Oct. 20, 2000

Acer Inc. released its latest notebook PC model, the TravelMate 350 in Taipei. The new model supports both the 802.11 and Bluetooth short-range wireless communication standards and other enhanced functions.

Lin Hien-ming, president of this largest information technology company of Taiwan forecasted that about 600,000 units of this model would be sold in the coming year.

The TravelMate 350 weighs only 1.8 kg, making it the lightest notebook model with a 13.3-inch display in the market today. It comes with a Pentium III processor at clock speeds up to 750 Mhz.

In Taiwan the TravelMate 350 retails at prices to the equivalent of US$ 2,07 to 2,258.

The TravelMate's Bluetooth module, made by Ericsson of Sweden, and the 802.11 module from Lucent enable the notebook to wirelessly connect with other wireless-ready devices such as cellular telephones, peripherials, PDAs etc.

It also features a slim and rugged magnesium alloy casing with a buil-in advanced Disk Anti-Shock Protection System (DASP) guarding the hard drive against data loss caused by knocks and drops. Other user-friendly features include a full-sized, ergonomically designed keyboard with programmable hotkeys.

An industry insider in Taipei predicted that the wireless technology would become a standard feature on notebook PCs by the end of 2001. Most leading international suppliers plan soon to demomstrate wireless models, including Mitac, Twinhead, Leo, all Taiwan,and dell, Compaq, IBM and HP of the US.

Acer's Lin was confident, saying that the TravelMate 350 will be in strong demand, as the sliding prices of TFT-LCDs and memory would cut the costs of this new model in future, making it more competitive.

Frank Spindler, vice president of Intel, recently said that notebook PCs with wireless functions and Internet connectivity would account for 15% to 20% of the total notebook market in the near future. The U.S. chipmaker has developed a new Bluetooth module that will be used in several Taiwan-made notebook computer models to hit the market in the first half of next year.