Acer seems to be very active within the mid-range tablet market lately, with most of the attention given to its Android-powered lineup. That, apparently, is about to change in the upcoming months, though, as the Taiwanese corp has quietly launched an 8-inch WXGA slate with Windows 8 as the main OS platform. You got that right, ladies and gents, a mid-range device running Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 Pro onboard. Sheesh, that sounds awesome. But more importantly, it looks so great. And by “it,” we refer of course to the new Iconia W3 slate, which has just been introduced online on the company’s Finnish website. In terms of its technological specs the W3 is nothing out of the ordinary with an Intel Atom Z2760 chip running under the hood, as well as 2GB of RAM, a 1,280 x 768 display, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless connectivity. Other than that, it sports a 2-megapixel front-facing cam, a microHDMI output, USB 2.0 hub, and up to 64GB of internal storage. The battery pack, if you wondered, is rated to provide up to 8 hours of battery life, and the picture in the info source link also indicates a bunch of accessories like a portable keyboard dock and a cover case that doubles as a stand.
Update: At Computex 2013, Acer has just made the 8.1-inch Iconia W3 official, and boy does it look great. Anyway, as promised the little mid-range slate runs a full Windows 8 version under the hood, tucked with a 1,280 x 800 display, and a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 processor. Acer claims the battery life for the W3 to be around 8 hours, and you can choose between either 32 or 64GB storage options, plus an extra 32GB maximum via microSD. As for ports, we’re looking at a micro-USB, and an integrated micro-HDMI slot. But you can also find a pair of speaker grills at the bottom of this slab, a volume rocker to the left, and two front/rear-facing cameras, at 2MP each. In addition, the 540 grams device supports WiFi 802.11b/g/n, and boasts a Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity so you can wirelessly connect to compatible external devices. The new tablet is apparently due out sometime before the end of June (at 329 euros / 379 euros, respectively, and $379 in the US), while pre-orders for the slate will start from tomorrow, it will be made available through all of Microsoft’s retail stores, as well as Amazon, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples and Walmart.
