Slimmer Acer Aspire One ZG8 / A0530 at the FCC

We’ve been hearing about the rumors and leaked information since last month, and now we have some confirmation - This new netbook/ultraportable has now shown up at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for testing of its communications hardware (WiFi, etc.). The document dates are listed as March 9, 2009, with some of the submission documents listing March 4, 2009 in the headers, while some of the documentation lists application dates of February 11, with test dates of February 27, 2009.

One of the documents lists this information:
We, Acer Inc, hereby declare that ZG8, Aspire one, AO530 (model name) can not be used for operation of HSUPA and CDMA2000 1xRTT/EV DO function. The HSUPA and CDMA2000 1xRTT/EV DO functions of this EUT are disabled by firmware control, which the users cannot enable it.
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Gateway LT1001G - More Details

LAPTOP Magazine has more details about Gateway’s upcoming netbook, the LT1001G. Joanna Stern reports that Gateway will be selling an 8.9″ netbook based on the Acer Aspire One. As previously mentioned, it’s not surprising, given that the Aspire One is selling well and Acer does own Gateway.

Differences between the LG1001G and Aspire One (AAO):
- Available only in Asia (for now)
- Glossy black lid with silver Gateway logo
- Different palm rest (”soft, felt feeling”)
- Internal 3G Mobile Broadband card
- Light on front to indicated 3G connectivity

Joanna’s impression after meeting with Gateway was that since it was so close to the Aspire One, it didn’t really need to be introduced in the US markets.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

Gateway Netbooks Coming?

Asia One Digital has posted information on several new laptops coming from Gateway, including a netbook and a 13.3″.

This marks the first time that Gateway as a brand has returned to Singapore in the past eight years. After being acquired by Acer, this is the first expansion for Gateway, and the President of Acer Asia Pacific mentioned that Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand would join Singapore.

The netbook is being referred to as LT100G (or LT1001G) and it apparently resembles the 8.9″ Acer Aspire One, complete with 1.6GHz Intel Atom, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD.

The 13.3″ laptop weighs around 2kg (4.4 pounds) and has an ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470 graphics chipset.

Read: asia one Digital
via: jkOnTheRun

Cyber Monday 2008 Deals

Some of these deals are limited in numbers, and some may not be active until 2am PST. I’ll update this if more deals become available (and if you see any, use the comment form and I’ll add them).

Amazon Customers Vote is still going on through December 4, 2008

ZipZoomFly:
- 8.9″ ASUS Eee PC 900-BK010X - $349.99 (Normally $399) 12GB (SSD) HDD 1GB RAM, 802.11b/g, Windows XP, White
- 8.9″ ASUS Eee PC 901-W003X - $399.99 (Normally $409.99) 12GB (SSD) HDD 1GB RAM, 802.11b/g/n, Windows XP Home, Intel Atom, White
- Western Digital 2.5″ WD Scorpio 250GB 5400 RPM 8MB WD2500BEVS Bulk - $49.99 (Normally $69.99)
- OCZ 2.5″ Solid Series 60GB (SSD) SATA II Solid State Drive - $139.99 (Normally $149.99) (Retail, OCZSSD2-1SLD60G)
- Western Digital 400GB My Passport Essential - $107.99 (Normally $145.99) Black, WDME4000TN USB 5400 RPM External Hard Drive Retail
- Western Digital 250GB My Passport Essential Real - $69.99 (Normally $112.99,) Red WDMER2500TN USB 5400 RPM External Hard Drive
- Western Digital My Book Office Edition 1TB WDH1B10000N - $119.99 (Normally $182.99) USB 7200RPM External Hard Drive Retail
- CANON EOS Rebel XSi 12.2MP DSLR - $499.99 (Normally $599.99) Digital Camera w/EF-S 18–55mm IS Silver Retail

Dell Home and Home Office:
- Get the Inspiron Mini 9 for only $299 after $50 Instant Savings
- Cyber Monday deals from Dell Home!
- Save $275 off the Inspiron 1525 laptop - Only $519 after Instant Savings.
- Save $608 off the XPS M1530 laptop - Only $1,199 after Instant Savings.

Buy.com:
Note: Some include free shipping
- Black Friday Price Drops Start on 11/28/08 through 12/1/08!
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10″ Acer Aspire One, 13.3″ Gateway in 2009

A 10-inch version of the Intel Atom-powered Acer Aspire One netbook could be available in 3-5 months, according to an Acer executive. Acer Taiwan’s president Scott Lin recently discussed a 10-inch Aspire One model.

Among other comments he made, he expects netbook prices to continue to drop (at least in Taiwan). Acer also plans on launching new LED-backlit notebooks in the 12.1″ - 13.3″ range, as well as introduce a new 13.3″ notebook through its recently acquired Gateway brand.

Read: DigiTimes

Acer to Expand Netbook Line, Add Gateway Brand

Acer is looking to expand its current netbook line beyond it’s 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One line, according to LAPTOP Magazine’s Joanna Stern. They are also going to be adding the Gateway brand to a new netbook line as well.

Joanna attended a global press conference held by Acer in Budapest, Hungary, where Acer President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci spoke about Acer’s goals and where netbooks fit into the scheme of things, as far as Acer is concerned.

Lanci dispelled a…I won’t call it a myth, but a belief that has made the rounds, namely that netbooks weren’t worth manufacturing: When asked by a journalist if the margins of netbooks weren’t worth the manufacering costs he stated, “the margin impact of netbooks is better than on notebooks. The margin of netbooks is not a problem.”

He predicts that by the end of this year, the number of netbooks sold will hit the 10 million mark, and by the end of 2009, 25 million.

As far as the current Aspire One netbook, Acer is looking to offer different screen sizes, and a 3G option for October was announced in a press release, along with WiMax being added sometime by 2009.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

MSI Wind, Gigabyte’s Device - Available by end of June 2008

DigiTimes is reporting on news from the Chinese-language Commercial Times that the MSI Wind and a similar, unnamed device from Gigabyte, will be available later in this quarter (by the end of June).

The MSI Wind is a low-cost ultraportable device (”netbook“) that has two basic models - 8.9-inch or 10.2-inch. It’s expected to retail for 299-699 Euros (roughly $470-$1099 USD).

DigiTimes’ mention of the Gigabyte device:

Gigabyte expects to market its low-cost PC with telecommunications vendors, with the initial launch mainly focusing on Taiwan and other Asian markets.

Source: Digitimes

Acer Buys Gateway Which Buys Packard Bell

Get your flowcharts out - well, not really, but this one will surprise you. It’s one of the biggest stories to hit the laptop and Tablet PC market in quite a while.

First, Gateway is going to acquire Packard Bell. Quote: Gateway intends to exercise its Right of First Refusal to acquire from Lap Shun (John) Hui, all of the shares of PB Holding Company, S.ar.l, the parent company for Packard Bell BV - a leading European PC vendor based in France. Yes, Packard Bell is still around, albeit mainly in Europe (at one time they were one of the biggest, and sometimes biggest, players in the PC market in North America).

No surprise - Gateway gets access to some markets and products that maybe they didn’t cover too much in the past.

Here’s the kicker, it was just announced this morning that Acer is buying Gateway for $710 million. That’s huge, not because of the money either. There were will be overlap in the ultraportable segment for both companies, although most of Gateway’s ultraportables, such as the E-100M / E-100Mb, E-155C, and NX100X were geared towards industrial, education, medical, and government markets.

On the other hand, Acer has the TravelMate 3040 and TravelMate 6292, along with the Ferrari 1000 / 1004WTMi which are primarily aimed at consumer and business users. That’s basically four 12″ laptops and one 12″ Tablet PC / Laptop that overlap.

What’s going to happen to the product lines? Read the excerpt below for more details:

Acer Inc. (TWSE:2353), one of the world’s leading branded PC vendors, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW). Gateway is the fourth largest PC company in the US and a leading retail PC provider. The combination will create a multi-branded PC-company with over US$15 billion in revenues and shipments in excess of 20 million PC units per year.

Under the terms of the agreement, Acer will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all the outstanding shares of Gateway for $1.90 per share, which represents total equity value consideration of approximately $710 million. The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Gateway and Acer and is subject to standard closing conditions, including approval under Hart Scott Rodino, Exon Florio and similar laws outside the U.S. The acquisition is expected to close by December 2007.

“This strategic transaction is an important milestone in Acer’s long history” said J.T. Wang, Chairman of Acer. “The acquisition of Gateway and its strong brand immediately completes Acer’s global footprint, by strengthening our US presence. This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s already strong positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally.”

Gianfranco Lanci, President of Acer, added, “Both Acer’s and Gateway’s geographical presences and product positioning are highly complementary. We believe that our combined scale will lead to significant efficiencies. Gateway has built one of the industry’s most powerful and unique brands and with this acquisition, we will have the opportunity to implement an effective multi-brand strategy and cover all the major market segments. In time, we intend to actively manage our brand portfolio and differentiate our brands to address different consumer segments. We are also acquiring a world-class team and Gateway’s employees will be critical to our combined success.”

It almost sounds like they may go the way of Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC Business, where Lenovo has kept the ThinkPad branding for its business line, and maintain the Gateway and Acer brands for separate markets (no word on Packard Bell’s laptop lines in Europe).

Full Press Release at Acer.com

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