Last week, Acer got a lot of media attention when it revealed the Aspire R7, a new Windows 8 PC that can turn from a laptop to an all-in-one PC, thanks to a unique display hinge. Now Acer is claiming that Microsoft helped in the development of the Aspire R7.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Acer President Jim Wong revealed in a company investor conference today that Microsoft has set up a program specifically to support the development of higher end Windows 8 PC hardware, and the Aspire R7 was part of that program. Details about this new initiative were not revealed by Wong, saying only that Microsoft has been working more closely with PC makers in the last several months.
Acer executives such as Wong and its chairman J.T. Wang have been highly critical of Windows 8 in the past several months, along with Microsoft"s launch of its own PC hardware with the Surface tablets. Now Wang claims that things are looking better on the Windows 8 front. He stated:
The sense of crisis is falling ... Even if they [Microsoft] are still doing the Surface, they do it cautiously and have become more considerate in dealing with partners in the ecosystem.
Information about an upcoming 8-inch Windows 8 tablet from Acer has been leaked to the Internet in the past few weeks. Wang would not confirm any plans to make smaller Windows 8 tablets, saying that Acer prefers to not officially announce products until roughly two weeks before they are launched.
Source: Wall Street Journal | Image via Acer