More > Featured Review

Acer neoTouch S200 F1

More > Breaking News

New Max Sense UI Demoed Again with More...

More > Featured Rumor

Exclusive HTC Incredible Photos (Update:...

More > Recent Tweak

How to Dual Boot Windows Mobile and...

More > Marketplace Pick

Marketplace Pick: Alcograph 2.0

You are in News Post

Browse by Category:

MID Internet Device Revives "Pocket" PC Branding

File under: News

By: Chuong Nguyen | Date: 24-Apr-09 | - Comments

Viliv, makers of mobile internet devices (MID), which are in the same class as the OQO, is making a device that is between a PDA and a netbook/laptop. With a tablet form, 5-inch touch display, and long battery life and the Intel Atom processor that is standard on today's netbook, the S5 is dubbed as the "Real" Pocket PC by the marketing team at Viliv.

The Viliv S5 scored some decent reviews over at Gizmdo, who found that the battery lasts four hours while watching a movie with WiFi on. The screen seemed pretty good over at the Gizmodo review and the device does have on-board GPS for navigation, although you will still need to provide your own software. Retailing at $600 with a WSVGA display and 60 GB hard drive, the device comes in much cheaper than the OQO, which costs double the price of the S5; the OQO has a sliding QWERTY keyboard, larger hard drive, and more elegant form factor.

While the concept is interesting, I find that today's smartphones can handle a lot of the basic functions of an MID device. With browsers like Opera, SkyFire, and the new Internet Explorer, users can readily have a "desktop"-like browsing experience on their smartphones. Additionally, smartphones can display (and edit) Microsoft Office documents, play PowerPoint presentations with video and TV output on select devices, handle GPS with turn-by-turn directions, check email and handle personal information as an Outlook replacement, and more. With more robust tasks, netbooks and laptops have gotten considerable smaller, lighter, and more power efficient to negate the need of a device that fits between the netbook and smartphone category.

0 tweets

Retweet this Share on Facebook