Acer Tab 7 Makes It To China And Bests The B1 In Processor Tests

Acer has been a leading manufacturer when it comes to low cost devices, and often their smartphones and tablets are priced cheaper than competitors which sometimes gives Acer the edge they need to compete against some of the more popular brands like Samsung. Their most recent device launch and release is the Acer Tab 7 which they launched in China, and is literally a new low for Acer. It comes in priced at just $99 which normally might send out some red flags to consumers, but when you see some of the benchmarks where it’s outperforming the Acer B1 which is available here in the US, it’s hard to ignore as an option for purchase. Whether that ever happens or not is another story.

The price is definitely the selling point of the Tab 7, but the fact that Acer was able to fit in some pretty decent specs is a bonus that is worth mentioning. It holds a resolution of 1024×600, but that’s not really the impressive part, as the Tab 7 and its 1.5GHz dual-core processor clock in at 200MHz higher than the B1, which also costs more money at an extra $30. More performance power for less money is always good, and we applaud Acer for achieving this feat. The front camera isn’t as impressive, with it being only VGA quality, and the rear camera follows the same path as it’s only a 1.3MP. The Tab 7 comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage space, so while it isn’t the most impressive in terms of memory, it should do for whatever you would use a tablet that costs under $100 for. The nice thing is that Acer was able to get a microSD slot in even though the tablet is dirt cheap.

Software wise, the Acer Tab 7 comes pre-installed with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and has a 3,000mAh battery to support your daily use of activities on the device. Wifi and Bluetooth are also present here. Seeing as how the Tab 7 stacks up pretty nicely against the B1, it sounds pretty enticing now that we know it outperforms it. Sadly though, we may never see this device hit the US or other regions as it seems to be a China specific release according to gsmarena. Should we learn that it will get released here, or that Acer will at least offer a variant with the same specs, we’ll be sure to update you. Do any of you own Acer devices? Let us know what you think about the Tab 7 in the comments.

The post Acer Tab 7 Makes It To China And Bests The B1 In Processor Tests appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

via AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/01/acer-tab-7-makes-china-bests-b1-processor-tests.html

Read More..

Acer reports Q4 loss blames low demand for touch laptops and ultrabooks

Executives at Taiwans Acer Inc will take a 30 percent pay cut after the beleaguered company reported a greater-than-expected net loss on continued weakness in its flagship PC products.

For the fourth quarter, the worlds No.4 PC vendor reported a net loss of T$7.6 billion, compared to expectations of a T$3.69 billion loss according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The loss includes a NT$1.3 billion write-down in raw materials inventory and other costs.

The company had posted a worse-than-expected net loss of T$13.12 billion in the third quarter and a T$3.37 billion loss in the same quarter of 2012. It has reported losses or meager profit at best every quarter for almost three years.

"Acer acknowledges missteps in the past on resource allocation and the over expectation of ultrabooks and notebooks with touchpanel," the company said in a press release. "Although the products were leading in design they did not accurately fulfill market needs."

Chief financial officer Eva Ho told reporters at a press conference that the company will continue to face challenges but that losses should continue to shrink. Coming on the heels of a previously announced 7 percent reduction in workforce and other cost-cutting measures, Ho did not rule out future job cuts.

As part of a turnaround strategy, in December the company named former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd sales executive Jason Chen as its new CEO and launched a new initiative to integrate hardware, software and cloud services.

Rocked by rapidly-changing tastes in consumer electronics and the overall decline of the PC industry, Acers market share has declined from the double-digit levels it enjoyed from 2008 to mid-2011, according to data from research firm IDC.

The company remains stuck in the weakest sector of the PC market, focusing on consumer sales while rivals like Hewlett-Packard Co and Lenovo Group Ltd push harder into enterprise PCs and servers.

It also hasnt made significant inroads into the faster growing tablet sphere, losing out to heavyweights Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Executive-level reshuffling has also led to criticism that the company lacks strong leadership, as Chen is the companys second CEO since Italian-born Gianfranco Lanci left acrimoniously in 2011. In November, then-corporate president Jim Wong had been announced to take on the CEO position, only to step down two weeks later.

Co-founder Stan Shih also returned in November as chairman in an effort to stanch the bleeding.

Analysts fault the company for lack of a clear strategy and path to profitability on its "Build Your Own Cloud" campaign, which the company has trumpeted as the wave of the future.

Read More..

Acer Unveils the Budget Minded 7 inch Iconia B1 Android Tablet

Acer’s second tablet they are announcing today is the Acer Iconia B1. This one is a 7-inch tablet that starts at $129.99. Acer doesn’t mention what the resolution of this display is, but I’d suspect it’s around 1024 x 768 resolution. It’s also sporting a 1.3GHz dual-core processor, which again Acer doesn’t mention who’s making that processor, but I’d guess it’s a MediaTek processor. There’s also 1GB of RAM inside, along with a microSD card slot inside. The Acer Iconia B1 is sporting Android 4.2.1 at launch. Hopefully we’ll see an update to Android 4.4 – KitKat since it is made for lower-end products like the Iconia B1.

Similar to the Iconia A1-830, the Iconia B1 is also launching with some accessories. Acer is offering a protection case that is available in multiple colors. The case guards against scratches and acts as a stand to let users read, type, and play on their tablet. This is the Acer B1-720. Which does come with 16GB of Storage and is WiFi only. Acer is going to be releasing this one in North America in mid-January at a price of $129.99.

For a price of $129, I think this is probably the best tablet you can buy. Now I’m not saying it’s the best tablet to buy, but for this price it probably is. We see many tablets from manufacturers we’ve never heard of selling these Android tablets at this price. But here we have Acer, a company we know and trust. So if you’re just looking for a cheap Android tablet, this is a good choice. But if you can afford to spend another $100 on a tablet, I’d suggest the Nexus 7 (2013). As it’s got a much better display and processor, in my opinion.

How many of you are interested in the Acer Iconia B1 tablet? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

The post Acer Unveils the Budget-Minded 7-inch Iconia B1 Android Tablet appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

via AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/01/acer-unveils-the-budget-minded-7-inch-iconia-b1-android-tablet.html

Read More..