Real Kindle Killer?
• Plastic Logic Aims New Que E-Reader at Business Users
• Entourage eDGe E-Book Reader
• Acer Plans a Million Chrome OS Netbooks, New E-Reader

Photo: Acer LumiRead/Acer

Intel’s back in its familiar saddle today with the unveiling of a pair of new CPUs, marking the start of a new K-series that will cater to the overclocker inside all of us. The Core i7-875K is a 2.93GHz quad-core unit, which can scale heights of 3.6GHz via Turbo Boost, or even higher if you have the patience, tenacity and appropriate cooling to make it happen. Review action for this chip shows it to be Intel’s premier offering short of the enthusiastically overpriced and overpowered Core i7-980X. Even more affordable will be the Clarkdale-based Core i5-655K, which trots along at 3.2GHz (with a 3.46GHz gallop option), but response to it was a little more muted. It’s a dual-core CPU, after all, and if you don’t plan on exploiting that unlocked multiplier to achieve some madness above 4GHz, you might be better off looking elsewhere. In amidst all the mad benchmarking, we’ve also found a review of a Falcon Northwest i7-875K rig as well, so give it all a read if you’re mulling over a desktop upgrade.

Read – Tech Report
Read – AnandTech
Read – PC Perspective
Read – Hot Hardware
Read – TweakTown
Read – Legit Reviews

Intel Core i7-875K and Core i5-655K unlock multipliers, better performance originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s been busy doing a presentation over in Beijing today, and the highlight of the show was the first sighting of the company’s 7-inch Android tablet. It’s described by Shufflegazine as “pretty fast with sensitive touch,” though CEO Gianfranco Lanci was apparently reluctant to disclose any of the specs. He told the gathered press to expect it in the fourth quarter of this year, which sounds all kinds of 2000-and-late, but we have to consider the fact that only a couple of months ago Acer was telling us it wasn’t going to enter the tablet realm at all. What’s interesting is that Lanci described network operators as an “obvious” sales channel, suggesting the slate has an integrated 3G module, while it also looks like the silvery bottom of the device is occupied by a QWERTY keyboard not unlike that found on Amazon’s Kindle. Interesting times lie ahead, that’s for sure.

[Thanks, Imran]

Acer CEO teases 7-inch Android tablet, promises it for Q4 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 02:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading ASRock Vision 3D HTPC sports Intel Core processor and USB 3, but you’ll have to buy your own glasses (video)

ASRock Vision 3D HTPC sports Intel Core processor and USB 3, but you’ll have to buy your own glasses (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI rolls out Wind U160DX netbook with 15-hour battery originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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