[Droymac]

Today was supposed to be the day Google's first two Chrome OS Chromebooks entered the world. That scheduled launch, however, is only coming half true.

Back at Google's I/O conference in May, as you may recall, executives said a model from Samsung and a model from Acer would both go on sale on June 15. The Samsung Chromebook is out and available, as scheduled -- but the Acer Chromebook is mysteriously missing in action.

The Acer Chromebook
There's a reason for the absence: I've just confirmed with Acer that its Chromebook will not ship as scheduled today. A spokesperson for the company tells me the device will launch sometime this month, though no formal date has been determined.

Behind the scenes, the Acer Chromebook situation had been looking iffy for a while now. Both Acer and Samsung were supposed to provide demo units for my Chrome OS and Chromebook review, but while Samsung shipped its model to me early last week, Acer stayed vague as to when its unit would be ready.

Stranger yet, when seeking out firm pricing info on the Acer Chromebook, I discovered those details were conspicuously absent from all press materials. Even Best Buy's website, where a presale was underway, listed only information about Samsung's model. Amazon listed both companies' computers in its presale but, with Acer's model, had pricing that didn't match the figures we'd heard in Google's original announcement: Amazon had the Acer Chromebook listed at $379.99 for a Wi-Fi-only edition and $449.99 for a 3G-ready system; the original announcement quoted the notebook as being available for "$349 and up."

An Acer spokesperson told me the "anticipated MSRP" was $349.99 for Wi-Fi and $429.99 for 3G. When I asked about the odd discrepancy with Amazon's listings, she said she expected Amazon to update its price "in the next day or so." (That was on Monday; as of the time of this publication, Amazon's price -- still listed as pre-order-only -- remains unchanged.)

Perhaps oddest of all, when trying to confirm the name of Acer's Chromebook, I discovered that Amazon had it listed as the "Acer Cromia Chromebook." My sharp-eyed editor, Barbara Krasnoff, noticed that name had not been used anywhere else -- so I reached out to Acer again to confirm what the product was going to be called.

The answer: Acer was "still confirming" the official name. This was yesterday -- the day before the product was scheduled to launch. As you might imagine, we started to get quite skeptical at that point as to whether the product would meet its deadline.

So now it's official: Acer's Chromebook won't arrive today. I've asked the company for additional info about what's causing the delay and am awaiting a response. Representatives from Google were not immediately available to comment.

If and when I hear anything more, I'll update this page with the info.

via Computer World

 

[CEV]

In my opinion, this does not bode well for Acer. Very poor business practices. They wait until the day they are supposed to launch to announce this. Our non-profit pre-ordered one of these as it was the cheaper one and we wanted to see if this device will work for what we have in mind. And we wanted to determine this before the end of the fiscal year (June 30th) so we could order more. I can see a lot of people cancelling their order and ordering the Samsung.

 

[rdlviper]

Yep I saw that too:
Shipment of the Acer Chromebook is Delayed | Chromebook Blog

 

[modder]

In my opinion, this does not bode well for Acer. Very poor business practices. They wait until the day they are supposed to launch to announce this. Our non-profit pre-ordered one of these as it was the cheaper one and we wanted to see if this device will work for what we have in mind. And we wanted to determine this before the end of the fiscal year (June 30th) so we could order more. I can see a lot of people cancelling their order and ordering the Samsung.

Agreed, and to be honest I don't think it is the first time I have heard this about Acer, though admittedly I am a fan of their products when I finally get my hands on them!

 

[Hanna]

Yikes, that's too bad. And I agree-- it makes Acer look really bad. Why didn't they say there was going to be a delay before the release date? Hmmm. Not good.

 

[valsharp]

That's really disappointing - sounds like they were a long way from being ready, and therefore must have known some time before this that it would be delayed.

 

[cloudnavigator]

What's up at Acer?

How odd that Acer would miss the official roll-out date for its Google Chromebook and not say anything publicly until the actual day. Acer is a world-class manufacturer of computers and displays. Hard to believe they screwed up on a high-profile Google product roll-out. The only news from Acer is that Acer will deliver their Chromebook before the end of June. How embarrassing for Acer. Do you suppose that the CEO at Acer got a call from Larry Page at Google wondering what the heck they were up to? In the grand scheme of things a couple of weeks is not a long time but it does make Acer look bad in light of all the press and pre-release buzz Chromebook has generated.

 

[Driod]

I wouldnt blame acer either its all over the legal issue with ISYS!

The suit seeks an expedited temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Google and its partners (Acer, Amazon.com, Best Buy and Samsung) to stop further marketing efforts of the Chromebook and Chromebox PC products, as well as plans to begin selling these PC products on or about June 15, 2011. All five companies are named in the federal lawsuit that was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, as Case No. 2:11-CV-507 CW.

After months of delaying tactics by Google and after ISYS’ first use of the ChromiumPC mark, ISYS and subsidiary, Xi3 Corporation, see their talks with Google reach “an impasse.” Noting that Google’s planned June 15, 2011, worldwide launch of the Chromebook PC products would cause ISYS “irreparable harm,” ISYS is pursuing an expedited legal review in federal court in Utah to prevent shipments of Chromebook and Chromebox computers.

Official release here
ISYS Technologies Sues Google and Its Partners, Claiming Violation of Its ChromiumPC Trademark; Restraining Order Sought to Stop Launch of Chromebook and Chromebox | Business Wire

 

[mtluvsChrome]

I am also a huge fan of Acer and personally I have no room to judge them for being late. First of all, I myself am late for anything and everything!!! As hard as I try, darn it, I just can't seem to be on time (I think it is an inherited trait All of the above just confirms to me that indeed Acer and I are a good match. Second of all, if their delay is indeed a result of the pending lawsuit then who can them blame??? And who knows, maybe the delay is not even in Acer's hands but rather the Court's hands. According to the "Official Release" link posted by Driod it looks as though ISYS Technologies is trying to get a "Restraining Order Sought to Stop Launch of Chromebook and Chromebox".

By the way....Thanks Driod for the for link!!! I'm going to check it out right now.