Awareness of mobile computing devices has risen dramatically in the last year and many people are now considering which device would be suitable for their given tasks. For users that plan on using their device to read books or comics, it seems that the 5″ to 7″ inch MIDs are becoming quite popular. In the summer, the SmartQ7 hit the eBook reading crowd with quite a splash. The device gave readers some power to surf the internet, play games, listen to music, and most importantly, read books and comics on a screen size that was comfortable but could still be carried around quite easily. All of that, and the ability to run Linux, WinCE, or Android on a multi-boot partitiion. The unit was less expensive than many ultra mobile PC and MID devices in the same form factor, at about $230 shipped.
Hot on the heels of the SmartQ7 we have the W1060 by WireLession. Some of you may remember the posts a few weeks ago about the A81 MID, a 7″ MID with the ARM Cortex 8 processor. Since then, the unit’s popularity has been growing, and as you can see, it is listed on UMPCPortal and CarryPad as one of the most anticipated devices. The WireLession W1060 is the branded name of the A81 MID. With the ARM Cortex A8 (the same processor in the iPhone), users have access to a device that can surf the internet quickly, listen to music, watch video, and read books on a very comfortable 7″ screen. The device should certainly outperform the SmartQ7 (and possibly even the new SmartV7), and if what the supplier says is true, the build quality is quite a bit better as well. Information so far is that it has a metal chassis and is quite solid. It can play flash movies and supports AVI, MPEG4, MPEG2, WMV, H.264 and other video formats. Due to the fast processor, it should also be extremely fast when loading comics and turning pages.
I have a unit on the way right now. After some serious hardware and software testing, I’ll post a detailed review of the device. For now, check out this video and browse the details of the W1060 on WireLession.
