Acer have just announced their Android-powered Aspire One netbook but without giving any availability date. The netbook will be priced around $250 according to previous reports but the hardware is not much promising especially the battery lifetime which will last between 2 and 4 hours while connected to internet.

The idea of dual boot is not really hot though, Acer considered Android for fast internet browsing and social networking, and windows 7 for productivity. “Switch OS” will be available as option to switch between the two operating systems. Probably the first product that offer two operating systems pre-installed. If Android is not yet ready for productivity I don’t think it’s a wise decision to adopt it or release a dual-OS at this time.

A live android distribution is already available for netbooks but using Android interface as it, which is optimized only for smartphone usage. Actual Android interface is not user friendly, so Acer will most probably release another port of Android platform with an optimized interface for netbook usage.

Below Acer press release :

Mobility is the key. The key to understanding the Acer Group comprehensive range of mobile products offering users anytime, anywhere connectivity to be online all the time and socialize around the clock.

But anytime, anywhere connectivity is no longer enough: users demand fast and easy Internet access.

Acer Group decision to develop different solutions featuring also Android™ operating system brings users simple usability and instant Internet access, for greater efficiency on the go.

Building a better mobile ecosystem would enrich the lives of countless people the world across: enabling a greater openness in the mobile environment, allows everyone in the industry to innovate more rapidly and respond better to user’s demands.

This is why Android™ winks to the future: it is open source; it can be extended to incorporate new cutting-edge technologies as they come along and is the best answer for all the people that use Internet as a window open to the world, helping them to keep up with their social and business Internet centric life.

Acer Group goal is to respond to user’s demand faster and with the finest solutions.

Acer Group is the first to offer a mixed range of products based on Android™, a platform specifically created for mobile device: this means giving users a richer and more integrated experience, for a truly rewarding Internet and online experience on the go.

The dual-boot netbook brings along a true revolution as it gives the best of two worlds. It offers the immediacy, the ultrafast connectivity and speed of Android™ for instant access to web browsing, emails and social interaction together the full and reliable productivity of the Windows® environment, simply by clicking to switch OS.

Boot up the Acer Aspire One with Android™ in a matter of seconds for ultrafast connectivity. When you need top productivity, just switch OS to take advantage of Windows® 7 functionalities. There is not even need to reboot. Plus, all Internet connections established on Android™ platform remain up and running even if you reboot the netbook or suspend the session.

With the new Aspire One with Android™ OS, instant access to Internet and emails is not a dream any longer. Only 18 seconds to be able to chat, send emails or search the Internet and if you are in a hurry to go, it takes just 3 seconds to shut down.

Acer Android™ smartphone brings the latest technologies and innovation to create consumer excitement, in a reliable and easy to use mobile device.

A fast and attractive user interface combines intuitive usability and unique applications.

Building on the processing and graphical capabilities of Qualcomm Snapdragon™ and WVGA resolution, it is ideal for multimedia entertainment (music, videos, pictures, games) and enjoying location based applications.

Last month I was reading Kevin’s article on GigaOM about Android Netbooks coming soon in 2009, I didn’t thought that it was that soon. Mobile-facts, a mobile start-up runned by Matthaus Krzykowski amd Daniel Hartmann -VentureBeat freelancers, got already Android running on a netbook Asus EEEPC 1000H, including graphics, sound and the wireless card for internet.

A great news for Android community to see more than mobile phones using Google’s technology. I would prefer if the experiementation was using the LG X110 instead of the Asus, so we can see what a 3G netbook looks like with Android, but I think it’s already a great start.

Android Netbooks coming, but more likely in 2010

In addition to porting Android for Asus EEEPC, Matthäus and Daniel posted also some of their discoveries concerning Android running on more than mobile phones. According to the blog post, Android have two product policies in its code, the first is mobile phones and the second is MID, or mobile internet devices; the code itself for Asus could be found here. There is also screenshots of different locale used with Android including Japanese, which mark the entry of Android to the Asian market.

The whole thing took about four hours of work to get Android running on Asus Eee PC. Remember that Eee PC run already on both windows and linux and is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor – not a Qualcomm ! Intel had already drivers for MID chips in place, which makes port easier.

Anyone had more experiments with other netbooks andAndroid ?