Remember that hot Acer Hornet nettop we heard about a few months back? There’s some more info and if things are as they appear, it could be a super awesome cheap HTPC. It supports 1080p video playback over HDMI and the “Media Center” version will come with a Wii-type remote for gaming and media control.

Specs seem decent for the $149-$299 price range. The low end model appears to have an Atom N230 with 1GB of RAM and an 80GB drive preloaded with Vista Home Basic. On the higher end you get 2GB of RAM, a 160GB drive, and a “Boxshell” quickboot OS in addition to Vista Home Premium.

We can haz app storez too? Acer is next in line to open their own app store. Their senior corporate vice president, Mr. Aymar de Lencquesaing, mentioned that the Taiwanese company “is examining the viability of an app store” during a press event held in London.

There’s no confirmation of whether they will go for it or not, but we are guessing yes. Everyone wants to get in on the App store craze. It also makes sense since they just announced a whole bunch of Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6.5-powered smartphones not too long ago.

External data storage and data backups are a very important part of any computer user’s data recovery and safety plan. You may not have any important documents on your computer, but odds are you have a slew of digital photos that if lost would be gone forever.

The Acer Alto storage appliance was seen at CeBIT 2009 by the geeks at Engadget and it looks slick. The machine has an Intel Atom N230 CPU inside to control the show and packs in four hot swappable drive bays as well.

Some leaked Acer slides suggest the company is planning a high-end nettop device with NVIDIA’s Ion graphics chipset. The Acer Hornet is a compact computer with either a dual or single-core Intel Atom processor, together with the 1080p-capable Ion, and be optionally VESA mounted on the back of a monitor.

We don’t have full specifications for the Acer Hornet, but we do know it has an HDMI output and a Wiimote-style motion-sensitive remote that can be used for gaming and and general control. The slides also suggest that the Hornet is “silent” while operating.

Acer has no plans to rest with the success of its Aspire One netbook. They’re already working hard on a new model that improves on its predecessor. The new model will feature a slimmer chassis and come with an SD memory card slot like the one that first appeared on the 8.9″ model.

There can be only one reason for the slimmer chassis: an SSD instead of a hard drive. The presence of the Windows key on the keyboard suggests the new Aspire One will run XP, though a Linux version is likely.

Acer launches the Tempo line of mobile phones. The four new phones include the X960, F900, M900 and DX900. They are all touch-enabled and based on the Windows Mobile OS. The first set of devices will be based on the existing version of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS.

The M900 comes with a QWERTY keyboard, a 3.8-inch screen, and a fingerprint scanner. It also has HSDPA (High-Speed Download Packet Access) support, built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), and a 5-megapixel camera. The F900 also comes with a 3.8-inch screen and features a 3.2-megapixel camera, and you also get faster uploads using HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) and support for Wi-Fi. Both phones will start shipping at the end of March or the beginning of April.

Looks like Acer’s smartphone strategy at Mobile World Congress will involve at least two handsets. The DX650 would be a unique dual-sided phone with a dedicated number pad and small screen on the back to make calls easier. It will sport a 2.8-inch touchscreen and Windows Mobile 6.1 providing full app support on the phone’s front. The DX650 should also have GPS and a camera. 3G over HSPA and Wi-Fi are assumed.

The X960 looks like a more conventional 2.8-inch touchscreen phone and is known to have a fast 533MHz ARM processor and a front-facing camera for video calls to complement a back 3.2-megapixel shooter. It also runs Windows Mobile and carries HSPA-based 3G, GPS and Wi-Fi.

Acer was among the first netbook manufacturers to offer a netbook with a mobile broadband connection at a subsidized price. Its Aspire One was offered over the holidays for $99 with a 2-year agreement on the broadband plan.

Laptop Magazine sat down with Acer’s Product Marketing VP and asked some questions about the company’s plans for 2009. Acer says that it will be offering more subsidized netbooks and laptops with broadband connections this year. The company also says it is negotiating a day rate system with mobile providers for users who only need mobile connectivity on occasion.

Well, now we know that Acer has a few more smartphones coming, but they managed to keep both the features and the names of their new phones shrouded in mystery, aside from the Acer DX900.

Meet the next Acer phone in the lineup, thanks to this typically blurry picture. Looks like it features a swiveling QWERTY keypad and a touchscreen display with an unknown resolution. Could be Windows Mobile, Android or another platform. We have no idea yet.

It’s unclear if Acer’s upcoming DX900 smartphone that is actually a rebranded E-Ten Glofiish DX900, is Acer’s much hyped new smartphone. The company is likely still keeping most of their newly developed items under wraps. But if this is the phone they were talking about, then color us disappointed.

All the innards are unchanged: Dual SIM support, GPS navigation, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a 3 megapixel camera and a 2.8″ VGA touchscreen display, all powered by Windows Mobile 6.1.

Looks like Acer’s Ferrari Laptop just got an upgrade. The brand new Ferrari 1200 features the newer AMD ultra processor Turion X2. Acer decided to keep the carbon fiber and it still has the backlit LED display like the previous Ferrari 1000. You’ll get 4GB of DDR2 memory too. While Acer isn’t saying much about the specs of the 1200, we know it has a webcam and bluetooth based VoIP for internet telephony.

No word on price yet, but it’s available in the UK. Then in the US and rest of the world at some point. Hey, if you are lucky enough to drive the car, why not? Or maybe this is as close as you will get to a Ferrari. Either way, it’s all good.

So here we are, another day a couple more Acer product announcements sans photos. Thanks Acer for forcing me to use another generic photo for the story. Anyway, the products may be of interest to some of you out there who are shopping for a new LCD or a small form factor PC.

Acer has announced its 23-inch touch control LCD that boasts full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. The display is called the Acer H233H bmid and sports a 75Mhz refresh rate, 5ms response time and a contrast ratio of 40000:1. Inputs include HDMI, DVI, and VGA with a MSRP of $229.99.

I really like netbooks. I think they are a great compromise between portability, price, and performance for the most part. I have worked extensively from a 10-inch MSI Wind and found it easy to do. What I am not particularly keen on is working from smaller 8-inch netbooks like the Acer Aspire One.

Those that really like the Acer, but yearn for a larger screen will be glad to hear that a 10-inch Aspire One has been spied and pictures are now available. The machine sports a different look, but the specs are much the same.

Most LCDs on the market today have plenty of brightness, good color reproduction and response times fast enough for gaming. Where the major differences in brands come in are things like color reproduction and the type of stand the display uses.

Most cheap LCDs have stands that only allow the screen to tilt slightly. When you type for eight hours or more on the LCD, it’s really important to be able to customize the display to your needs to prevent eye and neck strain. Acer has introduced a pair of new LCDs that are ergonomic, offering multiple adjustments for tilt, angle, and height.

I am surprised that days after CES 2009 ended Acer is announcing new notebooks. Perhaps the computer firm feared that launching a couple machines that lack any really compelling features during the show would have meant they went unnoticed.

The two new machines are the TravelMate 6593 and the TravelMate 6493. Both of the notebooks can be used with the new Acer ezDock II or II+ for easy docking in the office or at home. Both machines share the same 1280 x 800 resolution as well.