Acer’s big annual press conference is nearly upon us. The Taiwan-based computer brand’s Next@Acer event kicks off today, April 27, at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT in New York, and we’ll be covering it live as it happens.
If you can’t be there, not to worry. Just like last year, Acer will stream the keynote presentation in its entirety to YouTube. Check out the video embed to start watching, or head on over to Acer’s official events page for more information.
Acer’s growing product portfolio includes laptops, desktops, monitors, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches, so it’s a little tough to predict just what the company has in store. But if this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress (MWC) was any indication, the announcements will likely have something to do with gaming, affordable laptops, and virtual reality.
At CES back in January, Acer took the wraps off its Predator 21 X, a 21-inch curved-screen gaming laptop that cost a whopping $9,000. And later in the year at MWC, Acer demoed a Windows-based virtual reality headset.
Acer refreshed its affordable Chromebook line at an April event last year, and we expect it to do the same this time around. Chromebooks continue to sell like hotcakes, and Google recently brought Android apps to the ChromeOS platform. Needless to say, there’s plenty of ground to cover.
A new 2-in-1 convertible in the company’s Switch series is pretty much a shoe-in, which is good news — we were big fans of the last year’s Alpha 12, which boasted a $600 price tag and an innovative kick-stand design. Mainstream notebooks like the Aspire S 13 are likely to make an appearance, too.
We wouldn’t put it past Acer to launch a 360-degree camera. A number of its competitors, including Samsung, Huawei, LG, and ZTE, have VR-capable cameras of their own, and Acer might finally be tempted to follow suit — especially considering its VR headset is due out sometime this year.
