Acer introduces three tablets and a dual-screen portable computer

Consumer Reports News: November 23, 2010 01:48 PM

The tablet market just got bigger: Acer announced today that it will be introducing three tablets early next year, a 5-inch tablet/phone combo, a 7-inch tablet, and a 10-inch tablet. At the press event, I had the chance to try out the 10-inch model very briefly, and the touch screen felt quite responsive.

All three tablets will run Google's Android3 operating system, which is not yet available on Adroid-based smart phones.

Acer also announced a new touchscreen device called the Iconia, which looks like a 14-inch laptop. When you open it, you see two screens instead of a display and a keyboard. The lower screen serves either as an extension of the upper display (picture scrolling through a long Web page from the lower to upper screen) or as a pad for controlling your content.

Acer created a range of touch gestures for its device that take advantage of all 10 fingers. For example, place all your fingers on the lower display to call up a virtual keyboard. Five fingers launches a ring interface that lets you access a ring of touch-sensitive applications. Iconia runs on Windows 7.

We'll have more details on Acer's new products soon. Stay tuned.

—Donna Tapellini

Slashgear, Engadget