Acer has become the first top-tier PC maker to confirm it will release a laptop running on Google’s Android operating system rather than Microsoft Windows.

Previewing an Acer Aspire One running Google’s OS at the Computex trade show in Taipei, Acer's global president of IT products, Jim Wong, told a press conference that Android offers "incredibly fast wireless connection to the Internet."

Acer is the world’s second largest notebook maker.

The Taiwanese company’s latest eee PC lacks Windows or an Intel chip, plumping instead for Google Android, and Qualcomm’s SnapDragon processor - whose chipset packs a built-in 3G radio that will support Telecom XT, Vodafone 3G or any frequency band on the planet.

The new eee PC (pictured below) was previewed at the Computex trade show, now on in Taipei. It will ship later this year.

The world’s largest PC maker is reportedly testing a budget laptop that runs not on Windows, or Linux, but Google operating system software.

Satjiv Chahil, a vice president of HP's PC division, confirmed today that his company is trialling a new computer running on Google’s Android OS.

However, Mr Chahil told The Wall Street Journal that his company has not yet decided whether to go to market with the product.

So far, the netbook market has been a battleground between Windows XP, and desktop iterations of Linux. Now there are strong hints of a third contender on the way: Google’s Android.