Iconia A500 is a cookie cutter Honeycomb tablet

Acer hedges bets with Windows and Android tablets

Acer unveiled two 10.1-inch tablet computers, the Iconia A500 based on the Android Honeycomb 3.0 OS and the Iconia W500 based on Windows 7. 

In near identical specifications to previously announced 10.1-inch Gingerbread tablets, the Iconia A500 also has a 1280 x 768 screen and a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset although unlike the Samsung Tab 10,1, the Acer tablet has a HDMI port.

The Iconia Tab A500 will also offer the ‘clear.fi’ media sharing system which Acer said provides easily access to multimedia across the home network and to instantly publish updates to social media networks.

The firm’s Android tablet tips the scales at 700gr which is Xoom and iPad territory, substantially heavier than the Samsung Tab 10.1.

Based on an the AMD dual-core Fusion C-50 processor, the Acer Iconia W500 turns to Windows 7 to get things done although helpfully Acer will be bundling the W500 with a touch-friendly front end called ‘Acer Ring’.

The Windows tablet also has an optional keyboard dock which will cost an extra £80 or so.

The Iconia W500 is expected to turn up early next month priced at around £449, Acer said, while the Android-powered Iconia A500 will be appearing in April though Acer didn’t provide pricing information.

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