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New York - Acer, the world's No. 2 PC vendor unveiled a range of tablet computers to help it compete with Apple's iPad, joining its tech rivals in the fast-growing market.
At a global press briefing where the new products were revealed, Acer said that it plans to become the world's leading PC manufacturer in the next year.
Chief executive Gianfranco Lanci and his team revealed a 5" touchscreen smartphone, 7" Android tablet, 10.1" tablets running Android and Windows 7 and a new dual-touchscreen 14" laptop.
Named the Iconia, the dual-screen device opens up like a conventional laptop computer, but instead of a keyboard it has a second screen that can be used as an extended display, for drawing and writing, typing on a touch keyboard and a range of other applications.
Acer also announced a content service called Alive that will allow users to buy music, movies, games and applications for use on any Acer device. It also revealed a home storage centre where media can be stored and then played back on any Acer product in the home.
Without naming its competitor directly, Acer executives referred to Apple - the market leader in tablet computers - in a roundabout way. Lanci said that "some companies tell consumers what they can do with their devices ... we believe people should be able to choose what they want to do."
The new Acer tablet devices are clearly designed to tackle the dominance of Apple's iPad that controlled 95% of the tablet market in the July-to-September quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Acer confirmed that the new tablets will be available in SA, but the Iconia and Alice service will come at a much later date.
"Emerging markets are important and we will address them, beginning with China and Russia. Other developing countries we will roll out to at a later stage," Lanci told Fin24.
He said that careful planning would be required before the Alive service could be rolled out in Africa and could not commit to a timeline.
- Fin24
At a global press briefing where the new products were revealed, Acer said that it plans to become the world's leading PC manufacturer in the next year.
Chief executive Gianfranco Lanci and his team revealed a 5" touchscreen smartphone, 7" Android tablet, 10.1" tablets running Android and Windows 7 and a new dual-touchscreen 14" laptop.
Named the Iconia, the dual-screen device opens up like a conventional laptop computer, but instead of a keyboard it has a second screen that can be used as an extended display, for drawing and writing, typing on a touch keyboard and a range of other applications.
Acer also announced a content service called Alive that will allow users to buy music, movies, games and applications for use on any Acer device. It also revealed a home storage centre where media can be stored and then played back on any Acer product in the home.
Without naming its competitor directly, Acer executives referred to Apple - the market leader in tablet computers - in a roundabout way. Lanci said that "some companies tell consumers what they can do with their devices ... we believe people should be able to choose what they want to do."
The new Acer tablet devices are clearly designed to tackle the dominance of Apple's iPad that controlled 95% of the tablet market in the July-to-September quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Acer confirmed that the new tablets will be available in SA, but the Iconia and Alice service will come at a much later date.
"Emerging markets are important and we will address them, beginning with China and Russia. Other developing countries we will roll out to at a later stage," Lanci told Fin24.
He said that careful planning would be required before the Alive service could be rolled out in Africa and could not commit to a timeline.
- Fin24
