Acer is one of the companies that opened the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) with a bang, unveiling several new products including laptops, Windows and Android phones, and stunning monitors, among others. One of the clear standouts of the array of products was the Acer Revo Build, a modular personal computer (PC) that has been likened to Lego in its assembly.
The idea behind the Revo Build is borrowed from earlier concepts like Phonebloks and Google's Project Ara, where the user is allowed to assemble and build the computing setup by adding new bricks or modules easily. In the Revo Build series, Acer is calling them "blocks," and they are added on top of the PC tower with each piece giving the machine additional power and ability. The modules are joined together by a magnet and connection pins, Pocket-lint reported.
The base tower is composed of a single module that contains basic computing peripheral such as the CPU. Acer has announced that "blocks" available include several hard drive variants, wireless charging dock, speaker unit, GPU, projector and microphone, according to The Verge. Each of these will be sold separately. The company promised that more blocks will be introduced in the future such as the digital sound center module with a physical volume knob and a wireless charging block for smartphones demonstrated in the Berlin event.
Acer is betting on the Revo Build's simplicity as it is introduced in the market. The value proposition is the same for the modular smartphones like those being developed in Project Ara: it allows users the freedom and convenience to customize their PCs according to their needs and budget, according to Gizmag. Pricing is not yet confirmed, but the speculation is that the base model will retail at $225.
