Despite rushing out a disclaimer when stories appeared that it was one of the licensees of the Network Computer specification, Acer Inc is planning an Internet-ready personal computer to sell for less than $500, Bloomberg Business News hears. Called the Acer Basic, the machine is said to use a low-end Pentium with 4Mb and Iomega Corp’s 100Mb Zip hard-shell floppy cartridge drive; it will include Windows 3.1 and drive a television set or a monitor. It appears that Acer was irritated by reports that it would do a Network Computer because it specifically wanted to differentiate the Acer Basic from these by stressing that it can be used as a stand-alone computer and is not just a terminal that only comes alive when it is on-line. Meanwhile, Iomega Corp confirmed that Acer Inc plans to include Iomega’s Zip Drive as a storage device in its new AcerBasic line and that the machine is scheduled to come out in June and will sell for $500.