Acer eBook concept preview: Qualcomm MSM7227 and Android onboard

My, how the tablets have turned. Despite valiant efforts, even Acer can't resist the temptation of diving into the ever-expanding e-reader market, but rather than going head to head with Amazon's Kindle, the company seems to be readying at least one unique creature for release into the mainstream. Thanks to a stop at Qualcomm's lair here at Computex, we think we may have found the company's numero dos. In just about every respect, the simply-titled eBook is nothing at all like the LumiRead; in fact, it looks (sort of) like an iPhone 4G after pulling a Mark McGwire. We weren't told just how large the screen was, but as you can tell from the gallery below, it's quite long. The device was reportedly made as a way to showcase Qualcomm's aging MSM7227 processor, and while there's obviously no way to know if this thing is / isn't headed for the production line, it was running Android underneath. Unfortunately, responsiveness wasn't this thing's strong suit, and it was fairly obvious that the software wasn't exactly fully baked (we surely hope not, anyway). That said, the form factor could certainly be honed into something practical, and we're sure they could get the UI humming along a bit smoother if they really put their minds to it. For now, it's the gallery below... or nothin'.

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Acer holding global event at end of May, no Chrome OS devices planned to launch

Thinking that early June / Computex will see the launch of Acer's Chrome OS devices? That's what we heard yesterday, but after doing a little digging of our own, our advice is simply, don't hold your breath. A source within Acer has told us that the company has no plans to hold a press conference at the Taipei show, and that a global launch event will be held in New York on May 25. The "significant news" Acer has to share this spring will be revealed then, but it doesn't seem like it'll entail Chrome OS devices either.

So, what do we make of all of this? If we had to bet, we'd say that Chrome isn't quite ready for prime time yet, as others have been reporting. But Acer has been known to show early prototypes of devices behind glass at trade shows -- we saw the Android Aspire One under lock and key at Computex last year. Who knows what will happen in the next few weeks with Google I/O, this Acer event and Computex, but we just have a feeling we'll be waiting a bit longer for the company's Chrome OS systems to hit the market. Though, that doesn't mean it won't launch them in the second half of the year like originally promised.

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Acer launches Aspire Ethos line with swanky 5943G and 8943G models

Acer's aspirational laptops have a new Ethos to them now, and it clearly has something to do with entertainment. The newly revealed 18.4-inch 8943G sports a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a true 5.1 surround sound setup, meaning that somewhere within its shell reside five miniature speakers and a sub. Processor options range all the way up to the quad-core Core i7-820QM, which offers 8MB of built-in cache and a 1.73GHz clock speed that cranks all the way to 3.06GHz when required. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics and up to 1.28TB of storage (2x 640GB) complete the overkill recipe. The 5943G is basically a scaled down version, offering as it does 1366 x 768 resolution across a 15.6-inch display, a 2.1 internal speaker arrangement, and a merely adequate 640GB storage maximum. The rest of the specs are shared, including a 4,800mAh battery, which should perish quicker than you can say "desktop replacement." Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

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