Acer's Ion-based Hornet nettop leaked in presentation slides?

Despite NVIDIA's claims that we'd have an Ion desktop sometime this Spring, we still haven't really seen it in consumer-bound hardware -- until now, that is. Although unconfirmed, slides have purportedly leaked out of what is said to be the Acer Hornet Ion-based nettop. Aside from the platform and a HDMI output, we don't have any specs for the machine. What we do know is that it's sporting a wireless game controller / air mouse -- in case you didn't pick up on the Wii influence, one of those background photos is a direct rip from NIntendo's ad campaign -- and can apparently hang from the back of LCD TVs. The images also tout its eco-friendly design, small form factor, "silent operation," and a price tag of only a couple hundred dollars. Elaborate Photoshop or impending PC? Something feels fishy here, so while we sit and impatiently wait for some official word, hit up the read link for more pics.

[Via Slash Gear]

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 2:52PM]

Need more input!

I've been waiting for something like this, and I want it now...

[StinkyPete Posted Feb 26th 2009 2:53PM]

Looks more like an impending patent suit.

[Hackettman Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:27PM]

Agreed

[fourthletter Posted Feb 26th 2009 4:02PM]

I have owned a white remote/wirless mouse for 6 years, i bought off ebay, will Nintendo go back in time and sue ?

[Augmented Insanity Posted Feb 26th 2009 2:55PM]

Really really want.

[bob e Posted Feb 26th 2009 2:56PM]

The first Wii Killer !
Looks really good. Hopefully Windows 7 too.
Finally I'll be able to browse the web on my Samsung 46: flat panel

[350Zed Posted Feb 26th 2009 2:59PM]

Assuming the XBMC team can eventually port to Ion, this could be a killer HTPC platform.

That is, if they make it in living room-friendly black, instead of play room-styled white and blue.

[Dubb Posted Feb 27th 2009 8:29AM]

XBMC make a port to Ion? Do you people make this shit up to sound smart?

Ion is simply an Atom chip (x86) and a GPU from the 9xxx line. XBMC has been available for Windows for a very long time. There's no need to "port" anything as the Ion config will definitely run Windows.

[350Zed Posted Feb 27th 2009 9:03AM]

@Dubb:

XBMC doesn't currently support GPU off-loading. Support for the Ion platform implies support for its integrated GPU.

There... did I spell it out in simple enough terms for you to understand now?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:01PM]

The picture of the four people in front of the couch is a promotional picture for the Wii. They're holding Wii remotes. I doubt Acer would do that. That and one of the pictures say "Ultra low cost! couple hunderds dollars."

Everything about it just screams "Fake!"

[PeterTheFace Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:25PM]

I COMPLETELY agree! Saw the Wii image (as well as the lack of blending of the images) and just thought "fake" instantly.

[Caoder Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:06PM]

now.. if they put something cheap n better than an atom proc =.=;; maybe a amd low end athlon or something that's highly heat efficient.. I would love to have a nvidia 9400 as a standard on most laptops as opposed to intel gmas.

[dagamer34 Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:14PM]

Really looking forward to the first true Atom + Ion HTPC. That'll be exciting!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:24PM]

We will we will rock you.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:31PM]

It's look like a fake

[Hexydes Posted Feb 26th 2009 3:31PM]

As long as it can:

1. Play up to 1080p H.264

2. Stream 802.11g

3. Haz a pretty interface

4. Use widgets + RSS

5. Handle upgrades for things like Netflix, Hulu, etc.

then I'm interested. Price-point for something like this is $199.99 and lower.

[J D Posted Feb 26th 2009 4:52PM]

I hope that its sports an IR receiver so that I could use a real remote control. This based on the assumption that the wii-like remote is bluetooth.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 4:10PM]

cool!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 7:48PM]

For as many people as there are who want to use Ion as an HTPC platform, it's remotely possible such a machine could become so ubiquitous as to accidentally end up being a game console of sorts.

It's not a platform anyone would develop _for_, mind you, but a platform kept in mind during development, as in "Will our new game run well enough on an Ion? Really? Excellent!"

Hell, what retro-gamer wouldn't want a system like that to run emulators on? No more blowing on NES cartridge connectors or trying to resuscitate your old Atari 2600.

If only the RAM were Dual-Channel. Assuming it would be beneficial, that is.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 9:11PM]

Im almost positive that the ram is dual channel. Not that non dual channel DDR2 667 ram will be a massive bottleneck for an atom processor anyway (although both will be a bottleneck for a 9400m).

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2009 9:13PM]

even if it isnt dual channel, Toms Hardwares benchmarks show only a negligible speed increase (somewhere around 5 percent for gaming.)

[youfacethetick Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:33AM]

Yes because the color is so important. I mean what would people think if you had a white device in a euro-chic stainless steel and black environment. eek!

[omegahelix Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:39AM]

Cool, I'll take one ...or five. A couple to run as MythTV frontends. One for the bedroom. One for the kitchen. One to make sweet, sweet love to.