Acer Aspire One Launch

So I was at the Acer Aspire One launch in KL at the One World Hotel. Met a few interesting people, was a bit disturb as to why another NST reporter was there but WTH I got to network a bit.

Not mentioned in my press release was the fact Intel's Atom shortage is affecting a lot of OEMs out there. THat being said,

Acer will request a larger consignment (maybe I got the phrasing wrong) of Atoms if Aspire One takes off. A sign that there may not be that many One Netbooks around so if you want to get your's you better get at the Augest PC Fair.

Acer will support their Linux software on A One Netbook if there is a demand for it but will drop it for Windows XP. Right now they strongly suggest against installing Windows XP probably due to the fact they want people to use Linpus which they have delevoped for the A One.

Marcus Lee from autoTRACK photos :)

Small 'booth babes/dude' shots and a short demo video of the A One. Yes, at the end of the video I think went a bit crazy LOL.

Here is the original launch article which won't be used since Izwan was there:

Tuesday the 8th of July marks a special day for Acer in Malaysia. On that fateful day, Acer introduced to their new mobile communication device the Acer Aspire One. Their aim is to deliver a light and tough notebook that consolidates all forms of communication used by PC users today.

Ricky Tan, General Manager of Acer Sales and Service, “With the expected roll-out of WiMax in Malaysia, I am confident that the Aspire One will be the digital device of choice in the near future.”

The Aspire One for the Linux version will host an Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.6GHz with 512MB of RAM and 8GB SSD while pushing out your Net activities on an 8.9” LED backlit LCD screen in 1024x600 resolution. 

The Aspire One is not just an EEE PC clone as Jerry Kao, VP of Acer's Mobile Computing Business Unit, happily points out. The Aspire will have a custom designed interface based on the Linpus Lite OS. It will boast both an all-in-one email application called OneMail and an all-in-one instant messengering application called OneMessenger. Both application are developed in-house by Acer are meant to help consolidate all your email accounts and IM accounts under one roof but provide the same functionality. 

It is the aim of Acer to make the Aspire One an active part of a PC user's life. Low Gah Luen, Head of Acer's Mobile and Peripherals, demonstrated just how easy it was to incorporate the Aspire One in your social activities. With its Solid State Drive (SSD) the Aspire One require less power and less time to boot up to Linpus (about 20 seconds from a cold boot to the desktop screen). In addition, since the Linux Aspire One is using a SSD, the Netbook can be jostled around when it is on without losing any data. This makes it ideal for on the move individuals that need to connect to and disconnect from the internet quickly. 

Acer has also included a dedicated SD Slot for memory expansion if you happen to run out of space on your SSD (8GB) that automatically integrates itself thanks to the Smart File Manager program. And to make things fun they added a card reader so you can add even more memory or need to swap memory sticks often.

Acer is currently pricing the Linux version of the Aspire One at RM1399 and will have a Windows XP version out later that comes with a standard 80GB notebook hard disk and 1.5GB of RAM. The Windows XP version is expected to be priced at RM1599. The Linux Aspire One is embedded with WiFi 802.11b/g but newer revisions later this will come with 3G and WiMax embedded.

Images courtesy of Marcus Lee, autoTRACK.

Caption DSC 0083: Jerry Kao, Ricky Tan, Low Gah Luen.