Acer Inc. is rolling out a new notebook PC model that by the first quarter of 2001 can be expanded with a Bluetooth wireless module.
In addition to the Bluetooth wireless PAN (personal area network) option, which will allow the unit to communicate with other Bluetooth-enabled devices without cables and wires, the TravelMate 350 notebook PC also packs smart card technology for secure Internet transactions.
Acer will ship the new model worldwide this month, the Taiwan-based company said in a statement last Friday. The TravelMate 350 started shipping to resellers in the United States last week. It will be priced starting at US$1,999, Acer America Corp. said in a separate statement.
Other features include an Intel Corp. mobile Pentium III processor incorporating SpeedStep technology, running at clock speeds up to 750MHz, 64MB of main memory, 13.3-inch active-matrix screen, an external combination floppy disk/24x CD-ROM drive, an integrated V.90 56K bps (bits per second) modem, a 10/100 BaseT Ethernet LAN connection, one IEEE-1394 Firewire and two USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports.
Other options on offer include IEEE-802.11b wireless networking at up to 11Mbps, and the external combination drive is also available in a floppy disk/8x DVD-ROM drive version.
The TravelMate 350 also features Microsoft Corp.’s newly released Windows Millennium Edition operating system.
Measuring 292-by-234-by-21 millimetres, the notebook itself weighs in at 1.8 kilograms, Acer said.
Acer, in Hsichih, Taiwan, can be reached at http://www.acer.com/.