Acer announces Iconia W4 release date
8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet gets Bay Trail CPU
If you're on the hunt for a full-fat Windows 8.1 tablet to lift your January blues, Acer has one about to hit the shelves.
The Taiwain-based tech giant has confirmed ahead of the CES trade expo in Las Vegas that its Iconia W4 tablet will be available from the end of January starting at €299 (around £247/US$407/AUS$452).
For that, you'll bag 8 inches of pocket-sized (deep ones, natch) tablet that houses Intel's Atom Bay Trail CPU, clocked at 1.8GHz, which Acer claims gives it the legs to go for 10 hours on a single charge.
That's not so hard to believe: the Iconia W3 that came before suffered from a poor display with terrible viewing angles and its comparatively weaker Clover Trail CPU struggled to get much done, but its battery life impressed thanks to Intel's low-voltage chip.
Wide boy
It looks like Acer has corrected the Iconia W3's display misgivings with the Iconia W4, fitting it with an IPS variant with a 1280x800 pixel-resolution panel that provides 170-degree viewing angles. Other specs of note include a 2MP 1080p front camera, and a 5MP rear camera that shoots videos in 1080p.
As with its predecessor, Acer's Iconia W4 comes Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 pre-installed and arrives with a dedicated keyboard accessory in tow. The Acer Crunch Keyboard is made of leather, measures 5.33mm thick and folds out while being used as a tablet stand. It connects via Bluetooth 3.0 and is rechargable via micro-USB.
That can be twinned with the Acer Crunch Cover that apparently adapts to multiple angles depending on how you want to use the device. Finally, Acer has outed a Power Bank, which can charge the device for up to four hours.
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