Up until today we’ve only been able to buy the Wifi version of the Acer Iconica A500 Android tablet here in Australia, but this info received today has announced the availability of the 3G version.
It’s called the Acer Iconia Tab A501 Pro, and the only difference I can see from the A500 is the addition of 3G. Quad band by the looks of it with HSDPA+.
Many of the recently released tablets such as the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and the Toshiba Thrive have been WiFi only. The Samsung Galaxy Tab, the iPad, and a few others have an advantage over these competitor tablets with both WiFi and 3G options. I have felt the loss of it when I moved to the Eee Pad Transformer. Connecting to a MiFi style device or a wireless network is ok when you have time, but nothing beats the simplicity of integradted mobile broadband in my opinion. It’ll hit the shops for around $650 without a contract for the 16GB version, starting tomorrow.
Specifications:
GSM/GPRS: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
UMTS: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
HSDPA+: 21 Mbps peak download rating. Actual speeds are less (typical download speeds 550 kbps 8 Mbps)^
DIMENSIONS: 260mm x 177mm X 13.3mm
WEIGHT: 760 grams
SCREEN: 10.1′ widescreen multi touch display (1280 x 800)
USAGE TIME: Up to 10 hours mobile web surfing, up to 9 hours video on Wi-Fi or listening to music
STANDBY TIME: Up to 250 hours
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 3.0
MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY: 24 Months