Back in March, Microsoft made some changes to its Windows 8 logo requirements that seemed to be opening the door to smaller tablets. Now we've got one more piece of information suggesting that they're coming soon. In a since-removed listing, Amazon outed Acer's W3-810—a Windows 8 tablet with an 8.1-inch 1280×800 display that was listed for $379.99.
The Verge reports that the 1.1 pound tablet listing included a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 (a Clover Trail chip, rather than an upgraded Clover Trail+ or Bay Trail model), 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage, as well as 2MP rear- and front-facing cameras and micro USB and micro HDMI ports. Most of these specs are roughly identical to what we saw in Acer's 10.1-inch Iconia W510, so the W3 should suffice for most basic Metro and desktop apps as long as you're not doing work that requires a fast graphics processor.
As with any leaked hardware, take all of this information with just a grain of salt. The price and any of these specs could very well change before the official release (in the event that this device is actually released at all). The specs and photos do appear to be plausible, though, and with the success of small tablets like the iPad mini, Nexus 7, and Kindle Fire, it comes as no surprise that Acer (and, by extension, Microsoft) wants to get into the game. The company also recently announced a 7.9-inch Android tablet, which it unveiled alongside a few other new Windows 8 PCs on Friday.
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