Yesterday we gave you the heads-up on Acer's incoming Gemstone notebooks. Today Acer lifted the veil on its new design, and so far we're not overly impressed. Okay, so the notebooks have smoother lids and more "opalesque" curves. There's even a neon blue light (think Tron) that streaks from the DC-in port on the side to the power button just beneath the keyboard. These are nice improvements over previous designs, but what we're really pumped about are the speakers. Here's why.

These are the first laptop speakers to be Dolby Surround certified. Granted, there's no way of telling how the speakers will sound unless you hear them in person, but it still manages to make me raise an eyebrow. Rumor has it they might also come with high-definition optical drives (your choice of Blu-ray or HD DVD). An extra bonus: 7 new touch-sensitive media keys. No word yet on specs, pricing or availability, but I'll update as soon as we hear back from the Acer camp. In the meantime, enjoy the pics. – Louis Ramirez

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