At a press event held today, Acer announced that it will launch its own e-reader device later this year. It also showed off a prototype tablet device.
The LumiRead e-reader will come with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity a 6-inch e-ink display, a QWERTY keyboard (suggesting a design inspired by the Amazon Kindle), 2GB of internal memory, and support for memory cards for additional storage. It will also be able to scan book ISBN codes and will be 10.3 millimeters thick.
Acer also announced that it has partnered with a number of e-book retailers, including Barnes & Noble, German Libri.de and Chinese Founder to offer content for the LumiRead. It also expects to announce partnerships for French and Italian e-books later. Users will also be able to share e-books and audio books through Acer’s clear.fi content supply platform.
Acer is planning to release the LumiRead in the US in the third quarter. China and Germany will follow later in the year. Pricing was not revealed.
Acer also showed off a prototype tablet device. It is slightly larger than the LumiRead with a 7-inch colour display and also features Google Android (2.1 for now) and a keyboard. 3G connectivity might also be in the cards.
There is no word on availability and pricing for the Acer tablet device.
Update: According to Digitimes, the Acer tablet will be powered by a Qualcomm processor and should hit the market in Q4 2010.