Acer plans tablet, Chrome netbooks, e-reader for 2010

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Acer’s gone from a little hardware manufacturer few have heard of to the world’s second largest computer manufacturer, so when they outline a future strategy, it does well to listen. So what is that strategy? It’s Google, according to Acer’s president of IT Products, Jim Wong.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Jim Wong said that by the end of 2011, at least ten percent of their netbooks will be loaded by Google’s new Chrome operating system… despite the fact it’s only in alpha and has been barely seen yet.
Early Acers won’t roll out with Chrome OS exclusively, of course. There’s still far too many consumers willing to buy a netbook tricked out with an OS that isn’t Windows. But clearly, Acer’s banking on the long-term viability of going with Google as a business strategy. And why not? It’s open source and free.
Jim Wong also added that Acer is working on a tablet, and will go head-to-head with Apple’s forthcoming slate device, which Wong also said would “provide inspiration” for them as to how to design theirs. Acer’s Chairman J.T. Wang clarified that the tablet would run Windows and Chrome in a dual-boot configuration.
Part of adopting Chrome at this sort of level means that Acer is going to have to supply apps for their Chrome-touting Tablet and netbooks, so they also plan to release their own app store around June for both Android, Chrome, Windows Mobile and e-reader platforms.
In other words? Expect Acer and Google to be mentioned a lot in the same sentence for the rest of the year.
 
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