Acer readies Android and Windows 7 tablet line up for Feb launch
Firm also working on new App Store, dubbed Alive
As expected, Acer has unveiled the line up of tablets it expects to take on iPad in the coming years, with the firm opting to serve up devices running both Android and Windows 7.
Acer it set to offer three Android tablets with 5, 7 and 10 inch screens.
Windows 7, however, will benefit from two devices - a 10 inch tablet, plus an ambitious dual-screen 14 inch tablet called the Iconia.
Talking smartphones
The company has also claimed that the 5 inch Android device will double as a smartphone - talks with US based carriers already said to be underway.
However, 3G capable tablets won't launch until May 2011.
Instead, Acer's initial roll-out will focus on wi-fi only devices, with launches expected between February and April 2011.
App happy
Backing up such devices will be a brand new app store that Acer has dubbed Alive.
The marketplace will work across its entire range of tablets on both Android and Windows 7, with Acer also intending for Alive to act as a cloud service.
As such, content purchased on the platform will be stored remotely.
Launching before the tablets themselves, Alive is planned to make its debut in the UK and Italy - pitched at Windows 7 devices - before rolling out in the rest of Europe, Asia and the Americas by Q2 2011.
On the money
It is, almost to the letter, the exact tablet line up predicted by commentators at the end of October, with Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci having claimed at the time that prices for the tablets would range between $299 and $699.
There's been no official confirmation of said prices since, though Acer has already set high targets for its tablet range.
Back in August, company chairman J. T. Wang claimed Apple's share of the tablet market would not exceed 20-30 percent once its rivals were fully up to speed with the new sector, with Acer's range designed to halt Apple's assault on its PC and laptop business.
