Acer to launch e-reader, app store, and Chrome OS netbook this year; wants to 'change the Microsoft-Intel environment'
By Vlad Savov 
posted January 25th 2010 3:27PM
posted January 25th 2010 3:27PM
Man, Acer's on the warpath. The world's second-largest PC manufacturer seems hell-bent on radically changing the status quo, telling Bloomberg today that it's "aggressively pursuing" Chrome OS "so there's a change to the Microsoft-Intel environment," with plans to be among the first to ship in Q3. That's somewhat ahead of Google's own schedule for reaching v1.0, so yeah, it's definitely aggressive -- and it also sounds like a strong hint towards an ARM-based Chrome OS machine in our future, but Acer wouldn't confirm anything. Still, those are basically fightin' words, especially since Acer's framing the future as a choice between "either" Windows or "Google's defined OS space." Acer also promised to fully detail a 6-inch monochrome e-reader by June with an initial focus on European markets, and we're also informed of a forthcoming free / cheap application store that will be compatible with Android, Windows Mobile, and, obviously, Chrome OS. And lest you thought Acer was ignoring the Apple tablet madness that permeates our world, we're told that an Acer tablet is in the works, accompanied by the candid admission that the Taiwanese giant is waiting to see what Apple has in store before finalizing its own plans. Yep -- things are getting a little nuts.
Someone's gotta chase Asus. Why not another Taiwanese company?
@joshl
Chase Asus ? Acer is the second biggest PC maker in the world.
@fourthletter But in terms of reputation and history of innovation, Asus is ahead by a lot.
@fourthletter
Good. I hope some companies try to give Microsoft a bit of competition on the desktop. Why should MS cruise along by itself in China or India. Those people need lower cost computers and maybe running Chrome will do that for them. Apple can't beat Microsoft on the desktop, but maybe Google and Android can.
@joshl
yeah I know acer is the #2 company now but . . . for some reason they always remind me of the little guy that has too much to prove.
@Average White Boy
And MS doesn't make hardware, so I think this is MS vs. Google, not MS. vs. OEMs. I'm not sure what you think MS is 'cruising' with in India and China, they're having their OS pirated left right and center ...
Do you think people in China pay for Windows?
*snicker....
@joshl
yeah, they're called msi
@(Unverified) Well its great news for Asus, Anyway, the rumored specs is already predicted its not something like so 'unreal'. And expect that this one will all reside on cloud-base computing. Chrome netbook details: http://bit.ly/google-chrome-netbook-rumor-overview
@fourthletter I was talking about catching up with Asus in terms of the eBook reader and Chrome OS netbook.
And I agree with @Daliminator - Asus' innovation is amazing. I have an EeePC 1000HE, an Eee Box as well as an Asus P5Q motherboard. Their relibility is amazing, unlike some other Acer products I had.
Oh, a (probably) cheap e-reader targeting Europe first? Interesting...
How come Acer is waiting to see what Apple is doing, for F**K SAKE, do your own thing, spend your own billions on R&D, and then, only then realise you suck and then copy Apple, Jesus, how do these company CEOs sleep at night, innovation is dead. (Actually, he probably sleeps very well at night, on that mattress stuffed with billions of Wons)
@Richardpaulknight
Of course, school boy error, they are a Taiwanese company, so the mattress is stuffed full of Taiwan Dollars! *shame*
@Richardpaulknight
by no mean acer is waiting for what apple is doing next, its the industry as a whole. and whats wrong with copying ppl's idea if you can make profit out of it? american has been doing the same thing for years! its called BUSINESS. Innovation is for the idealist tech smart asses, for business ppl to make money out of their efforts. FACE IT.
@cphu: That's a load of crap. The only reason companies innovate is because there is a profit motive, not because they are "smart asses". And Americans haven't been reverse engineering and stealing legally protected IP for years and getting away with it. When they did, they got sued and had to pay up to the company that hired people and worked hard to make something so good it was worth stealing. That's how the system keeps on going and keeps from becoming stale. Of course you're going to have a few companies that just play follow the leader and try to grab any dollars that trickle off the top. That is what Acer has been for about 20 years now. Bold claims aren't going to change that fact. Research and development will change that fact.
The original poster is claiming APPLE IS THE INNOVATOR and ACER is a COPYING APPLE. I agree acer is a follower sometimes, but definitely not a copier. AND YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE APPLE IS THE INNOVATOR OF EVERYTHING THEY DO? OR THEY JUST MAKE YOU THINK THAT WAY? OR....MAYBE YOU HAVE A COMPLETE BELIEF OVER AMERICAN BUSINESS LEGAL SYSTEM?
WOW .. another e-reader and another appstore .. just what we need .. i can't wait ..
or wait .. i can .. !
@Eastman but with chrome OS... could be nice... for once
I wonder how long it will be before we hear that McDonalds will be including their new McReader along with every value meal.
I have a feeling by the end of this year netbooks,ereaders and tablets will merge as one new product form. Why is almost every device that was revealed at CES slated to be available in June?
"A microsoft intel" climate: sounds like climate change! This Era of Intel Atom windows netbook's is really rather boring; more of the same. We need some quadcore arm Chrome action up in the market; something that will give instant boot times, 24hour+ battery life *without bulges", solid 1080P media performance, OLED/ Quantum Dot/ something other than LED LCD, SSD.... and the processor forecast for 2010 shows that the climate will remain Intel Heavy through 2010 until Via and AMD bust out with value offerings that also perform well in 2011. As for the Microsoft cloud, the forecast is more gloomy. Because of their dominate position, Microsoft is unlike to be dethroned anytime soon as the leader of OS's, especially if they keep coming out with high quality products like Windows 7 rather than squirting prematurely on the market with half baked products like Vista.
Maybe I'm just crazy, here, but this really just sounds like an attempt to replace one duopoly with a monopoly. It sounds like Acer just wants to run Chrome on top of (insert processor here) and push Google lock-in instead of MS/Intel lock-in. As a potential customer-type person, I'd rather these budget PC vendors become a little more open to letting customers pick their various components, case, CPU, GPU, and OS and price them on equal footing instead of this chest thumping/flag staking crap that they only do to get kickbacks by cozying up to whatever is the current corporate flavor of the year. A good, honest PC builder is a far better thing, and worth paying a little more for because you'll be a whole lot happier with what you paid for (rather than another corporate beige box). But...beige boxes are how companies like Acer maximize their profits.
I've always thought of Acer as a crapufacturer, but after all their young and hungry market posturing i may consider buying one Acer's products some day.
@To Hell: Being a crapufacturer is how they became the second biggest PC manufacturer in the world. Making extremely cheap PCs out of the cheapest sourced parts they can find, most likely made by companies cutting some pretty frightening corners, then dumping those PCs for 300 bucks at WalMart is what they're all about. I do recall a little something else that Acer tried to pull years ago...something about "Lindows". Kind of a "trial run" at what they sound like they're doing now. Didn't work too well, though. Darn those pesky patents. Or maybe they should wait a few years and make sure an OS is polished and ready for grandma before they start selling systems preloaded with it to grandma.
Chrome OS and an App Store sounds good, this could be a good tablet
@chorejonalover sorry, netbook
im like this, i really hope arm makes headway in the weak power computer market (netbooks and such).though i dont like chromeOS i hope it does fantastic because since its base on ubuntu whatever computer i buy with chromeos i should be able to install ubuntu on it with no hassle.
@saturnblackhole i would like to see AMD get a little more use as well. i would love to see the real stats as to the percentage of netbooks with Intel CPUs vs AMD. its gotta be like 98.6% Intel. ChromeOS doesn't excite me either. if i want an OS that doesn't have the universal use as Windows im just going to use Ubuntu.
I left IE and loaded FireFox on 1 comp, Chrome on the other 2 days ago. So far FireFox looks like the winner. I like both, and with open source stuff, both have things that make them good. 2 comps running right now, decoding videos. It's a tossup so far.
At least Acer is honest when they say they will wait for Apple to define the slate experience.
M$ and HP pretend that they innovate but have been dicking around the last 10 years with same tablet concepts and unimaginative UI
[quote]initial focus on European markets[quote] . Certain notable fruit-flavored products aside, why is the U.S. left out of the goodie parade? Almost all the reportage from CES (Engadget) ended with "to be sold in...China...Taiwan...Korea...Europe. Enormous populations, too obvious an answer. Naturally you want to reach them...my question is why is U.S. so far down the list when it comes to new hardware? If China/Japan/Korea are trying to get back at us for Teletubbies...somebody explain to them that they originated with the BBC, its not our fault.
@HairyPoster
Are you kidding? The population of the US is greater than that of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan combined.
HP and Dell is in America; Lenovo is in China; Asus, Acer, MSI and many others are in Taiwan; Samsung and LG are in Korea; countless companies such as Sony, Toshiba, and Fujitsu are in Japan.
Enormous population is far from being the obvious answer.
@HairyPoster
As for Europe. Acer and Asus entered the European market successfully a long time ago there, they might be relatively new in the American market to the general public but they are a common brand in Europe.