Yesterday Acer announced the launch of its first Android tablet, the Acer Iconia A500—and it comes at a competitve price-point, $449, given the specs are pretty much identical to the Motorola Xoom, minus 16GB of internal memory.
The Acer Iconia tablet features a 10″ 1280 x 800 resolution touchscreen, WiFi and Bluetooth, HDMI port, 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB DDR2 memory, 16GB of internal memory, microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB, and of course it runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
The Iconia also comes with a 2MP front-facing webcam for video chat and a 5MP rear camera with flash and 720p video recording. It can play 1080p HD video and 3D games, including flash-based video, games, and applications.
According to Acer, the 10-point touch display and six-axis motion sensing gyro meter control provide an entertainment experience on par with the best game consoles. In fact, the Acer Iconia comes pre-loaded with two games, “Need for Speed: Shift” and “Let’s Golf”.
For e-reading, the tablet comes pre-installed with the Acer LumiRead and Google Books ereading apps, and the Zinio app for reading full-color digital magazines.
Dimension-wise, Acer’s new tablet weighs about 1.69 pounds and measures 10.24 x 6.97 x 0.52-inches. Battery life is rated at 8-10 hours.
Additionally, Acer offers several accesories for the Iconia A500. Here’s a snippet from the press release:
- The full-sized dedicated keyboard connects to the tablet via Bluetooth to boost productivity. MSRP is $69.99.
- The dock with IR remote securely holds the Acer Iconia Tab A500 into a secure position with two tilt angles. The dock charges the unit and includes a connection for an external speaker or headphone. MSRP is $79.99.
- The sleek protective case guards the tablet without adding weight or bulk. It allows access to the connectors and ports, while also propping it up in two positions while on a desk or nightstand. MSRP is $39.99.
- The Americas power adapter set comes with three connectors used in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. MSRP is $29.99.
The Acer Iconia is up for pre-order exclusively from Best Buy for $449, about $150 less than the Xoom and $50 less than the 16GB iPad 2. The Iconia A500 officially hits shelves on April 24th. There’s also a 32GB model in the works.
Nice tablet at a competitive price, but a tad heavier than I hoped. I am now waiting on the Arnova 10 and 8 which are reportedly going to be upgraded to capacitive displays with a faster processor. I will probably have to wait for a month or two however.
P.S.
While I haven’t downloaded or tested it, I am saving the following link for my next Android tablet. If this viewer app for Justin.tv works as I have read, it reduces my need for a flash supported OS.
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/media_and_video/justin-viewer_tkal.html?nav=toomuchdownloads
I remember you asking awhile ago about watching videos and switching between apps while having the video keep playing. That works with this app I found: TV Show Stream. There’s also a paid version. It does require Android 2.2 and up with Flash. The app works great on the Xoom but I think it streams pirated videos from external sites. I guess Google’s review process for apps is pretty lax. The app you mention above however, Justin Viewer, has been removed from the Android Market.
“The app you mention above however, Justin Viewer, has been removed from the Android Market.”
Yeah, I read that on a forum. Then I did some searches and found that link I posted. Are you able to download the apk from that link or is it a dead link?
The main reason I like justin.tv is because I can catch some news when I am not home, since somebody is always streaming some news. I am sure it violates some copyright, but it is convenient when no tv.
Strange that the TV Stream app requires flash player. Mainly because I keep hearing that people create video streaming apps for Apple devices since flash is not available.
P.s.
Another couple budget tablets available in a month or two I want to check out are Kyros 8 and 10″ models.