There's nothing all that special about a 14-inch Windows-based notebook PC these days ? that is, unless we're talking about a laptop boasting two 14-inch displays, with the second screen taking the place of your standard keyboard and doing double-duty as a virtual QWERTY keypad.
Meet the Iconia, which Acer unveiled at a press event in New York on Tuesday. Armed with an Intel Core i5 processor and powered by Windows 7, the Iconia offers the aforementioned dual displays (14 inches, 1366-by-768), not to mention an HD webcam and integrated 3G.
Engadget has a hands-on photo gallery of the six-pound laptop, and no question: The Iconia makes for an eye-catching piece of hardware, all right.
But how practical is it? Well, Engadget notes that the Iconia might be the first Windows laptop with a keyboard that's susceptible to glare, adding that the "hard-to-use" virtual keypad hampers the otherwise "clever" touch interface.
PCWorld serves up more details on the Iconia and the Acer "Ring," a wheel-shaped touch UI that lets you flick and swipe between various on-screen elements, including the QWERTY keyboard, a "gesture editor," image capture and Web-clip apps, a "TouchMusic" player, and other touch-friendly applications.
The Iconia will also let you super-size your Web-browsing experience by extending pages across both of its 14-inch displays, although you'll have to put up with the gap where the laptop's hinge sits.
Other features on the Iconia include VGA and HDMI outputs, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and three USB ports (two with USB 2.0, the other using the new USB 3.0 standard).
How much will the Iconia cost, you ask? No hard details on that yet, nor any specific word on when it'll arrive in the States.
Meanwhile, Acer also took the wraps off a pair of Android-based tablets ? a 7-incher and a 10-inch model, both with 1280-by-800 displays and Flash Player 10.1 support, as well as a 10-inch Windows-based tablet.
Also on tap from Acer: an aircraft-carrier-sized Android smartphone with a whopping 4.8-inch, 1024-by-480 display, not to mention an 8MP camera, DLNA media sharing, and "immersive" sound courtesy of Dolby Mobile.
Again, pricing and release dates for the upcoming tablets and smartphone remain sketchy, with Acer saying all three of its new Android devices should arrive around April 2011, while the Windows tablet is slated for February.
Back to the dual-screen Iconia, though. While there's little question that a laptop with a pair of 14-inch displays makes for a fabulous demo, would the thing actually be useful? Personally, I love the idea of a secondary touchscreen for accessing media and switching between apps (indeed, I can't wait to try it in person), but would a virtual QWERTY do the trick when it's time to start typing ? especially considering that the six-pound Iconia is more of a full-on laptop than a tablet?
Let me know what you think.
Related:
Acer reveals Iconia dual-screen laptop / tablet, Clear.fi cloud-based media sharing system [Engadget]
Acer Brings Dual-Screen Laptop to Reality [PC World]
Acer comes out swinging; 7 and 10-inch Android tablets due in April 2011 [Boy Genius Report]
Acer announces nameless 4.8-inch Android smartphone; April 2011 launch [Boy Genius Report]
? Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.
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