Coming just a few days after the leak, Acer has officially announced the Iconia A1 tablet. Much of the specs hold the same as what we saw from the leak, however we now also have a confirmed price and an expected release timeframe. To begin with, the Iconia A1 tablet will be sporting a 7.9-inch IPS display, which Acer will be pushing as a”full-featured one-handed tablet for everyone.”
That for everyone bit still needs to be proven, however Acer has said the 16GB (Iconia A1-810) will be available in June with a price point of $199.99. They have also said the tablet will be available in an 8GB model, however they have yet to offer any specifics in terms of price or release for that model.
Aside from the internal storage, the Iconia A1 will also have a microSD card slot. The tablet will be powered by a quad-core 1.7GHz MediaTek processor and have a 7-hour battery life and 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with the ability to capture 1080p video at 30 frames per second. Other features include micro-HDMI, micro-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and a weight of 0.90 pounds.
The Iconia A1 will have Google Play Store access as well as a new Acer feature called Touch WakeApp. This is a gesture that means customers will be able to go from waking up to using their favorite apps with one-touch. Finally, shifting back to that 7.9-inch display. Acer has said this will be an IPS display with a 170 degree viewing angle, 4:3 aspect ratio and 1024 x 768 resolution.
[Update] It looks like the 8GB Iconia A1 will be priced at $169.99
[via Market Wire]
I thought the 1.7GHz CPU looked promising, but looking at your source, Marketwire, that is saying it has a 1.2GHz CPU. Under the heading “Highly Responsive Fun”, it specifies “MediaTek Quad Core 1.2GHz processor”.
It’s still interesting, and at a good price point, although I will have to wait to see what the translates to in the UK. I like the 8 inch 1024×768 display but would like a few more pixels in the 4:3 aspect ratio, as I am looking to upgrade an Android tablet bought last year with the same display specification, but with less memory and processing power (Storage Options – Scroll Engage model – single CPU, dual graphics, 1GB RAM 8GB flash). There is no mention of the RAM capacity on the A1. 1BG would be minimum spec for me, but I would prefer 2GB. Top end tablets are going that way.
From my last year’s experience, I do like the 8 inch 4:3 format and plan to stick with that, but I would like more power under the hood.