Acer announce UK release date for Android tablet

Acer have announced a UK release date for the company’s first Android running tablet, the Iconia Tab A500.

The A500 will be available from Friday 8th April, the same launch day as the Windows based W500.

The new tablet will be a 10.1-inch affair and will run Google’s Android Honeycomb operating system. The company also showed samples of a 7-inch Android tablet, the A100, the release of which is expected at the end of April.

Specifications include a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution touchscreen display, 1GHz dual-core processor and an nVidia GeForce graphics processor, which promises to offer ultra-low power consumption.

Acer did not share what sort of touchscreen would be gracing the Iconia A500, but it appears to be a lower grade panel to that of the iPad 2.

The device will be WiFi only on release, with an optional 3G modem becoming available in May. The battery life of the A500 is apparently the same as that of the iPad2, offering 10 hours of continuous usage.

Further comparison with the iPad 2 does not reflect well on A500; at over 13mm in width, the Acer device half again as thick as the new Apple tablet and weighs 100 grams more.

Pricewise, the device will retail at £449 in its initial, WiFi only incarnation; £50 more than the iPad 2.

View the original article here