Acer promises fast start-up for Android netbook

Acer will soon release a netbook computer running the Android operating system previously found on mobile phones.

The company claimed its forthcoming Acer Aspire One D250 Android netbook computer will take just 18 seconds to start up and three seconds to shut down.

However, the Aspire One will not use Android exclusively and will also include Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system.

Acer said it will “give the best of both worlds... the immediacy, the ultrafast connectivity and speed of Android for instant access to web browsing, emails and social interaction together with the full and reliable productivity of the Windows environment.”

Acer president and CEO Gianfranco Lanci said new operating systems such as Android and Google's Chrome OS were becoming "viable alternatives to the traditional operating systems we see today" for some uses.

The company expects the netbook market “to spearhead mobile-PC growth” without cannibalising notebook and desktop markets.