Acer debuts new dual Android, Windows XP netbook

The Acer Configuration Manager for Android controls which OS will boot.

Acer's latest crack at combining Google's Android mobile software and Microsoft's Windows XP OS in the same netbook was unveiled at a computer show in Taipei on Thursday.

The Acer Aspire One AOD255 netbook uses Android as a quick-booting operating system and then Windows as the main operating system. Acer software on the device, called Acer Configuration Manager for Android, controls which OS will boot.

The netbook sports a 10.1-inch screen and has Intel's Atom N450 microprocessor inside. It carries 1GB of DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) DRAM as well as a 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) for storage. The device comes with a 3-cell lithium-ion battery, but Acer also sells a 6-cell battery for an additional NT$3,000 (US$95), a salesman said.

The device is being sold at the computer exhibition for NT$9,500, around US$300, but this is a special price for computer show attendees only. The list price on information handed out at the show is NT$11,900, around US$375.

People attending the Taipei Computer Applications Show, which runs through the weekend, will be able to order the device on Thursday and pick it up Friday. A salesman at the booth did not know when the device will be formally launched on world markets.

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