Acer announced a seven-inch tablet that runs Android 3.2 (“Honeycomb”) on a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The $330 Iconia Tab A100 offers 1024 x 600-pixel resolution, 8GB or 16GB of flash storage, dual cameras, plus a microSD slot as well as micro-HDMI and micro-USB ports.

Acer formally announced its Iconia Tab A100 back in February with few specifics, and the device was beaten to the market by the company's 10.1-inch tablet, the A500. Little brother is here now, however, and it's claimed by Acer to be the first seven-inch tablet running Android 3.2 — though duty impels us to point out Sharp's announcement of the similarly endowed Galapagos A01SH in Japan last week.

Android 3.2 not only supports seven-inch tablets, but also provides a zoom mode that magnifies apps that were originally written for smartphones, instead of just awkwardly filling in chunks of the screen with blank space. Acer has resisted the temptation to add a custom skin, but it does provide Adobe Flash 10.3 as well as a variety of applications on the A100 that reportedly cannot be uninstalled, including: the Aupeo online radio app; the NemoPlayer media player; the SocialJogger Twitter/Facebook client; and the Clear.fi DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) client.

Acer's Iconia Tab A100
(Click to enlarge)

Like the A500, the A100 (above) uses Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor, plus an undisclosed amount of RAM (it's either 512KB or 1GB, according to conflicting third-party reports). The tablet comes with 8GB or 16GB of flash storage, plus a side-accessible microSD slot that accepts up to 32GB, according to Acer.

Acer says the A100 has a "vibrant" capacitive touchscreen display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 75-degree viewing angle. The device also has a micro-HDMI port that, the company claims, allows users to "share full HD videos in 1080p resolution." (PCMag's review says that in fact, only 720p output is offered.)

The A100 additionally provides dual cameras, one five megapixel and one two megapixels, and can record 720p video at up to 30 frames per second, according to Acer. Other hardware features include 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking, Bluetooth, a headphone jack, and a micro-USB port, the company adds.

According to Acer, the A100's 1530mAh lithium-polymer battery provides up to five hours' browsing with Wi-Fi, up to four hours of web-streamed video, and up to 4.5 hours of 720p video playback.

Although we didn't see it mentioned by Acer itself, the A100 also includes a docking port, according to PCMag. This allows adding an $80 desktop dock that has its own HDMI port plus support for a bundled infrared remote, according to writer Sascha Segan.

Specifications listed by Acer for the Iconia Tab A100 include:

• Processor — Nvidia Tegra 2
• Memory — RAM n/s; 8GB or 16GB of flash storage depending on model
• Display:
  • 7-inch capacitive touchscreen
  • 1024 x 600 pixel resolution
  • 16:10 aspect ratio
  • 75-degree viewing angle
• Cameras — 5 megapixel autofocus and 2 megapixel fixed-focus
• Expansion — microSD slot
• Networking:
  • WLAN — 802.11a/b/g/n
  • PAN — Bluetooth
• Other I/O:
  • micro-USB port
  • docking port (according to PCMag)
  • micro-HDMI connector
  • headphone jack
• Power — 1530mAh battery provides up to five hours of operation
• Dimensions — 7.6 x 4.5 x .5 inches
• Weight — 14.7 ounces

Availability

According to Acer, the Icona Tab 100 is available now with 16GB of flash storage for $349.99 (U.S) and $399.99 (Canadian) CAD, or, with 8GB of flash for $329.99 (U.S) or$349.99 CAD. More information may be found on the company's A100 product page.

We noted reviews of the device on Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at [email protected] and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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