The tablet market continues to be increasingly crowded as the recently launched iPad 2 fends off a veritable Android army. And Taiwanese hardware-maker Acer made the fight even more interesting when it threw its hat into the ring this month, with the announcement that is will soon launch its brand new Iconia W500 tablet in Japan.
The Iconia's user interface is intriguing, as the company has implemented what it is calling the "Acer Ring," which lets you access a number of applications with a swipe of the finger. Users will also get SocialJogger, where you can manage various social profiles or explore content from YouTube or Flickr. There's also a "My Journal" feature that allows you to save clips as you browse
Acer's new tablet looks pretty good too, as it sports a 1,280 × 800 LED 10.1-inch back-lit touchscreen. The specs are respectable, as the tablet is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core C-50 processor and a Radeon HD 6250, both components from chip maker AMD. Two gigabytes of DDR3 RAM and a 32 gigabyte solid-state drive are not too shabby either. All those guts are packed into a 275 × 190 × 15.75 mm body that weighs less than a kilo, though I should point out that it's a little heftier than some other tablets out there. The Iconia also features two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI out, a SD card slot, and Acer Crystal Eye web cameras on the front and back.