Racing to the top: Acer takes the lead

Computer giant, Acer, takes their technology off the track and into your car. Manila Chansmouth gets a Middle East exclusive at Acer’s International Conference in London.

Motor-heads the world over know that PC giant Acer is a byword in auto sports, particularly through its former sponsorship of Ferrari’s Formula One and more recently involvement with Ford.

Acer also supports numerous noteworthy international car races, works hand-in-glove with Formula Ford and it still has an ultra-close relationship with the mighty Ferrari operation in Maranello, Italy.

But Acer isn’t resting on its laurels.  

Acer President and CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, said of motorsports and general sporting sponsorship: “We are expanding our reach beyond cars and we are now one of the top sponsors of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Our merger with Gateway and Packard Bell has put us in a prime position to be a global brand name like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.”

Unveiled at the gala London International Conference were many of the gadgets Acer provided to their pro-drivers that will be rolled out in 2010 and will be must-haves for your own car.

We’re not talking about placing Acer’s Ferrari One laptop in your ride or simply that Acer maintains the close relationship with the Italian-dream car manufacturer and F1 legend.

This Taiwan-based and Milan-backed company aims to revolutionise the way you use their technology from your home, to your office, straight to your car. Acer wants to be there with you.

The buzzing of crowds, cars, lights and off-Broadway musicals in London’s Picadilly Circus were the perfect backdrop for Acer to hold their international press day. I was the only journalist from the Middle East region at the event.

Picadilly Circus in London’s West End was its usual self - a rich tapestry of bohemian arts, food and music, blended perfectly with ‘the suits’ who spill out of their sixth-floor offices at 5:30pm, Monday through Friday. The constant swarm of sights and sounds is something to behold – as was what Acer had in store for us.

Inside the plush Langham Hotel, Acer filled two conference rooms with gadgets, phones, desktop PCs, laptops and netbooks set to launch next year that will help them continue to eclipse Dell and Apple, they reckon.

Mio Technology will launch a new version of its MiBuddy 4.7-inch touch screen, internet and navigation device next year, running Google's Android mobile software.

The next generation MiBuddy will be a Mobile Internet Navigation Device (MIND for short), complete with internet browsing and a keypad that slides out from the underside for real-touch typing.

“Acer is the first to offer a mixed-range of products based on Android. This will give users a richer and more integrated experience. We will use more of the Moni-Touch, touch screen technology in more of our products using Windows 7, like in the new SnapDragon,” said Jim Wong – Acer Sr. Corporate VP and President of ITGO.

The MiBuddy, though, aims to fill several roles in your life.

It fits onto a car dashboard mount so it can perform all the functions of a car GPS (global positioning system) navigation device. It's also made to be carried around as a personal navigation device, as well as used for comfortable internet browsing on a screen slightly bigger than most smartphones. (Think your Blackberry on steroids with Apple’s sleek touch-screen)

The current MiBuddy exclusively uses the Microsoft Windows CE operating system. Windows CE will continue to be offered for the next generation MiBuddy coming out next year, in addition to Android.

MiBuddy works with a number of wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and has a built-in microphone, speaker and media player. The next generation MiBuddys will be offered with WiMax wireless broadband as well.

Details on the price of the device and exactly when and where it would hit markets globally were not immediately available at the time of the conference.

Google developed Android as an alternative operating system and software pack for the smartphone market. The Linux-based OS has been adopted on a number of new handsets by several major manufacturers, including High Tech Computer (HTC), Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Motorola and Acer. One aim of the OS is to make Internet browsing easier, as well as connect to Google services online including Google Maps, Gmail and more.

Shipments of Android smartphones are forecast to reach 6.5 million this year, according to Taiwan's Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute, a publicly funded researcher.

The MiBuddy navigation device joins a growing list of gadgets Android is being installed in outside of smartphones, including netbooks such as Acer's Aspire One with Android, Arm processor-based mini-laptops called smartbooks and some home entertainment devices.

Acer has now truly put themselves into fifth-gear to overtake Dell’s position as the number-two PC-maker world-wide – making history as the first non-American PC company in the second place spot.

Second now only to HP. The big-bosses for Acer in Milan now have their sights fixed on the Palo Alto, California based Hewlett-Packard group.

From what was on show, Acer, the firm that was fast enough for F1, will be hard to beat in any technology race.