You can credit Gianfranco Lanci with helping to transform Acer from an also-ran to one of the biggest computer companies in the world during his stint as President and CEO. But then something happened. Acer's stock took a turn for the worse, the company's Board of Directors began to butt heads with Lanci over his mobile strategy, and Lanci 
Acer and AT&T are wearing their 'Best Friends' t-shirts as the two jointly debut the new Acer Iconia Tab A501 tablet with AT&T 4G HSPA+ connectivity in the U.S. Armed with a 4G radio, this latest addition to the Iconia Tab family offers up to 4x faster data transmissions, the two companies claim.
There have been conflicting reports about the price of the first few manifestations of Intel’s Ultrabook concept. Doubts persist about the ability and willingness of PC vendors to sell ultra-thin and light laptops with standard voltage processors for less than $1,000, as laid out by Intel in its Ultrabook manifesto. But price is not the only concern.
It's hard to imagine an Ultrabook party without Acer in attendance. Like Pink, Acer decided to get this party started and today announced its first Ultrabook model at the IFA consumer electronics show in Germany, the Aspire S3. Acer's emphasizing convenience with its new notebook, and one of the company's biggest claims is a 50-day battery live via Acer Green Instant On technology.
Rumors and whispers abound about the upcoming Ultrabook line of notebooks – you know, the ones that Intel hopes will be MacBook Air killers – but despite all the talk, we haven’t seen any hard facts as far as components or price points go. That may have changed today, thanks to a new product page on an Italian retailer’s site that appears to have gone up a bit prematurely.
Ah, fads. Without those brief, yet intense, bursts of consumer excitement, the majority of us may have never heard awesome tidbits like the Pet Rock, bell-bottom pants, the Macarena, Tickle Me Elmo or Trapper Keepers. If you listen to Acer chairman JT Wang, one of our useful modern electronics is soon to join those fabled ranks. That’s right, while the pundits are busy calling tablet PCs the best thing since sliced bread, Wang thinks the whole iPad deal is overblown. The future lies in Ultrabooks!
Hewlett Packard isn't the only major PC maker facing an uncertain future. Acer today reported worse than expected second quarter results, and there's plenty of reason for despair. For starters, consolidated revenue was down 32 percent year-over-year for the quarter at $3.5 billion with an operating loss of $246 million. More cause for concern, however, is that this is the first time Acer has ever posted a quarterly loss.
Acer isn't pitching its new TravelMate Timeline 8481T as an Ultrabook, but maybe that's because Intel is still finalizing its list of qualifications. As it stands, the 8481T is a 14-inch ultraportable that weighs just 3.7 pounds and struts around with a 0.87-inch profile, and that's with the 8-cell battery Acer says will provide up to 13 hours of run time. And though the LCD measures 14 inches, Acer trimmed the bezel by a third so that it would fit in a 13.3-inch footprint.
Thin and light notebooks inevitably draw comparisons to Apple's MacBook Air, and you can probably expect a lot more of that once Ultrabooks emerge, at least at first. Part of the reason probably has to do with there not being a ton of pancaked proportioned notebooks. Intel aims to change the mobile landscape with its Ultrabook concept, and it looks as though Acer is itching to get started.
Acer this week unveiled its latest series of TravelMate Timeline notebooks intended for business users who prefer to work their biceps at the gym rather than by carrying big and bulky laptops. Sporting neat lines and a slim profile, both the 14-inch line (8473 and 6495) and 15.6-inch models (8573 and 6596) measure no more than an inch thick and come built around Intel's Sandy Bridge platform.
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