A couple of people have asked me why I haven’t put the Archos 605 Wifi and the Cowon Q5 into the database and why I don’t consider them as MIDs.

Basically, they don’t meet my ‘mark’ for being a mobile Internet device. Its something I considered for a long time with the 605 and in the end, I bought one to test it out. While the battery life, size and UI is good, the Internet experience isn’t. Poor WiFi. Crashes. Slow. Limited Ajax support. Its just not up to the task of modern, rich Internet browsing and activities. It does a fine job of media though!

As for the Cowon Q5, well, its a Windows CE device so I’m assuming its going to use the Mobile IE browser which is very old. Again, its going to have problems with modern, rich Internet activities. I will reserve final judgement until I see a review but for the time being, it stays off the list.

The area of PMP/PVP devices with Internet browsers is an interesting one and its makes absolute sense that MIDs and PMPs are merged into one device but it seems that the PMP manufacturers aren’t focusing too heavily on the Internet side right now. Maybe Sony will achieve it with the next Mylo or maybe we’ll see something nice from Apple at Macworld. Maybe Archos will release a killer device next year. The market is just starting and I think its going to be an exciting one. It will be far more active than the UMPC market and far more consumer focused. 2008 will just be the start of it.

• Goodbye RISC. UMPCPortal going x86!
• Cowon W2 4.8″ PMP uses Atom/Win7
• MIDs will raise the bar for high-end PMPs