Acer to launch Chrome OS laptops at Computex

Posted by Charbax – May 13, 2010

Acer Incorporated {{lang|zh-Hant|宏碁股份有限公司}}
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Venturebeat.com reports that it has heard from several sources that Acer is going to launch Chrome OS laptops at Computex in June.

Last year’s Computex, Acer really disappointed me with their “fake” Android netbook, one that booted Android as a dual-boot with Windows on an expensive and power consuming Intel Atom based Netbook.

The big questions are:

- Will Acer’s first Chrome OS laptop use an ARM Processor or will it be based on Intel?

- What type of price point does Acer plan to reach?

The answers to those questions I think could be found by answering following two other questions:

- Does Acer want to be innovative enough and be one of the first big laptop manufacturers to use an ARM Processor in a Laptop form factor to lower the price, increase battery runtime, lower the weight and size of their new Chrome OS line of laptops?

or

- Does Acer feel it needs to stay in bed with Intel and Microsoft, and thus keep any non-Wintel projects out of their marketing radar?

If they announce it with ARM and Pixel Qi at Computex, hear the drum rolls:

1. 50h battery runtime

2. Instant on, month of standby

3. Below 800gr, 1cm thickness

4. Below $199 retail, no contracts, they sell tens of millions?

5. Built-in 3G module (maybe not included by default) for always connected use

6. Native Code SDK and OpenGL for even advanced video-editing and 3D games

7. Maybe even a swivel screen and the device holds like an e-reader? Touch-screen not absolute necessity for cheap model. Next/previous page and enter/exit buttons on the side would be good enough.

Source: Venturebeat.com

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  • notlofty

    If they make the device you talked about I will have to buy it. Tho I'd like the swivel screen and the touch.
    I think its too good to be true tho. I don't think a big manufacturer is willing to make something so different than what people are used to. People like us would love that device but what about the general public? If they want to dual boot an OS with Android what if they dual booted Chrome and Android? They'd have to get the marketplace too for it to really be worth it, but to have all the applications of Android and then the full net and all that Chrome can do.
    With Smartbooks on the rise and Chrome OS coming soon I'm excited for the future of more mobile computing.

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  • Marvell

    Below $199 retail ?

    How? ChromeOS want a >=16 GB SSD.

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    Can't Chrome OS work on 4GB or 8GB?

  • Marvell

    I can't find the hardware requirements for Chrome OS, but i read that there must be a SSD, and >=16GB.

    Eric Schmidt the Google-CEO: ““It will be up to the manufacturers who do it, but the price points you should think about are the current netbook pricings which are 300 dollar, 400 dollar price points”

    http://www.netbookchoice.com/2010/04/20/google-…

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    “It will be up to the manufacturers who do it”

    300-400 dollars is the price of Intel based netbooks.

    Chrome OS supports ARM Powered laptop designs, and those are not yet released but it's proven to be significantly cheaper than Intel.

  • notlofty

    The current builds of Chromium OS out there can run on 2GB flash drives.
    But you wouldn't want to have the minimum size SSD so that you could put media or offline content on the device as well.
    ARM processor will be cheaper than intel but then SSD and all the other high quality components that they want to add will make up for that. But even the Chromium build by Hexeh I have used boots in 5 seconds on an SSD so it'll be fast.

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    Media contents can be loaded from an SD card or optional hard drive slot.

  • notlofty

    SD cards are great but isn't it always good to have some space on the device itself? Its like having built in 3G so you don't have to worry about a dongle.
    Especially since SD cards aren't any cheaper than SSD's and don't provide the same speed.
    How would an optional HDD slot work? Wouldn't sliding a HDD into the side of a netbook or smaller device take up too much space?

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    I'd like a $99 2GB ARM Chrome OS Smartbook with 2 empty SD card slots, or even with 2 SD card slots and one empty 2.5″ hard drive slot as well. That would just be an empty compartment to connect any SATA hard drive up to 2.5″ in size right there. The extra plastic door, empty space and SATA connector wouldn't cost more than $3 to add.

    SD is plenty enough speed to store and stream video files off of. Even HD videos. SSD speeds is simply not needed for media files. For OS files yes, but not opening, storing, streaming of media files.

  • notlofty

    Ohhh you want to push the price down far below the price of netbooks. I was fine with them being the same price as Netbooks with the SSD and the accelerometer and the touchscreen and all those goodies that a netbook doesn't have.
    SATA drives are what, 9.5mm? Thats almost at the 1cm mark that you wanted right there. Would it make the device too think? 2 SD card slots would be great tho.
    I like your ideas tho! If only we could get device manufacturers to make each of us our own ideal device that we are hoping for…

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    Yup I prefer keeping the same user experience and lowering the price. The hard drive plastic door could be interchangeable with another plastic thing that somehow would add a bump under the device, I don't know if that would make sense. Or else, just make it thick enough to accomodate a hard drive. Or else simply not build it to include a hard drive. The hard drive would be the most power consuming component if used.

  • Hased

    This is similar to chinese that they are also trying to do low cost net devices.
    http://riknik.weebly.com/1/post/2010/05/chinese…

  • notlofty

    Hey Charbax, whatever happened to that $95 Android pink notebook that you had? You never made a video of that or showed the hacked marketplace on it. At least not that I can find. Thats under $100

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    Acer will innovative enough and be one of the first big laptop manufacturers to use an ARM Processor in a Laptop form factor to lower the price, increase battery runtime, lower the weight and size of their new Chrome OS line of laptops,

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