Remember my involvement with the Earthrace initiative? Well first of all, here’s what Earthrace has become:

The reason I’m writing is that we’ve finally managed to start the bureaucratic ball rolling and are leaping through hoops of fire to try and get them some Acer Timeline notebooks in time for departure.

Getting Acer involved in this is no ordinary feat. The Acer Guy will always be a safety net for any involvement in this but you’ve got to admit this is one hell of politically charged mission: In Pete’s own words, “there will certainly be some risks involved and hopefully we will come back in one piece“. You can just imagine the looks on the faces of the suits in Acer when this proposal lands on their desk for approval later on today.

Second thoughts, no, you can’t. Not even close…

So we’re keeping our fingers crossed and I’ll certainly let you know what happens. If worse comes to worse, I’ll bring the launch date of the Causes section forward and we’ll raise the cash ourselves, right?

Aren’t you curious to see how this pans out?

Here’s the article from the 3News site on the latest chapter in this vessel’s fascinating story:

Once famous as the fastest powerboat to circumnavigate the globe, the Earthrace has been transformed into a marine conservation warrior.

Anti-whaling is a new line of work for skipper Pete Bethune and he knows lives could be lost.

“We’re not going down there to throw stink bombs, we’re going down there to disrupt Japanese whalers and there will certainly be some risks involved and hopefully we will come back in one piece,” says Bethune.

The strategies Earthrace will use to fight the whalers are being kept a secret, but the crew says it won’t be used as a confrontational vessel like the Steve Irwin, but as more of a secret weapon.

“It will make us a lot more flexible so the strategic options open quite a bit to have a second vessel there,” says Bill Watson of Sea Shepherd.

And while the boat isn’t harpoon-proof – it has been strengthened with half a tonne of Kevlar to protect it from ice.

The black paint on the boat is part carbon and makes the vessel virtually invisible to other ships radar systems – allowing the crew to ‘sneak’ up on the Japanese.

Use of the powerboat means for the first time the conservation group will be able to keep up with the harpoon hunters.

“They will find it very hard to shoot the whales in the first place and they’ll find it very hard to bring them in their vessels,” said Bethune.

Six volunteers will crew the mission to Antarctica, expecting seas up to 12 metres high as well the whalers’ fury.

Watson says they are determined this will be the first year the Japanese will see a financial loss from whaling in Antarctica.

“What we want to do is make as much as an economic dent as we can and if we can prevent them from taking any whales – that’s what we want to do”.

The Earthrace leaves for the battle zone in December.

OK, here it is.

After a very busy (and slightly rushed if we’re honest) development schedule, I’m happy to announce the latest arrival to the Acer collection of mini-websites, acer.com/mobile.

This is where we’re going to be showcasing all the latest info on Acer’s new smartphone line up, which for now includes the beTouch E100/101, beTouch E200 and neoTouch (or newTouch if you live in the US or France). You’ll notice the Liquid is a dead banner at the moment, because I haven’t had time to write the content yet!!! Give me a couple of days…

Anyway, make sure you sign up to the Acer Community and check out the Spinlets feature as this is going to be a really cool app on the Android phones as well as the urFooz cards.

Well well well,

Who’d have thought I’d be sitting here in my creative bunker writing this post so soon after my last one?

Well, obviously Gianfranco Lanci did as he’s been dropping hints everywhere.

If you take a look at this chart from those number crunchers over at Gartner, you’ll notice that something very important has happened:

In the words of Engadget, “Looks like Acer has leapfrogged over Dell for the number two spot in global market share for the third quarter of 2009, from 12.5 to 15.4 percent of the Big Pie Chart™. Meanwhile Dell is just below at 12.8 percent, and HP is sitting happily atop with a 19.9 percent ownership.”

And if you compare that to the one from the 1st quarter this year which I posted here you’ll see just how much Acer has grown:

Congratulations all round then. Any chance of a pay raise now?? No eh…

You see it just wasn’t gonna happen…

It’d be great to have enough time to actually see some of the events you help create but while the senior management were strutting their stuff and answering some very intelligent questions form the journalists in London last week, I was busy putting the finishing touches to no fewer than 9 different projects.

And so for those of you (like me) who didn’t make it, and want to know what was said, here’s a selection of videos I’ve just been pointed to.

Oh, and FWIW I still have those 9 projects on my desk…

Welcome to London

Acer strategy in mobility

Acer is to overtake Dell

The three aspects of mobility

Where we are, where we want to go

Acer latest history in technology

Your world synchronized

Touch as a way of life

Acer’s Multibrand Strategy

Acer goes Olympic

Acer’s commitment to sports

ACER – Q&A part 1

ACER – Q&A part 2

ACER – Q&A part 3

Yesterday I was browsing through various Acer websites looking at the Service & Support pages and I noticed that on every page no matter what country I looked on there was a message for Acer Aspire Aspire3410(AS3410) or Acer Aspire 3810 (AS3810T or TG or TGZ) owners.

I clicked and discovered that there’s a voluntary safety recall on AS3410, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ and AS3810TZG notebooks manufactured prior to September 15, 2009.

According to the page:

“In the affected units the microphone cable may overheat when extreme pressure is applied repeatedly to the left palm rest. As a result, the unit case may become deformed and the system may malfunction.

Acer has voluntarily instituted a safety recall program to proactively replace the microphone cable in the affected units to eliminate any risk of overheating“.

I strongly advise all owners of these models to visit the SUPPORT page of your local Acer site and see if your laptop is part of this recall.

OK, I admit it: I’m taking this straight off the page of PR Web.

Acer’s New Video Contest Celebrates its New Aspire Timeline Notebook ‘Show Us What You Can do with Eight Hours Plus of Power?’

In what promises to be its most exciting National video competition yet, Acer is inviting consumers to illustrate, through their own original short film entries, what they’d do with the creativity, versatility and freedom the new Acer Aspire Timeline Notebook gives them with its unparalleled eight-plus hours of power from a single charge.

What makes Acer’s newest video competition even more enticing than the one it so successfully launched in 2008 mainly the fact that there will be two phases of this contest in which entrants are eligible to win fabulous prizes, including a trip for two to Las Vegas to attend CES, the hottest electronics show on earth and much more.

The winner of the First Phase of Acer’s Eight-Hour Video Contest will receive a trip for two to Las Vegas during the CES show, three nights at one of Las Vegas’s top luxury hotel, Lucian Piccard designer watch, $1,000 in spending money and an Acer Aspire Timeline laptop.

But, as they say, that’s not all. Because everyone who enters–including the First Prize Winner of the First Phase–will then be eligible for the Second Phase of the contest, in which winners will be judged in categories including Most Viewed on YouTube; Most Promoted; Most Viewer Comments; and Most Favorites. The overall winner (first phase winner), will be based on which video receives the highest ratings based on all categories total responses. Each category winner will also receive major prizes, including Acer Aspire Timeline laptops, X-Box 360, Xbox Games and 120Gig Zune MP3 Players, along with additional cash awards.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Except I would have stressed that it’s for lucky people in the US only…

So what are you waiting for: Get over to www.acer8hourcontest.com and show us what you got!

I was just looking through the Acer Australia site looking for contact details for one of The Acer Guy readers and stumbled across this.

Before you start sending me questions about where and when, this is the first I’ve heard of it so maybe it’s related to an Acer Australia initiative which, if true, puts it way out of my reach.

Still, hats off to Acer for doing something tangible in addition to all the other environmental activities which by and large go unnoticed.

Oh and don’t forget that The Acer Guy will soon start its own causes section. Still scouting for worthy causes and looking forward to hearing from Emily and see how her new project is coming along.

Planting One Million Trees

Scientists have warned us that the current carbon emission levels are causing global warming. The issue of climate change is real, not only for our generation but also for the generations to come.

At Acer, we don’t pretend we can solve the world’s problems, but by taking the position of a corporate citizen we aim to make a positive impact and a small contribution to the environment. Acer is interested in reducing carbon emissions, in particular those emitted by computing devices.

Planting trees is an effective way to reverse the effects of carbon dioxide emissions through photosynthesis. Revegetation is also an integral part of any global climate change program. On average, 1.4 tonnes or timber contain 1 tonne of carbon. These largely continue to be stored in the timber even after harvesting.

Acer is committed to do our part for the environment. Since 2008, we have successfully planted more than 31,000 trees, this equates to offsetting more than 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Our goal now is pure and simple, we want to accelerate out tree plantation process, and with your help, Acer will plant a million trees within the next 2 years. Acer will plant between 1 – 5 trees for selected Acer products sold, so please support us in our goal and at the same time enjoy Acer’s awarding winning range of products at great value prices.

For more information on carbon footprint and our tree planting efforts, please visit the website of Acer’s environmental partner: Trees For Life – www.carbonneutral.com.au

I’ve been dropping hints since August when I wrote the minisite web content and penned the first draft of the launch presentation but no-one got it.

Acer this week launched what I boldly called “the world’s most exclusive netbook”, The Ferrari One.

OK, I don’t have any official pictures (yet) but Trusted Reviews got to see it at the launch and has a pretty good write up over here.

Just in case you’re interested, it’s going on sale on sale on October 22nd to coincide with the launch of Windows 7.

Here’s TR’s opening picture:

Ferrari One - Trusted Reviews

The one thing I do have is some tentative specs. These may change as each country specs it individually but it’s a start:

Operating system: Windows 7® Home Premium 64-bit
Platform: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual-core processor L310
System memory: Up to 2 GB of DDR2 667/800 MHz memory, upgradeable to 4 GB using two soDIMM modules
Display 11.6″ HD 1366 x 768 (WXGA) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD
Graphics: ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics (good for 1080p HD video)
Storage: 2.5″ 9.5 mm 160 GB1, 9 or larger hard disk drive / Multi-in-1 card reader
Dimensions and weight: 285 (W) x 204 (D) x 24/30 (H) mm (11.22 x 8.03 x 0.9/1.2 inches) – 1.5 kg (3.31 lbs.) with 6-cell battery
Audio: Optimized 3rd Generation Dolby Home Theater®

Welcome back AMD to the party.

Just got wind of an internal mail about Wired’s Terminal Man – aka Brendan Ross.

Who? Well in someone else’s words: “This month, Wired will feature a column from a new contributor aptly dubbed “Terminal Man.” Terminal Man will be traveling continuously for the next month using JetBlue’s unlimited travel pass. Wired (foolishly?) purchased the pass for him, requiring that he fly or stay in airports continuously for a month and then write about his experiences.”

Why oh why am I writing about this here?

Well, I have it on good authority that Terminal Man is using an Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T
because it’s light, easy to carry and lasts eight hours.

You can follow Terminal Man’s progress as it happens on his Twitter Page and of course I’ll be updating the site on his progress as and when his ultra-cool new notebook gets a mention.

Other articles out there on the interweb about this mad mission:

Wired's Very Own Terminal Man – Travel Blog – World Hum

One brave guinea pig will blog his month in Airworld.

I recently noticed an interesting new e-mail signature from Acer employees from the US with links to a Twitter and Facebook pages, and being the inquisitive type, just had to click and find out more.

Dig a little deeper over on the Marketwire site and you find that Acer US is offering K-12 scholls the chance to test out their technology in the classroom and win “a new computer lab outfitted with Acer and Intel technology, which includes up to 30 systems each of netbooks, desktops and LCDs. Three runner-up winners also will win Acer and Intel technology for an entire classroom of 30 netbooks”.

I’m taking this verbatim from their Facebook page. I’m sure they won’t mind:

“Acer, a market leader for netbook, notebook and overall PC technology, is offering an opportunity for schools to test its products with a free trial for a chance to win a grand prize of a new computer lab outfitted with Acer and Intel technology. Three runner-up winners will also win Acer and Intel technology for an entire classroom.

Deadline to submit an application for the Acer Education Technology Initiative is August 31, 2009. Applications accepted at: http://www.acer.com/us/k12.”

http://www.acer.us/education/index.htm