Acer Iconia Tab A510 Olympic Edition Snubs UK

The Acer Iconia Tab A510, complete with Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, and Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor, is now available for presale starting at $450 (£284).

The tablet is available in silver or black as a special Olympic Edition, to commemorate the 2012 London games. For some reason Acer has chosen to launch the sponsor-branded device for presales in the US and Canada, rather than the UK where there is no mention of the new device on Acer’s website.

Differentiation Acer-style

What to do in a fast-growing market of Android tablets? Distinguish yourself with long battery life – 12 hours of video playback – and enterprise-friendly features, Acer has apparently decided.

To dispense with the basics: The A510 weighs 1.5 pounds and measures 10.2 by 6.9 by 0.43 inches. The Apple iPad, by comparison, weighs 1.44 pounds and measures 9.5 by 7.31 by 0.37 inches.

WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 are on board, plus a fixed-focus front-facing camera for video chatting and a five-megapixel rear-facing camera. The 10.1-inch WXGA high-definition display has a resolution of 1,280 by 800 and an 85-degree viewing angle.

Onto that 12-core GeForce Nvidia GPU Nvidia processor, it uses what Acer calls a Super 4-Plus-1 design. This means that there is a fifth “Battery Saver Core” that tends to everyday tasks, leaving four cores dedicated to more demanding tasks, like graphics-intense games.

The four cores, says Acer, “provide up to 2.6 times the performance and up to three times the graphics performance, compared to previous generation processors”. This makes for more crisp visuals, a better mobile entertainment experience, smooth navigation and “four times faster Web browsing”.

Adobe Flash 11 is pre-installed, as are two notable bits of software. The first, Polaris Office 3.5, is compatible with Microsoft Office and enables users to read and edit various document formats. It includes Evernote, hailed as an easy-to-use personal assistant that keeps users organised by enabling them to capture and save together documents, photos, Web pages and more.

Complementing Polaris is Acer Print, which is compatible with 87 percent of brand-name printers. It supports a number of printing formats – browsers, documents, photos – and prints exactly what is shown on the screen, whether that is a spreadsheet or online coupon, according to Acer.

Another perk for business users: the A510 also supports High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) to VGA, so it can be connected to a projector during presentations. It has 1GB of RAM, plus 32GB of flash storage, and an SD Card reader that can support 32GB cards. Plus, in a charging pinch, the A510 can charge from its micro USB 2.0 port via another USB 2.0 device.

For after-work hours, it ships with Kindle and Netflix apps on board, as well as TegraZone, which helps users find Android games optimised for Nvidia Tegra-powered tablets, and it is compliant with the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), so it can stream media to other devices, such as an HDTV.

“Our second-generation Acer A510 builds on the success of its … predecessor with notable improvements in performance, responsiveness and ease of use, elevating it to the status of ultimate mobile companion,” Paul Tayar, Acer’s director of product marketing, said in a statement. “Plus, the tablet will really surprise people with its comprehensive suite of productivity apps that will enable them to remain productive and connected on-the-go.”

A protective case, which can also prop up the tablet for game playing or typing, is available for $40 (£25).