Component supply problems and software development delays caused Acer to delay the launch of its Aspire one netbook by a month, leading it to revise down its shipment target for this year.

The world’s third-largest PC vendor now expects to ship 5 million to 6 million Aspire ones in 2008, down from a previous estimate of 5 million to 7 million, said Gianfranco Lanci, CEO of Acer, during a conference call.

“Originally, the plan was to ship by the end of May,” Lanci said. “We lost about one month for different reasons.”

Despite the product delay, Lanci remains bullish on prospects for the Aspire one. He said that demand appears to be strong for the product and that Acer is talking to 3G (third generation) mobile network operators to supply them with Aspire one laptops built to access the Internet via their networks.

Lanci was asked if the delay in launching the Aspire one was caused by a delay in the Atom. He declined to respond.

Further reading @ Network World

midgetdiablo on our message forum, has posted pictures of the Acer Aspire One with a 6 cell battery, also Windows XP has Service Pack 3 pre-installed.

Pictures and details here

Btw if your not a registered member yet of the message forum, where have you been nearly on the 800th registered user !

IT’S difficult to write about the Aspire One from Acer without gushing.

Out of the box, this mini-notebook is the perfect traveling companion for anyone who simply needs to surf the Web, send e-mail and perform typical office tasks such as typing up documents, working on spreadsheets or giving a presentation.

Its compact size—6.7″x9.8″ and less than an inch thick—and weight—less than a kilo—make the Aspire One extremely easy to bring along anywhere. The netbook is slightly longer than the pioneering Asus Eee PC, but Acer has put that extra space to good use by building in a larger keyboard that most touch typists will appreciate (about 85 percent of a full-sized one) and a glossy black frame around the LCD screen that makes it look brighter.

“Like the Eee PC, the Aspire One doesn’t make this easy to the casual user. In fact, the default launcher doesn’t even have an icon for installing or removing software.

Fortunately, Laptop Magazine details how to do this:

1) Open a terminal by going to My Documents in the Files group. Then choose File > Terminal.

2) Type “xfce-setting-show” (without the quotation marks) and hit Enter.

3) In the Settings Manager window that appears, select the Desktop icon. In the Behavior tab, check the box that says “Show desktop menu on right click.” Now you have access to the system’s advanced menu by right-clicking on a blank area of the desktop.

4) Open a terminal and type “sudo -su” and hit Enter. Type “password” and Enter. Type in a new root password. The password cannot be a dictionary word but a combination of letters and numbers. Retype the password.

5) Right-click on the desktop and choose System > Add/Remove Software. Enter the root password you set and use the Package Manager to install the programs you want.

Using this method, I was able to install Gimp, a powerful open source image editing program similar to Photoshop and Deluge, a BitTorrent client for downloading large files.”

Further reading here

“On the Aspire’s 8.9 inch 1024×600 LCD, the Ubuntu mobile launcher looked crisp and elegant. He demonstrated several of the hardware features and showed me that the built-in webcam worked perfectly with Cheese, the GNOME webcam application. Seeing Ubuntu in action on the Aspire has cranked up my enthusiasm for Linux-based subnotebooks. I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of use out of my Eee in the past year, and I’m looking forward to replacing it when the next generation of Atom-based devices hits the market.”

Further reading @ ars technica

With Acer’s global launch of the Aspire One XP netbook in August, the company stands a chance of challenging Apple for the number three market share position in the US, according to market sources.

Although Acer’s share of the US PC market increased after the acquisition of Gateway in the third quarter of 2007, the Gateway-brand’s share of the desktop market continues to drop, and Acer has continued to see limited growth, even after the launch of Blu-ray notebooks in the second quarter this year, according to the sources.

Acer aims to ship 5-7 million Aspire One XPs globally within six months of the netbook’s launch this quarter which should help the company maintain its number three rank in the worldwide notebook market, and could allow the vendor to advance to the third spot in the US, the market sources said.

The Aspire One XP will launch in the Taiwan market at the end of July during the 2008 Taipei Computer Applications Show, and in US and Europe in August

Source : digitimes.com

 Official Acer Aspire One XP Drivers

07/24/2008 09:23AM     44,697,361 Audio_Realtek_v.5.10.0.5628.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      8,082,184 CCD_LiteOn_v.5.8.33.1.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      7,485,348 CCD_SUYIN_V.1.0.1.3.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      3,363,335 CardRdr_Jmicron_v.1.00.16.01.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      2,102,841 Chipset_Intel_v.8.3.0.1018.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      4,795,739 Lan_Intel_v.5.698.701.2008.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      6,677,838 Touchpad_Synaptics_v.11.1.4.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM     18,148,372 VGA_Intel_v.6.14.10.4926.zip
07/24/2008 09:23AM      3,754,859 WLAN_Atheros_v7.6.0.224.zip

Main link to the Acer FTP - here

As found out by a member “bEtrayEr” on the message forum.

There are two different models of the SSD that are being shipped with the Acer Aspire One.

1. Intel SSD (SSDPAM0008G1EA): 23 MB/sec Read / 5 MB/sec Write
2. Samsung SSD (P-SSD 1800): 30-35 MB/sec Read / 13 MB/sec Write

Further reading here on the forum, along with member tests.

Newegg in the USA are selling the 8GB SSD model for $379, makes it the cheapest anywhere.

Acer have updated their own Acer Aspire One site
Some FAQs on the site now and new images, apart from that, some awful background noise as well :P

Acer today announced its Aspire one ultraportable notebook has shipped to the US market. Meant to compete with ASUS’ Eee PC, the Aspire one uses Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom CPU in all of its variations, along with an 8.9-inch, 1024×600 (WSVGA) display with integrated webcam and Intel’s Media Accelerator 950 graphics. While information and specs on the basic system were already known, Acer has revealed two other variations of its first mini laptop.

The basic one comes with 512MB of RAM memory and an 8GB solid-state drive. The flash drive’s storage space is expandable via an SD card reader. A 4-in-1 card reader lets users transfer large files to and from the nearly 2.2-pound UMPC. To keep the price low, the OS is Linpus Linux Lite, and a three-cell, roughly three-hour battery is in place. Accessories connect to the mini notebook via three USB 2.0 ports.

The next step up gives users all of the above but adds another 512MB of RAM memory for a total of 1GB, swaps out the 8GB flash drive for a 120GB 2.5-inch rotating hard disk, and replaces the Linux OS with Windows XP Home.

The premium version goes back to the flash drive and Linux, but retains the 1GB of RAM and adds a six-cell battery that is said to extend life to seven hours.

The new ultraportable notebook is available in blue or white now in Best Buy, Circuit City and CDW stores as well as directly from Acer. Prices start at $379 for the basic version, $399 for the HDD version with Windows, and $449 for the top-end flash model. Brown and black colors will arrive later this year, Acer promises.