Did Amazon accidentally leak world's first small-screen Windows 8 tablet?

Published May 6, 2013 2:05pm

Did retailer Amazon just accidentally leak details of what could be the world's first small-screen tablet running Microsoft's Windows 8?

A report on PC World said the tablet —an 8.1in Acer Iconia W3-810-1600— made a very short appearance on Amazon.com before it was removed from the site.

"(R)umors of the 8-inch slate first surfaced in late April. It's still yet to make an official debut, but the Amazon page revealed that the tablet packs a dual-core Atom processor," it said.

The Iconia W3 appeared to take advantage of the reduced screen resolution spec, with a 1280-by-800 display matching the small Nexus 7, it noted.

Also, it said the 1.1-pound tablet has an x86 processor meaning it can run the full version of Windows 8, "rather than the neutered Windows RT operating system."

"We still have some reservations about using the full-blown version of Windows 8 on such a small screen, but hey, 7-inch tablets are what people are buying. Microsoft needs to be there to be competitive," it said.

Before Acer's tablet came out, Windows 8 tablets had sported displays measuring 10 inches and up.

Microsoft had drawn up Windows 8 before small-screen tablets like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire became popular, PC World noted.

However, Microsoft has since made adjustments to make Windows 8 play nice with smaller tablets - dropping its hardware certification program requirements for screen resolutions from 1366-by-768 to 1024-by-768.

Also, PC World said leaked builds of Windows Blue, the next major update to Windows 8 suggested a Snap feature for displays with resolutions smaller than 1366-by-768.

Price barometer

PC World said the early leak of the Acer tablet suggested a low $379.99 price, or "the full Windows 8 experience for just $50 more than the cost of the iPad mini." — TJD, GMA News

Tags: acer, acericonia, tabletpc, microsoft, microsoftwindows