Regular readers will know that Acer's been planning ereaders and tablets for some time, but the Dubai-based Shufflegazine saw Acer's CEO fondling what looks like an ereader (check out the QWERTY keypad)—despite him calling it an Android-powered tablet.


According to Shufflegazine, CEO Gianfranco Lanci said the tablet measured 7-inches, has a color screen, and would go on sale sometime in the fourth quarter of 2010. A 3G connection is possible, and Shufflegazine noted that "it looked pretty fast with sensitive touch."


Browsing through the press pack, Shufflegazine also saw some further details on the LumiRead ereader which we've known is coming for some time. It'll have a monochrome 6-inch screen, 2GB of memory, a microSD card slot, and a QWERTY keypad just like that mysterious tablet.

Pretty puzzling stuff. If Acer really does want to make an "iPad rival," then the addition of a QWERTY keypad is (for me) a great idea. But really, when it looks like an ereader and has a keypad, is it still a tablet? [Shufflegazine via Engadget]