Hasta La Gadget!

At Acer’s over-the-top product onslaught event last night, Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci and product guy Jim Wong confirmed they’d been playing around with Android in the labs, but didn’t think an Android netbook was ready for primetime. Beyond the previously-confirmed Acer A1 Android smartphone, Wong confirmed that they’ve prototyped android on a netbook, and that “it has a good chance” of making it into the hands of consumers, though he didn’t foresee any desktop application at the moment. He says the big obstacle is making sure consumers get a full-fledged browser experience, and that they’ll share more when they feel it’s consumer ready. He also stated that he was pretty Acer sure everybody was testing Android on netbooks, so we’ll see which manufacturer bites first.

Filed under: Laptops

Acer’s dream team confirms netbook Android experiments, thinks it has a “good chance” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a little bit of suspense-free rumoring, the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One is now official — and pretty lovable. It’s an inch thick, boasts a LED backlit screen with WXGA resolution, and runs the usual netbook internals like an Intel Atom processor, 160GB HDD and 802.11 b/g WiFi. On top of that there’s Bluetooth, 3G, Dolby Pro Logic Sound and a multicard reader. It’s also got a 8-hour lifespan with a 6 cell 5200mAh battery. Build quality is top-notch for its class, and we’d say Acer’s doing good by the Aspire One name — though they’re messing with any sort of tight definition of “netbook” in the process. No word yet on price or availability.

Filed under: Laptops

Acer’s 11.6-inch Aspire One goes legit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At a press event tonight, Acer dropped an interesting fact: they have a prototype desktop PC running the Google Android OS. This isn’t the first we’ve heard of large-form-factor devices running Android; last week there were rumors HP was toying with Android as a laptop OS.

I personally think this is an awful idea. As our editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff said on PCMag Radio today, Android totally lacks desktop-class productivity applications – yes, it has basic document editing options, but nothing with the power laptop and desktop owners would expect. When I floated the idea to Smart Device Central editor Jamie Lendino, he responded tartly, “haven’t we already seen the HTC Advantage?” That’s a reference to a failed, overpriced sort of Windows Mobile netbook that landed with a giant thud in the marketplace in 2007.

Linux definitely has a place on netbooks and desktops. But the Android variant of Linux (because that’s what it is, really) isn’t designed for powerful devices. Never mind that Android is hard to find on the market even in phones. Acer is a smart company with a lot of Linux experience. They’re probably toying with an Android desktop to compare it to other available Linux options. I’m hoping they’ll realize it just isn’t a good fit.

Gigabyte’s T1028 TouchNote has been cooking on the back burner for weeks now. After we first spotted it lookin’ pretty at CeBIT, the tablet / netbook hybrid has since landed in the FCC’s database and has now shown up officially on the company’s website. The formal specifications list explains that the 10.1-inch machine will boast a swiveling touch panel (LED-backlit), a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 92 percent full-sized keyboard, embedded HSDPA module, a 2.5-inch 160GB SATA HDD, Bluetooth 2.1, 1.3 megapixel camera, Ethernet, 4-cell battery, WiFi and twin 1.5-watt speakers. Optional equipment includes an Atom N280 CPU, WiMAX module, 1,366 x 768 resolution panel (at least according to the user manual) and a more longevous a 6-cell Li-ion. Now, give us a price and ship date and we’ll be pleased as punch.

[Via Slashgear, thanks Chris]

Read – T1028 product page
Read – T1028 user manual

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Gigabyte posts T1028 TouchNote product page, user manual originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the old days when Microsoft was dragged kicking and screaming into offering Windows XP on netbooks? Neither does Microsoft, apparently, as the company is now all too happy to boast that a full 96% of the netbooks on the market run on its venerable OS. It’s also, unsurprisingly, quick to point out that virtually all of that growth comes at the expense of Linux, which Microsoft once again notes sees much higher rates of return once folks “realize their Linux-based netbook PC doesn’t deliver that same quality of experience.” Of course, all of this talk also has a little something to do with the even more netbook-minded Windows 7 which, ironically, could well be trying to peel off some market share from XP by this time next year.

Filed under: Laptops

Microsoft boasts that 96% of netbooks now run Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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