The Acer Iconia was announced in New York this week – a dual-screen tablet concept that is powered by Windows 7 Home Premium and said to be the first of its kind in the market.
TechRadar was given an exclusive look at a pre-release model of the device, which has a clamshell chassis which consists of two 14-inch HD screens.
The Acer Iconia is certainly a strange beast. As there is a hinge separating the two screens, it doesn't quite sit as a (frankly massive) tablet. But the device can be spread out nearly flush on a table for use in presentations and the like.
The idea of having two separate screens is an interesting one. For example, you can have twitter feeds on the bottom screen, while watching a YouTube video on the top screen.
If, say, you were into the stock market, then the two screens would free up space to have live charts on one screen and share prices on the other.
When it comes to typing, a virtual keyboard appears when you press your palms on to one of the screens.
The keyboard is responsive, though typing on the thing for long periods would play havoc with your wrists.
Specs-wise, the Acer Iconia packs a Calpella i5 processor, Intel HD graphics, 2x DDR3 memory (4GB and above) and it is powered by a 4-cell battery.
This means that you will only get around three hours' battery life out of the tablet.
This does make sense, given that there are two 14-inch screens to power and Acer has also added its own overlay, but the alloted power time will not be enough for those who are using the thing on the go.
At 2.78kg, though, this is more of a desktop replacement than a portable tablet.
The Acer overlay has been called the Acer Ring – this is a place where you can easily access documents, bring up web pages and use the capacitive screens to resize pictures.
To summon the Acer Ring, you have to put one palm on the screen.
Both screens can work independently of each other and connectivity on the device comes in the form of three USB ports (one is USB 3.0), HDMI and there is also Wi-Fi and 3G support.
The Acer Iconia TechRadar was shown is currently powered by Windows 7 Home Premium.
However, this could well change when the device is released in January. This is because Acer has collaborated closely with Microsoft on the dual-screen tablet.
The UK release date for the Acer Iconia is 16 January and it will be priced at £1,500.
For a more in-depth look, check out TechRadar's Acer Iconia hands on with the device.
