TAIWANESE PC MAKER Acer is waiting for Google to release the Honeycomb version of its Android operating system to enter the tablet market.

When asked why his firm had not delivered the Android based tablet it had shown to the world back in May, Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci said, “We could have an Android tablet already with Froyo. we took the decision to wait for Honeycomb when it is available.” He added that Acer does have a tablet running Android 2.2, however the company is “not convinced it is the right solution”.

Lanci claimed that Acer will probably release its Android Honeycomb tablet in the first quarter of 2011, although it seems his firm isn’t putting all its money on devices running Google’s Linux based operating system. He revealed that Acer is also working on a Meego tablet, a device that Lanci claimed Acer will release in the second half of 2011, saying “Meego will also be a good solution in the future”.

To top things off, Lanci confirmed that Acer is still working on a Chrome OS netbook and blamed delays on Google’s side for not having released it yet into the market. it seems Lanci isn’t best pleased with how Google is running its Chrome OS project. Pressed on an arrival forecast for the netbook, Lanci said, “I think today it’s almost unpredictable.”

Acer has many products in its pipeline that run alternative operating systems. After all, the outfit does tremendously well by flooding the low to mid-range market place with desktops, laptops and soon tablets. However the admission that it is looking to install Meego on a tablet is sure to raise some eyebrows. it might even spark interest in the operating system from other firms that had only considered Google’s Android previously.

All this goes to show that, even with a very good operating system, Google needs to work harder to keep OEM firms like Acer happy. µ