Acer plans to jump on the two big trends of app stores and e-readers this year, offering both by mid-2010.
The e-reader, described in a Bloomberg report, seems straightforward enough. It'll have a six-inch, monochrome screen, and Acer is discussing deals with magazine, newspaper and book publishers. However, Acer wants to focus on Western Europe and Asia Pacific, acknowledging that Amazon and Barnes & Noble are dominant in the United States.
Even so, it'll be hard for the e-reader to differentiate itself unless its price is significantly lower than the Kindle and other up-and-comers. Acer hasn't said how much the e-reader will cost, and provided no other details.
I'm more perplexed by the idea of an app store. Jim Wong, president of Acer's IT products division, told Bloomberg that "hundreds" of apps will be available, many of them for free or cheap. The apps will be offered for Windows Mobile phones and Google's Android platform, found in smartphones and some netbooks.
What's odd is that both of those platforms already have application marketplaces. I'm not seeing what a second app store for those platforms would accomplish, aside from confusing customers. It's possible, I suppose, that an Acer-specific app store could support features that are specific to Acer devices, but I'm not even sure people would be interested in such a concept. If anything, multiple app stores on a single device puts a strain on developers, who already have so many storefronts to choose from.
If you can't tell, I think it's a little silly for Acer to blindly jump onto a couple of hot trends just because other companies have made money on them. Maybe Acer has some tricks up its sleeve that we'll find out about later, but as a company that tends to make solid-but-affordable products rather than revolutionary ones, it doesn't seem likely.
