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Acer, Europe’s favorite budget computer maker, has jumped into the tablet game. Introduced yesterday, and available in April, the 7 and 10-inch tablets will both run the Android OS, and both have the slim body and foolishly long widescreen display we have come to expect since the Galaxy Tab arrived.

The ten-incher has a capacitive multi-touch 1080p screen, Wi-Fi and 3G, HDMI-out, a 5MP rear-facing camera plus a front-facing webcam. This all runs on a dual-core 1GHz processor, and is tucked inside a thin, 13.3mm shell (just over a half-inch). There’s also a gyroscope for gaming.

The 7-inch tablet has a 1280×800 screen but is otherwise the same.

Acer hasn’t said which version of Android the tablets will use, but the assumption is that it will be the made-for-cellphones v2.2 Froyo rather than a purpose-designed tablet Android OS. The most important factor in this race is price, and while nothing is yet confirmed, Acer’s senior vice president Jim Wong said that the tablets will be between $300 and $700. That’s a big “between”: $300 spells success, $700 disaster.

It’s funny that the brand-new tablet market has already turned into a commodity race to the bottom. It’s netbooks 2.0, only with Android instead of Windows XP, and with touch-screens instead of keyboards. If we have learned anything from the iPad it’s that the operating system is the most important part, something that seems to have slipped by Acer and Samsung. When the proper, vertical hardware/software devices from HP (WebOS) and RIM (PlayBook) show up, then the tablet market will heat up.

Live and interact in total mobility [Acer Press Release]

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It’s the year of the tablets as electronics makers rush to get one of the hottest gadgets of the year into the hands of users. Acer is the latest to announce it will launch a new line of tablets.

The devices will be introduced in New York on November 23 and will be priced ranging from $300 to $700, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

Acer tablets will join a crowded and extremely competitive market. Since the launch of the Apple iPad in April, most major electronics makers have announced their own devices to take on the iPad. So far, Apple has sold more than 4.3 million iPads.

In June, Dell launched a 5-inch tablet called Streak, while Samsung recently debuted a 7-inch device called the Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s tablet Playbook is expected to hit stores next year.

Separately, T-Mobile has said it will offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab for $400 (after a rebate) and with a two-year service agreement.It is similar to Sprint’s pricing for the device. Verizon has said it will sell the Galaxy Tab for $600 without a contract.

Acer might try to ink a similar deal but it will have to do more in terms of product features to stand out. Acer hasn’t said if the new tablets will be based on Windows or Android OS.

But one thing’s likely–Acer is going to find it hard to see the same kind of success in the tablet market that it has with netbooks.

Photo: Acer Aspire in slate form (arabani/Flickr)

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If you are willing to take a screwdriver to your computer, Pixel Qi’s low-power displays that can switch between color LCD and black-and-white screens could be in your netbook.

The 10.1-inch displays available through makershed.com look like standard LCD screens inside the room. But take them outside and they turn into low-power e-paper like display.

Pixel Qi first showed the screens in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The display called 3Qi operates in three modes: a full-color LCD transmissive mode; a low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a transflective mode that makes the LCD display visible in sunlight.

Pixel Qi has started selling the displays directly to consumers though the company is also working with with PC manufacturers.

For now, Pixel Qi says it can guarantee the compatibility of the displays, which cost $275 each, with only two models of netbooks–the Samsung N130 and Lenovo S10. But the screen works in most other models, says the company.

Swapping out existing netbooks screens for those from Pixel Qi is a simple DIY tweak, says Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen.

“Changing the screen of your netbook is easy, the process takes about 5-10 minutes using a small screwdriver. Its simple,” she wrote on her blog.

Users have to remove the front plastic bezel of the existing display in their netbook, unlatch the screen, plug Pixel Qi’s display in its place and snap on the screws.

But if you like to see what the process really is like, check out this video from Make magazine. The 10-minute long video shows how to remove the display off an Acer Aspire One netbook.

Seems like this will be a breeze to do at home and the results should be worth it. Pixel Qi screens consume 80 percent less power in the reflective e-paper-like mode, says Jepsen.

Photo: Pixel Qi screen/Priya Ganapati

[via Ubergizmo via Liliputing]

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