IFA consumer electronics show: Acer Revo Build M1-601 unveiled

A mini-computer devised like a Bento box is among products Taiwan’s Acer unveiled at the IFA consumer electronics show.

The Acer Revo Build M1-601

A mini-computer devised like a Bento box is among products Taiwan’s Acer unveiled at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.

The Acer Revo Build M1-601 comprises a series of optional magnetic computer modules stacked one on top of another. You decide what you need your mini PC to do, then add the appropriate modules.

All start with a basic motherboard/memory module, but you can add a digital audio module, a wireless charging module for your phone, and a hard drive module with a capacity of up to 2 terabytes.

The Acer Revo Build M1-601

At the event hosted by Acer CEO Jason Chen, the company announced new Chromebooks, a projector with Google’s Chromecast built-in, and the Aspire Switch 12, a 2-in-1 wafer thin Windows 10 detachable with face recognition, Thunderbolt 3, and a 12.5-inch display. It offers up to 4K resolution.

Acer also displayed a 14-inch Windows 10 Aspire One Cloudbook — a so-called Chromebook killer. To make them ultra competitive, Acer announced that both the existing 11-inch and 14-inch Cloudbooks would sell starting at $US169 with a full Windows 10 system.

Acer displayed a range of new gaming laptops under the Predator label, along with a whopping 35-inch curved gaming monitor, the Predator 235, which can be overclocked just like you might a PC.

There was an easy-to-upgrade Predator G3 gaming desktop, 15-inch and 17-inch Predator notebooks for gaming, and a gaming laser projector that from just 50cm away can project a 120-inch display on a wall. There was even a gaming phone, the Predator 6, for gaming the go. It sports a 10-core processor.

Acer also announced the Jade Primo, a pocket PC phone that morphs into full PC mode when connected t a docking station, and with a wireless mouse and keyboard attached, offers a full desktop experience.

In concept, it’s not unlike the promising Motorola Atrix system of 2011. It runs fully-blown Windows 10 rather than the regular Windows Phone operating system using the Windows 10 Continuum feature. It has 21 and 8 megapixel back and front facing snappers and is expected to go on sale next year. Australian availability is not known.