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Compatibility problems between Android 3.0 and Acer’s 7-inch Iconia A100 tablet will reportedly delay the launch of the new tablet, according to a story in DigiTimes.
Originally set to start selling the new tablet by May or June, Acer is now rescheduling the launch to an August-September time frame.
Since Android 3.0 Honeycomb was designed specifically for larger-screen tablets, Acer has discovered a variety of apps in the new OS that are incompatible with 7-inch screens, claims DigiTimes, citing industry sources. On its end, Google is reportedly trying to fix other issues, also putting a crimp in the launch.
If the report is true, this would mark yet another delay for Acer’s Iconia A100. The tablet was originally listed on Amazon’s U.K. Web site as launching on April 20, according to several reports. But Amazon has since taken down that date, simply replacing it with a note inviting customers to be notified when the item becomes available.
Other vendors are also busy prepping 7-inch tablets slated to run Android 3.0. ViewSonic is reportedly hoping to be the first to the market with a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet by launching the ViewPad 7x in June. Sprint is likewise readying its 7-inch HTC Flyer (aka Evo View 4G), also outfitted with Honeycomb, to hit consumers sometime in June.
Neither Acer nor Google immediately returned CNET’s requests for comment. But an industry source, who asked not to be named, revealed to CNET the reason for the apparent delay of 7-inch Honeycomb tablets.
“Google last week reported a new Honeycomb release specifically for 7″ tablets, called MR2 (maintenance release 2),” according to the source. “It is scheduled for mid/end July release. OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) estimate it will take them 4-8 weeks to port the new release to their specific hardware platforms…therefore device makers are targeting September availability of 7″ Honeycomb tablets. This will allow Honeycomb and associated apps to scale to the smaller 1024×600 screen resolution.”
Based on this information, should we now expect a delay for ViewSonic’s ViewPad 7x and Sprint’s Evo View 4G?
A representative for Sprint confirmed to CNET that the HTC EVO View 4G will be available this summer, but the version of Android will depend on the timing.
“Sprint hopes to launch HTC EVO View 4G with Android 3.0, Honeycomb, if it is available in time for us to get it into production,” the representative said. “If it is not available, we will launch with Android 2.3, Gingerbread, and upgrade to Android 3.0 as soon as we can.”
Updated at 11:50 a.m. PT: with added information from industry source.
