Acer Iconia Tab A100

The evaluation will be conducted by the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) in Yuma, Arizona. Should the test meet with approval from the brass, there will be some restrictions on how the tablets can be used. For instance, use of any wifi or 3G signals will not be allowed. Just as in commercial airline flights, it looks like the Marines can’t catch a break on staying connected. This is probably due to a few different reasons, though. On a commercial flight, you’re asked to turn off wireless connections as they could potentially interfere with signals necessary for things like flying the plane and communications with ground control. In the case of the Marines, it’s likely that these wireless signals can also be tapped to get the users location. Obviously, that’s not something you want getting out when you’re on a helicopter mission. Another restriction includes not being to charge the battery while in flight, which I find odd. I’m sure there’s a reason, though. Finally, the tablet may not be used as a primary means of coordinates for weapons delivery. I’d say that one’s pretty important. When trying to place a precision airstrike, I’d rather not rely on Acer’s GPS to provide the exact coordinates. Apparently, the military agrees.

The Acer Iconia Tab A100 is the 7″ version of the Acer Iconia A500, which was released 1 year ago this month. The tablet currently runs on Android Honeycomb 3.2, packs a dual core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8/16GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, and micro-USB port.

Iconia Tab A700, A510

Quad core is the latest and greatest in mobile tech, and no one wants to get left behind. Acer’s latest tab offerings follow up the rather successful dual core A500 tablet from just under one year ago. The two new tabs are both 10″ devices, and feature the new Tegra 3 CPUs from NVIDIA. They’re expected to hit the market in the spring, though details on pricing have yet to be announced. Under the hood you’ll find the quad core processor, of course, clocked at 1.3GHz, and Ice Cream Sandwich is aboard. Other details, such as RAM and storage options remain under wraps for the time being, however. Other features of include wifi, Bluetooth, optional 3G, micro-USB, micro-HDMI, Micro-SD card slot, and dual camera. The rear is a 5MP shooter with auto-focus and LED flash, while the front camera is a 2MP webcam. The battery is a 9,800mAh, promising at least 10 hours of life.

Both tablets feature a sleek new black design, though they retain the rounded edges and back of the Iconia A500. Where the two devices really differ is in display. Arguably, the A500 had only a passable display. Acer went back to the drawing board here, and the new tablets have some beefed up resolution and more vibrant displays. The A700 features a resolution of 1920 x 1200, and should play back 1080p video with no problems. The A510 comes in at 1280×800, but should also be capable of handling HD video just fine. We’re going to have to wait for further details to see just where else they differ.

Acer Skin

The OS is Ice Cream Sandwich, and it looks pretty much like the vanilla experience, however it’s slightly skinned. You’ll notice the tiny white dot in the center of the notification bar along the bottom. This is a proprietary addition from Acer, that does a little more than just fill the empty black space. When you tap the dot, it will bring up a circular menu, pictured above. This menu allows quick access to a number of tablet functions. From it, you can adjust the volume on the device, access your most-used applications, and along the right side you have a scrollable menu that contains your browser bookmarks. All-in-all, it’s a very nice successor to the A500, but if the price doesn’t come in right, we’re afraid it will be left in the dust, considering ASUS is offering a 7″ quad core device for only $250.

Lenovo Tablet

The next generation of mobile devices carrying NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad core processor are starting to take their share of the news cycle these days.  With the Transformer Prime debuting as the world’s first quad core tablet, other companies are hopping on the bandwagon to compete for your cash with their own offerings.  3 big names in tech are slated to drop their own quad core tablets in the coming months, Lenovo, Acer and HTC.

Lenovo:

The first tablet we have is the Lenovo 10.1″ device, which has no name at present.  This device was uncovered by Engadget, and will be coming with Ice Cream Sandwich.  Other details include 2GB of RAM (about time!) 10.1″ display, Tegra 3 1.6GHz quad core processor.  Other details, like price and availability, remain sketchy at this point.  It is rumored that this device could launch before year’s end, though.

HTC:

HTC has had a couple of leaked devices in the news recently.  2 quad core smart phones, the Edge and Ville, have been making the rounds with some very impressive specs.  Now industry watch site Digitimes has piped up with some info about a quad core tablet from HTC, that will be one of 3 devices to premiere at MWC in Barcelona.  That event takes place in February.  As for detailed specs, those remain under wraps.

Acer:

The company behind the Acer Iconia A500 and A100 are following up those mildly successful devices with quad core offerings of the same line.  Accoring to NotebookItalia, Acer will reportedly launch the Iconia A510 and A511 early next year.  Those devices will look much like the A500, with the same aluminum backs and sturdy build.  The A510 will be the wifi version, while the A511 will feature a 3G connection.

GameStop

A while back the popular video game retailer, GameStop, announced that they were looking at the possibility of getting into the tablet retail business.  Rumors at the time were that GameStop might even manufacture their own tablet PC to compete with the iPad and other Android alternatives.  As the tablet wars have played out this year, we’ve seen some success stories and quite a few tragedies.  HP bombed hard with the TouchPad, and RIM is still trying to cling to life with the PlayBook, which recently went on a buy 2 get one free deal.  All of these things, it appears, made GameStop reconsider their thinking on creating their own tablet.

Soon after the rumors started that they’d be a tablet seller, GameStop also announced that they would be selling the iPad in a few of their stores, which was not really a sustainable business model.  Now, if the Wall Street Journal is correct, GameStop has picked Samsung, Acer, and ASUS as makers of GameStop-branded Android tablets to go on sale in 200 of their most profitable stores.  Those tablets will come bundled with 7 games, including Dead Space.  GameStop will also have a game controller for sale for the Honeycomb tablets, but the controller will cost you extra.

Here’s where GameStop’s thinking seems flawed.  Their customer base is gamers.  They are not really Android fans, so much as console fans.  GameStop also has a bad rep when it comes to affordability.  No doubt they will sell these Android tablets for around $500, which is far above the price of a good console like the X-Box 360, PS3, or Wii.  The people that shop GameStop aren’t coming in to buy a tablet.  They’ll go to Amazon and buy it $100 cheaper without a lame GameStop branding on it.  Then they can take that $100 they saved and invest in games and apps that they actually want.  The company seems to have their own doubts.  The launch of tablet sales is limited to 200 out of their thousands of stores.

Iconia Tab with Box

See the final update at the bottom of the page for the newest information!

Acer’s 10.1-inch Iconia A500 tablet is joining the ranks of others like the Xoom and Asus Eee Pad Transformer, updating to the latest version of Android Honeycomb, 3.2.  We were hearing that this update would not be available until August 25th, but reports are that the update has begun rolling out now.  I use a custom ROM on my A500, so I haven’t yet seen the update come for it.  Later today i’ll flash back to stock and see if I have it available.

The update to Android Honeycomb 3.2 brings with it the usual round of bug fixes, but also some great new features.  First is the integrated full SD card support, and the other notable feature is the scaling system for apps.  This new system allows you to choose a couple of options for displaying phone-specific apps on your tablet.  We all know that some apps look terrible blown up and some don’t work at all.  This features should solve that problem for you until we see ICS later this year.

Via Phandroid

Update:

I had no update available on mine yet, but the reports around the net seem to indicate that the Germans are getting the update first.  It’s a big one, too, about 367MB.  There’s also reports of a small update going out to some folks, weighing in at 15-20 MB, but leaving them with 3.1.  As things develop on this, keep an eye over on XDA Forums as they’ll usually manage to get these updates out to everyone faster than Acer will.  The link above will take you to the Iconia forums there.  If you have problems with the update locking your Tab up, it’s a good place to look for help too.  If you’re rooted and have CWM recovery installed, I’d recommend richardtrip’s Honeyvillain ROM, which was just updated to 3.2.  He also has a 3.1 ROM available that I’ve been using for several weeks now.  They run very well, are as stock as possible, and also include some great extras like Polaris Office full version.

Update 2:

I just flashed to richardtrip’s new Honeyvillain 1.1 Android 3.2 ROM based on yesterday’s update.  It’s intended for the A501, but works just fine on the A500 too.  The only issue I’ve encountered is that still wallpapers tend to kind of freak out sometimes, turning into a bunch of meaningless blurs.  Live wallpapers don’t seem to have any issue, though.  Other than that I really love the ROM.  It’s faster, smoother than 3.1, and being able to blow up apps intended for phones is very cool.

Update 3: 

Thus far the only confirmation we’ve seen of this hitting the US were some users in L.A.  Looks like the rest of us are still playing the waiting game.

Update 4: 

Acer announced today via their Malaysia Facebook Page that due to problems with the GPS settings in the 3.2 update, they have halted the rollout and expect to resume pushing it out on September 10th.

Under the hood you’ll find just about the same specs as the A500.  1GB of RAM will keep it running smoothly, and it’s packing the same 1GHz dual core NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip. For base storage you’ll get 8GB with the micro SD card slot for future expansion.

The A100 has the same ports as the A500 does, meaning a full-sized USB, mini-USB, mini HDMI, and 3.5mm jack.  One odd choice, if you examine the pictures, is the placement of the speakers.  Both of the speakers are housed on one side of the device, which is technically the bottom if you look at the “correct” way of holding it.  On the back you’ll find a 5-megapixel camera, and on the front a 2-megapixel camera for video chat.  Check out the gallery below, or swing by Acer’s product page for a look at some more pictures.  Acer’s page says this product is on the shelves, and we’re hearing that it’s shipped to some US retailers at a price point of $334.00.  And if black and silver’s not your style, there is supposed to be a red version coming in October.

iPhone 5?

After all the rumor and guesswork about the future of the iPhone 5, we at last have a little bit of solid information.  Digitimes is reporting today that Taiwanese notebook maker Pegatron has obtained an Apple contract to manufacture 15 million iPhone 5s/4S’.  That order will begin shipping in September of 2011, according to other component makers involved in the process.

Pegatron is a notebook manufacturer based in Taiwan.  The company previously worked with Apple on the iPhone 4, which allowed them to greatly expand their operations, plants, labor force, and equipment in order to satisfy the 10 million-unit request for CDMA iPhone 4s.  This year, Pegatron has shipped only about 4 million iPhone 4s, as demand has since trailed off in anticipation of the upcoming model.  Pegatrons plants in Shanghai, China have begun a new phase of hiring though, and their factories have ramped up component production.

Despite its best efforts, Pegatron has not received contracts to produce any iPad 2s, but it’s possible the company will be allowed to produce a small number of iPad 2s over the coming months in the interest of diversifying risk.  Pegatron has also lost business recently when Asustek Computer moved to a new manufacturer, leaving Pegatron to attempt a new partnership with Acer.

Source: DigiTimes

Acer Iconia Tab A100

The Acer Iconia Tab A500‘s little brother, the A100, has been spotted at the FCC.  The A100 was due to ship back in April, and in fact went up for pre-order in the UK with a promised April 20th ship date.  Then it was delayed due to some reported compatibility issues with Honeycomb.  The most recent reports put it sometime in the second half of this year, which means practically nothing.  However, the fact that it’s being torn apart by the FCC indicates that it can’t be that far away.  Apparently the Honeycomb issues have been resolved, at least enough to send a prototype to worked over.  There’s still no teardown photos coming from the FCC though, so we’re all just going to have to wait a little longer.

The Iconia Tab A500 is a very solid 10-inch, wifi-only device, but if you’re looking for something a little bit more portable then the 7-inch version may be your perfect match.  There’s no confirmed pricing for it yet, but we’re betting on it being just slightly under the A500′s $449.99 price tag.  The A500 is supposedly getting a Honeycomb 3.1 update in the near future too, so we can hope that with the delay of the A100 it will come preloaded with 3.1.  The specs for the A100, at last look, mirrored those of the A500.

Source: FCC

Iconia Tab Home Screen

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 received an OTA Update today, which I can confirm is rolling out OTA.  This is, unfortunately, not the 3.1 Honeycomb update Acer owners were hoping for, but rather a build upgrade to version 1.141.07.  The Update is about 38MB, takes only a few seconds to download over wifi, and then installs and reboots.  But there’s an issue, of course.

If you’ve rooted your device (as I have) you may lose root when the update installs.  This isn’t really the problem, though.  You can run Gingerbreak again and get your root access back.  The real issue is if you’ve uninstalled the bloatware that came on the tablet.  Like I did.  And then your update will fail because it can’t find all the software that came with the machine.  Unfortunately, there’s no real workaround for this yet.  Your only option is to scour the net for someone who has the original versions of the software you deleted.  A good place to look is on XDA, but I haven’t found anyone who has posted the files as of yet.  This is one that I’ll be following closely, so stay tuned if you’re in the same position and I’ll try to get you a link to the necessary files when I find it.

If you’re running an unrooted tab, or you have the original files, let us know as there are a lot of people who would really like to have them so they can push their update.

The update didn’t come with any patch notes, but the reported changes we’ve seen in forums so far are as follows:

• Daylight savings time fixes
• Calendar appointment fixes
• Fixes the screen wake/sleep issue
• Browser bugfixes
• Adobe Flash Player 10.2
• Improved Wi-Fi signal
• Improved GPS signal
• Corporate Exchange email support

Update:

Ok, so after doing more searching I’ve found the solution.  If your update is failing because you have rooted your device and deleted some of the bloatware, here’s how to get the original files back.  My Thanks to teaMJPx aka mapaz04 from the Acer 500 forums for uploading the zip of original files.  You made this work!  Thank you so much!

Before you begin:

You will need to have root access.  You already have it, or you wouldn’t be having this problem.  You will also need an app such as Root File Explorer, since you need to be able to access the /system/apps folder.

Step-by-step Guide

• Download the zip file HERE.  This has all the original apk’s in it.  I recommend downloading to a PC and just picking out the files you need.  I had some trouble accessing the zip from the tablet itself, so I just picked the APK’s i needed and copied them over.
• Once you have the files you need, place them in the /system/apps directory and install them again.
• Download your update, run, wait for reboot.  You should see an “update complete” message.

If you are still getting a failed message, go into root explorer, find the /Cache/lost directory in root explorer and look at the update log to see what files it is failing to find.  Make sure you have them all and try again.

In my case I had deleted:

• Hero of Sparta.apk
• Magic Smoke.apk
• Link to Facebook.apk
• Link to Flash.apk
• Lets Golf.apk
• Email.apk

If you’re having trouble copying files over to the tablet from your PC, try e-mailing them to yourself and download them.  Good luck!

Acer Iconia Tab a100

The recent Acer Iconia Tab a500‘s little brother, the 7-inch a100 was set for a late May release, but that’s been pushed back.  The smaller dual core Tegra 2 device hosted a slightly altered form factor from it’s larger brother, but packed identical hardware including 1GB of RAM 16GB of internal storage, and Android 3.0 Honeycomb.  The reason for the delay has been two-fold.  First there’s the new update for Honeycomb, 3.1, that will bring you a host of new features.  Among them the highly-anticipated Google Movies rental service, which has now been blocked for rooted devices.

The other reason is also Honeycomb related, and it has to do with Acer’s custom apps compatibility with the new 3.1 update.  Now, unless Acer has something special lined up for the 7-inch tablet, I have to say that I can’t really understand this one.  The acer apps that came on the 10-inch Iconia tab were really little more than a couple of apps that consolidated other apps, like a dashboard for 3D games, and a media sharing service.  DigiTimes suggests that perhaps Honeycomb’s design is intended for 10-inch displays, and thus the 7-inch display is what’s caused the compatibility issues.

Needless to say, no new date has been announced for the release of the Iconia a100, but we’ll be watching it and let you know what it does make its appearance.  Acer has also postponed the release of a 5-inch device due to parts shortages resulting from the Japan earthquake.

Via DigiTimes