Acer in 2012: thin laptops, eight-hour batteries, and a crazy little thing called AcerCloud

The Consumer Electronics Show hasn’t even officially started yet, and already Acer is looking at ways it can impress you. This year, the company plans to compete with other computer manufacturers by offering more battery life, ridiculously thin computers, and a competitor to Apple’s iCloud.

First up is the Acer Aspire, with a new model that’s even thinner than last year’s debut S3 ultra book. The new Aspire S5 is 15mm at its thinnest point, weighs less than 1.35 kg, and packs in Intel Core processors, magneisum-alloy, solid state storage, HDMI, and USB 3.0. Because of this ridiculously thin laptop, Acer has called it “the world’s thinnest ultrabook”.

What’s more, the new Aspire S5 will join the Thunderbolt club, adding one of those nifty little Thunderbolt ports that Apple laptops received last year and Lenovo added a few days ago.

Acer expects a release by the middle of the year, but we hope it comes much sooner.

The upcoming Aspire Timeline Ultra is different again, offering 14 and 15 inch notebooks that measure 20mm thin and still feature a super-slim DVD burner. Acer’s promising dedicated graphics and new Intel Core processors, which we’re assuming means Intel’s new Ivy Bridge chips.

Acer's Timeline Ultra will reportedly run for eight hours of battery life.

Interestingly, Acer is also saying the new laptops will feature 8 hours of battery life and a release within the next few months.

And finally, that thing called the “cloud” is getting some attention from Acer, with a backup system being brought in as a method for keeping the files on your computer and mobile always handy. Called “AcerCloud”, it’ll be bundled with all Acer PCs by the middle of the year.

We’re more than a little reminded of Apple’s iCloud for this concept, but from what we hear, AcerCloud will support all Android devices and not just Acer ones, possibly making it a useful backup system for anyone without an iDevice.

Acer's Aspire S5 will not only be thin and light, but will also feature a nice black magnesium-alloy.