Indeed, it has been an incredible year, as there have been lots of rumours and news of a tablet running on Chrome OS for years now. But all that is behind us now as Acer has pulled out the first Chrome tablet and it’s called the Acer Chromebook Tab 10.
Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is meant to rival the iPad, as it was just announced, while Apple is also supposed to announce a new low-cost model slated at the Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago which starts at 4pm BST (11am ET) Tuesday.
The Tab 10 has a 9.7-inch, 2048×1536 display —with a 5MB front and 8MP rear-facing cameras, an estimated nine hours of battery life, an OP1 Rockchip processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a USB-C port, an internal memory space of 4GB , a Wireless Ac (2×2), Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity and is priced at $329 will be available April 2018.
The Tab 10 will likely have some advantages on whatever Apple introduces tomorrow. Though it may be more expensive, having an integrated, non-powered stylus will make it easier to use and store, or offer more options than an iPad that comes without one. (Although, the fact that neither tablet has a keyboard could hurt both and make schools pick a traditional laptop.) The Tab 10 will also be able to run Android apps.
The Acer will sell the Tab 10 to the public, but it’s really targeting the device at the education market (again, much like the iPad that Apple is supposed to announced today). It’s no coincidence that this tablet is being announced today: Acer and Google are very much trying to preempt Apple with an education-focused tablet of their own to bolster Chrome OS in a market it’s already leading.
The Tab 10 will likely have some advantages on whatever Apple introduce today. Though it may be more expensive, however, it has an integrated non-powered stylus which makes it easier to use and store, or offer more options than an iPad that comes without one. (Although, the fact that neither tablet has a keyboard could hurt both and make schools pick a traditional laptop.) The Tab 10 will also be able to run Android apps.
However, Schools may already be used to Chrome OS, as Google’s operating systems currently dominate sales of classroom computers due to their low cost and extensive cloud maintenance tools. At $329, the Tab 10 is somewhat more expensive than other Chromebooks, which often start below $300. But if schools are looking for something like an iPad, Acer has just given them an option.
The tablet goes on sale in North America next month, then expands worldwide in May.
