Acer - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Acer Announces The Iconia A1 7.9" Tablet For The US: $199 For A 1.2Ghz Quad-Core Processor And 1024x768 Screen

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Acer, News

Everyone who's interested in a tablet that's slightly bigger than the Nexus 7, with a low-resolution screen, plastic construction, and lower specs, raise your hand. It's OK, we'll wait. Anybody? Not even if it bears a striking resemblance to a certain fruit-branded tablet? Acer's hoping for a more fervent response in June, when it plans to release the Iconia A1, a 7.9-inch WiFi tablet with an unusual (for Android) 1024x768 4:3 screen and a 1.2Ghz MediaTek quad-core processor. The 16GB model will have an MSRP of $199.99, but some outlets are already reporting retail prices at $179.99.

Despite the lackluster screen and derivative looks, the A1 isn't all bad.

Dec

CyanogenMod 10.1 Nightlies Available For The Samsung Captivate, AT&T Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III (Metro PCS, US Cellular), And Acer Iconia A700 [Updated]

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Acer, Captivate, Galaxy S III, Iconia A700, News, Samsung

It's going to be a long time yet before devices like the Galaxy S III and Acer's Iconia Tab A700 get Jelly Bean 4.2, and the Samsung Captivate and Galaxy S II probably won't ever get another OS version update. That's why we love us some custom ROMs, and the CyanogenMod team has released nightlies of CM10.1 to all of these devices, including the MetroPCS and US Cellular variants of the GSIII.

Definition: A "nightly" is a bleeding edge release that is built on a daily basis, usually at night after a full day's worth of new code has been committed.

Oct

Acer Announces North American Availability Of The 7" A110, Coming October 30th For $229

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Iconia A110, News

Ever since Acer announced the A110's European availability back at the end of September, we've been waiting for word on North American availability. Given the 7-inch slate's reasonable specs, the biggest question has been how much will it cost?. The company just sent the word, and it looks like this Nexus 7 competitor will be available beginning on October 30th for $229. Here's what to expect for that price:

7" 1024x600 display
1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage, microSD card slot
Front-facing camera
microUSB, microHDMI
0.86lbs, 7.68" x 4.61" x 0.52"
7.5 hour battery life
Android 4.1

At $230, the 8GB A110 is $30 higher than the Nexus 7 with equal storage, which will be its primary competitor.

Oct

CyanogenMod 10 Nightlies For The Acer Iconia Tab A700 Are Go

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Iconia A700, News

Earlier this month, CyanogenMod teased upcoming CM10 nightly builds for the Acer Iconia Tab A700. While it may have taken a bit longer than expected, the first nightly hit get.cm last night.

Of course, Acer started pushing its own brand of Jelly Bean to the A700 at the end of September, so the hi-res offering wasn't all that behind the times to begin with. The JB update seems to have brought some performance improvements to the device, as there's less stutter than on ICS. With that said, it's pretty clear that the GPU still struggles to keep up with all the pixels on the display.

Sep

Acer Silently Begins Pushing Jelly Bean To The Iconia Tab A700

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Acer, Iconia A700, News

Wouldn't you know it - not long after ASUS has to delay the Jelly Bean update for the Transformer Pad Infinity, Acer silently starts pushing the update to the Iconia Tab A700.

^{Screenshot from XDA}

Considering there are zero details at this time, we have no idea what changes have been made, but hopefully Acer found a way to make this HD tablet run a little smoother this go around.

To see if this update is available on your device, you can head into Settings > About tablet > System update.

[via Tablets Magazine (Dutch); Thanks, Matrino!]

Sep

Acer Officially Announces The 7" Jelly Bean-Powered Iconia Tab A110

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Iconia A110, News

Acer just officially announced the smaller of two tablets we saw from the company back at Computex in June: the Iconia Tab A110. The device appears to be a head-to-head competitor with the Nexus 7, as it offers many of the same features, as well as a few missing from the N7:

7 " 1024x600 display
NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor
microUSB, microSD, and microHDMI ports
390g
Android 4.1

^{This image is an earlier leak of the device. Unfortunately, Acer has not yet provided official press shots.}

While the display resolution is the primary drawback of this tablet in comparison to the N7, HDMI out and expandable storage are features lacking on Google's official tablet.

Sep

Aliyun App Store Confirmed To Be Distributing Pirated Android Apps, Many From Another Pirate Site

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Exclusives, News

A couple of days ago, we ran a story about a circulating rumor that Google had expressed strong concerns with the launch of an Acer phone powered by Chinese Internet firm Alibaba's Aliyun OS. As the post explained, Alibaba claimed that Google had warned Acer that releasing the CloudMobile A800 could result in the search giant "terminating its Android-related cooperation and other technology licensing with [Acer]." These rather strong words led to speculation over just what the issue could be with Aliyun, and whether Google had issued the warning at all. Google quickly confirmed its stance, indicating that Aliyun was an incompatible version of Android, and one that could "weaken the ecosystem."

Aliyun OS, for those wondering, is a Linux-based operating system built by Alibaba Group, China's largest Internet firm by transactions.

Sep

Google On Acer's Canceled Phone Launch: 'Non-Compatible Versions Of Android, Like Aliyun, Weaken The Ecosystem'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Acer, Android OS, Google, News

Last night, we reported on some pretty strange rumors concerning an Acer product launch set to take place Thursday in Shanghai. The rumor was that Google had put its foot down over Acer's announcement of an Aliyun-powered smartphone, and threatened to "terminate all android-related cooperation" with the Taiwanese manufacturer should it proceed with the CloudMobile A800's introduction.

In case you missed the story, Aliyun is an OS developed by Alibaba Group, China's largest Internet firm by transactions. The OS, while not explicitly marked as an Android fork, is pretty closely related to the original platform. The OS boasts a reliance on cloud storage, and can even run Android apps using a "virtual machine."

Today, looking to clear the air, Google released a statement on the issue, indicating that yes, the search giant had put its foot down.

Sep

Acer Reportedly Cancels Announcement Of Aliyun-Powered Smartphone Following Google Warning, Says Alibaba

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Acer, Android OS, Google, News, Rumors

Earlier this evening, Nasdaq reported that Taiwanese manufacturer Acer decided to cancel a press conference scheduled for Thursday, which would have seen the announcement of Acer's CloudMobile A800.

The smartphone, which would have been unveiled in Shanghai, was set to run on Aliyun, a mobile OS developed by a Chinese Internet firm called Alibaba Group, the largest internet firm in China by transactions. Acer indicated that the press conference was canceled after Google, according to Nasdaq, "expressed concerns about the smartphone."

An anonymous official at Acer commented that "Acer will continue to communicate with Google and the company still wants to launch the new smartphone based on Alibaba software."

Aug

Acer Launches Two Low-End Liquid Phones - The Gallant And Gallant Duo

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Liquid Gallant, Liquid Gallant Duo, News

Between the Pantech Marauder, T-Mobile MyTouch Q, and now Acer's Liquid Gallant/Liquid Gallant Duo, it certainly seems like cheap Android devices are the new feature phones.

Acer's newest offering illustrates what I'm talking about. The company has launched two phones - the Liquid Gallant and the Liquid Gallant Duo - that are very low-end and amazingly low-price, checking in at just £149 (about $235). Take a look at the specs: