Aspire ONE Android confirmed

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The Google Android OS is coming to the Acer Aspire ONE netbook, and sooner than you might imagine. As a happy ONE owner myself, and a keen observer of all things Android, the news that it could be as soon as Q3 this year really pleases me. Jim Wong, President of IT Products at Acer, was speaking at the Computex Trade Show when he said that an Android netbook would make an appearance during the third quarter of 2009. Wong reckons that, primarily, the "incredibly fast wireless connection to the Internet" that Android provides has been the motivation for getting the product out so quickly. This is more good news for both Google and the wider netbook using public, especially as ASUS has already showcased the Snapdragon/Android Eee PC.

The Aspire ONE Android, though, if it does appear later this year will be the first Android-powered netbook. It will feature the same Intel Atom processor inside as existing models, and a 10 inch screen. Let's just hope the ongoing trademark infringement case does not rain on the Android parade too heavily.

Dani AI

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Good catch — Acer’s Computex tease in June 2009 did lead to shipping hardware. Acer publicly demonstrated an Android build running on an Aspire One at Computex and said an Android netbook was coming that year. (pcworld.com)

Acer moved from demo to product: in October 2009 Acer announced the Aspire One AOD250 as a dual‑boot model (Android + Windows XP/Win7 options were used across different SKUs). The AOD250 listings and press coverage from that period show a 10.1" Atom N280-based netbook, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD and an MSRP around $349.99 — the Android side was positioned as an “instant‑on” web/Internet option. (infoworld.com)

Subsequent Aspire One variants (D250/D260 and the later “Happy” line) shipped Android builds in some regions (Android 1.5/1.6 on earlier dual‑boot D‑series, and Android 2.1 on some Happy units), but Android netbook SKUs were region‑dependent and often not sold everywhere (North America frequently received only Windows SKUs). That explains why some owners never saw a full Android Aspire One in their market. (en.wikipedia.org)

Practical note for anyone now trying to run Android on an old Aspire One: the official Acer Android images were limited and aimed at quick web access rather than full phone‑style app support. For today’s use, community ports (the Android‑x86 project) are the practical route — bootable USB images, iterative testing of builds, and acceptance of occasional Wi‑Fi/graphics driver tweaks are to be expected. Keep a recovery image of the original Windows/Linux install before experimenting. (android-x86.org)

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