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Lenovo's cloud vision could use a tailwind

The Consumer Electronics Show has barely kicked off and the outlook is decidedly cloudy.

First Acer outlined its cloud plan, which revolves around basically copying other services. Sync your documents and pictures across devices—as long as they’re Acer. Sound familiar? You bet. Acer cribbed everything that Apple, Amazon, Google, and others do.

Right after Acer’s move, Lenovo launched its “personal cloud” vision. Lenovo’s pitch: Bridge four screens including TVs, smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Of course, your mileage will vary. For instance, Lenovo’s smartphone footprint is limited to China.

In Lenovo’s statement, the company pretty … Read more

Some thrills, some spills kick off CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--The booths are still empty and the crowds of people have yet to arrive, but make no mistake, CES 2012 is already rocking and rolling.

The show doesn't open to the public till Tuesday, but a number of leaks are already stirring up some excitement. In addition, several companies held events today that yielded some highs and lows.

Acer was the first to kick things off, and unfortunately, its announcements were rather lackluster. The company unveiled the Timeline Ultra and Aspire S5 ultrabooks, as well as its AcerCloud service. Acer also teased a new tablet with the highest resolution screen to date, but then failed to provide many details about it.

Lenovo kept the ultrabook party going with the introduction of the 14-inch IdeaPad U310 and U410. Available in a rainbow of colors, the ultrabooks differ from last year's IdeaPad U300 model by using a standard hard drive, instead of solid-state drive.

Lenovo's show stealer, though? The K91Smart TV, the first TV to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.… Read more

First day at CES 2012 a mixed bag

The first day at the Consumer Electronics Show was quiet but still yielded a few nuggets.

Acer today kicked off what will be a parade of press conferences by announcing a host of ultrabooks, including a new "world's thinnest ultrabook," but ultimately proved thin on what it had booked. The company's big disappointment was that it had its head in the cloud--finally. It announced its AcerCloud effort, and in doing so it looked like a late-to-the-party copycat.

OnStar followed up by announcing it was giving the green light to third-party developers and opening up its previously … Read more

Acer's cloud strategy too late, too copycat

Acer kicked off the International Consumer Electronics Show with an ultrabook heavy lineup--no surprise--and a proprietary cloud service, which is a bit of a head-scratcher.

CNET's Roger Cheng was on scene for that Acer press conference and reported the following on the cloud strategy (Techmeme).

Acer hopes to set its products apart through its proprietary AcerCloud service, which is designed to let customers sync files across multiple Acer products. In doing so, Acer is trying to emulate other major technology players such as Google, Apple, and Amazon, which rely heavily on cloud services themselves.

Acer demonstrated the three services … Read more

Hands on with Acer's pair of ultrabooks: Aspire S5 and Timeline Ultra

LAS VEGAS--Today at CES 2012, Acer officially unveiled a poorly kept secret: two new ultrabooks.

One is being called the world's thinnest, and the other is an update to the TimelineX series. We got a chance to spend some up-close time with both for some initial impressions of Acer's latest.

The Aspire S5 uses the same numerology as last year's Aspire S3 ultrabook. Unlike that more budget-minded model, the S5 is 15mm thick--2 millimeters thinner than the last year's Aspire S3--weighs less than 3 pounds, and has a sleek Onyx Black magnesium alloy chassis. Its razor-thin design recalls the MacBook Air and Samsung Series 9. … Read more

An early letdown: Acer unveils ultrabooks, cloud, and little else

LAS VEGAS--Well, it can only get better from here, right?

Acer informally kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show's wave of press conferences today with the unveiling of the Timeline Ultra and Aspire S5, along with a look at its cloud services.

Missing were any concrete details of its tablet, as well as any information on its planned Windows 8 products.

With its laptop announcements, Acer is doubling down on the ultrabook segment. The products underscore the company's need to find a hot new category to spark revenue, particularly with its key Netbook business cratering. The trouble is, the … Read more

Acer teases tablet with highest screen resolution yet

LAS VEGAS--Not content to rest on the laurels of its recently announced A200, Acer today unveiled a new Iconia Tab tablet, featuring a screen resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels (1080p).

Typically, tablet screen resolutions top out at 1,280x800 pixels, but thanks to the faster speed of quad-core processors (Acer didn't reveal which quad-core CPU the new tablet would be using), look for high-res screens like this (and even higher) to become a trend over the next year.… Read more

Aspire S5: Acer boasts world's thinnest ultrabook

LAS VEGAS--Acer unveiled the Aspire S5, which it boasts is the world's thinnest Ultrabook.

The Aspire S5 is the second ultrabook that Acer announced today at its press conference ahead of the official start of the Consumer Electronics Show. With ultrabooks looking very similar in size and shape to each other, thinness has been on the key differentiators. Acer boasts that the device is only 15 millimeters at its maximum point.

Like the Acer Timeline Ultra, it offers an instant-on connection, allowing it to turn on within 1.5 seconds. The device will also get the same access to … Read more

AcerCloud seeks favorable wind for ultrabooks

LAS VEGAS--Acer is banking that the cloud will give the company an edge when pushing its line of Ultrabooks.

Chairman J.T. Wang wasted no time talking up AcerCloud, a service that allows the company's customers to sync files between a Windows-based device and Android devices.

"We're determined to make it very successful and sustainable," Wang said.

In July, the company acquired a cloud-services provider called iGware for $325 million, to help it build AcerCloud.

Cloud services will play a big part in the ultrabooks, Wang said. He added that AcerCloud wouldn't have worked without … Read more

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra: Doubling down on ultrabooks

LAS VEGAS--Acer today unveiled its Aspire Timeline Ultra, representing its latest take on the ultrabook.

The Aspire Timeline Ultra is slimmer and lighter than Acer's previous version, which came out in September. The company plans to start shipping the device in the first quarter.

Acer is just the latest to commit to Intel's ultrabook campaign, which is an answer to Apple's successful--and similarly sleek--MacBook Air. Intel is putting a lot money behind a push to convince consumers that this is a new product category. Industry analysts, however, are skeptical that the market can support so many new … Read more