Acer Android netbook to dual-boot with Windows

Acer is looking to play it safe with its planned Android netbook, due for release in the third quarter this year. The netbook will ship as a dual-boot system with both Android and Windows according to Acer Chairman, JT Wang.

Acer is looking to go down this route given that there are still questions marks about the Android platform on a netbook type device. From our point of view, it’s a bit worrying that we haven’t seen a proper netbook customised version of Android. The only demos shown up until now are ports of the smartphone version (typically v1.5).

Acer expects to sell this Android netbook in conjunction with wireless carriers and Wang has not ruled out launching an Android-only model if there is enough demand. One of the benefits of an Android-only netbook would be a slightly cheaper price (by around $25), but this won’t be the case with Windows included.

This news highlights that some of the major companies are still tentative about Linux-based operating systems. Acer should be commended to getting to the market first with an Android netbook, but at this point it seems more like a marketing bullet point rather than a full embrace of the platform.

Via Digitimes.