Acer's first tablet powered by the Android OS is currently available for pre-order at Best Buy, aggressively priced to take on iPad.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 will have a 10.1-inch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities and will ship for the U.S. market on April 24. The A500's price is lower than the $499 entry-level price for Apple's iPad 2.
The 10.1-inch multi-touch screen (1280x800 TFT WXGA display) provides finger-tip control for personal access to applications, games and entertainment, as well as an 80-degree wide viewing angle. The tablet is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 250 Cortex A9 1GHz dual-core processor, integrated GeForce GPU and and 1GB of RAM.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 weighs 1.69 pounds and measures only 0.52-inches thin. It also includes forward (2MP) and rear-facing (5MP) cameras, built-in GPS and integrated Bluetooth.
Users can also use the Acer Iconia Tab A500 as their media hub and share full 1080p Blu-ray-quality video via the built-in HDMI port with other devices, such as a high-definition big screen TV or monitor. Dolby Mobile technology completes the entertainment experience with heightened audio.
One of the tablet's features is its ability to run and play premium HD arcade games and complex online games. The 10-point touch display and six-axis motion sensing gyro meter control provide an entertainment experience on par with the best game consoles. Plus, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 comes with two full versions of games already on it, "Need for Speed: Shift" and "Let's Golf."
The tablet also supports eReading and comes pre-installed with Acer LumiRead and Google Books eReading apps for enjoying eBooks, while Zinio is pre-installed for reading full-color digital magazines.
Acer said that the platform can support a larger storage capacity of 32GB, which is planned for future models. A Micro-SD card reader supports up to 32GB Micro-SD cards.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 connects to Wi-Fi networks with reliable Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED wireless technology at home and on the go.
The system's two 3260 mAh Li-polymer batteries provide up to eight hours of playback for casual games, eight hours of HD video playback and 10 hours of WiFi Internet browsing, according to Acer.