Acer Has Got a Meego Iconia Tablet, Too

Meego a gogo?

At the beginning of this year, Nokia announced that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 would become its ‘primary smartphone OS.’ The news was exciting, and certainly a step in the right direction for both companies, but it threw the fate of Nokia’s own smartphone OS, Meego, into uncertain light. Not too long ago, Intel admitted that the partnership with Nokia was “probably a mistake” and Meego’s future looked even more grim.

Still, fast forward to Computex and it seems the OS might not be left to languish after all. Asus Monday announced plans to release a $200 EeePC running Meego and now Acer is getting in on the action with the promise of a Meego-based Iconia tablet.

During Intel’s Computex keynote today, Assistant VP for Information Technology at Acer, David Lee, was on hand to introduce the company’s new M Series line. Running Meego and based on Intel’s Moorestown processor, the first addition is the M500. Eagle-eyed Acer fans will note that this product number is just one character away from the 10-inch A500’s product name. Acer was rather stingy with the details about the M500, so we don’t know for certain if it is the same as the A500, but with Moorestown and Meego instead of Tegra 2 and Honeycomb. However, we do know that it’s got the same 10-inch (1280x800) display, along with a 5-megapixel camera in the rear and a front-facing camera up front. Based on this, we think it’s pretty safe to assume they’re very similar devices, if not the same.

The M500’s version of Meego is customized with an Acer skin that will provide access to the most used apps and features right on the homepage. No word on pricing or release just yet, but Acer is saying it’s set for launch at the end of the year.