Hands-on with Aigo's iPhone-ripping, Menlow-based MID

We got a chance to play with the new Aigo MID that sports the Intel Menlow chip, and here's a slew of shots for you to peep. A few items of note: first, the thing is totally trying to rip the iPhone's interface -- you can't really debate that, though sitting atop its janky Linux implementation, it feels pretty third rate. On the bright side, the little guy uses a new, touchscreen-MID-centric version of Mozilla called CoolFox, which is nice to see on a handheld. Check the gallery and see for yourself.

Gallery: Hands-on with Aigo's iPhone-ripping, Menlow-based MID

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[Miles @ Jan 8th 2008 4:02PM]

Here come all the fan boys of Origami and Nokia who will cry WHO CARES!?
Please, just stop going on the internet.
Admit that Apple has made most of the PC's major innovations such as the mouse, keyboard, PS/2 port, USB, Firewire, etc.
This is just further proof

[mike @ Jan 8th 2008 4:08PM]

Actually... I think it was Xerox labs that made most of those things.. .not that they were bright enough to keep the smarter kids from taking tours no less capitalizing on it themselves.
I love to see the mac fan boys talking up how Apple "invented" everything... such bull.

- m

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jan 8th 2008 4:25PM]

apple adopted firewire as a standard for their computers. They never invented those other itmes too, especially the mouse and keyboard.

[jbondeson @ Jan 8th 2008 4:28PM]

Please tell me this was an attempt at irony. please?

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 8th 2008 4:41PM]

Oh God I hate people like you!

mouse: IBM

keyboard: actually predates the computer industry. Ever heard of a typewriter? Of course who made the most electronic typewriters? IBM

PS/2 port: IBM

USB: Intel

Firewire: Apple came up with the name, at which point Sony, SGI and Adaptech came up with a spec, controller and cable to go with the name.

But keep trying. I'm sure if you name enough things, you will eventually come across something Apple actually invented, like say digital audio players that only work with one store. However, to save some time, here are a few things Apple didn't invent.

Personal computers
GUIs
PostScript
Digital video
LCDs
UNIX
MP3 players
The phone
The Internet
Graphics software
Multimedia
Music
White boxes with rounded corners

[Matt @ Jan 8th 2008 5:06PM]

Apple invented NONE of those things, as numerous other people have said.

This is just a concept, doesn't it make sense that they'd use a familiar interface to appeal to the average consumer? In reality, if this thing ever launched, I can't see them stiucking with this UI, they'd reinvent it totally..

[ez17 @ Jan 10th 2008 3:38PM]

@all the haters, Ok so lets see:
First with GUI, everyone else follows
FIrst Mouse, everyone else follows
USB in iMac, wiki: "the iMac’s popularity and sole dependence on USB helped popularize the interface among third party peripheral makers, as evidenced by the many early USB peripherals that were made of translucent colored plastic to match the color schemes of the original iMac"
First wifi enabled laptop, ibook, everyone else follows
First 17 inch screen eveyone else follows
First USB mouse, everyone else follows
First to implement Bluetooth in OS and line of laptops
Built in cameras one of the first maybe sony did it first idk
First to give people palm rests on laptops by pushing the keyboard toward the screen
First to use trackballs in laptops
1988 - First CD-ROM Player ; Apple Computer ; Introduced in March
1991 - First Built-In CD-ROM ; Apple Computer ; Centris Line
1991 - First Built-In Video In-Out ; Apple Computer ; Quadra 800/AV
1991 - First Mainstream Voice Recognition (Standard in OS) ; Apple Computer ; Quadra 800/AV
1994 - First Trackpad ; Apple Computer
First Mainstream UNIX platform designed for use by end users ; Apple Computer ; OS X
2001 - First Built-In Consumer DVD Burning Capability ; Apple Computer ; G4 Minitower intoduced 1/9/01 as MWSF with "Superdrive" and iDVD
2003 - First 64-Bit Microprocessor-Based Desktop Personal Computer ; Apple Computer ; G5 with the IBM PowerPC 970 Processor, 1Ghz Frontside Bus and Hypertransport Introduced 6/23
2003 - First Personal Computer with Built-In Optical Audio ports ; Apple Computer ; Afore-mentioned G5. Introduced 6/23
the list goes on but you get the idea :)

[ez17 @ Jan 8th 2008 7:44PM]

look at business weeks list, Apple is listed as number 1 for 3 years in a row in "The worlds 50 most innovative companies"

Business week: "It should come as little surprise, then, that Apple tops the BusinessWeek-Boston Consulting Group’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for the third year in a row. That sort of staying power speaks volumes about the sort of innovation that matters today. Unlike the Post-it Note, which proves the value of lone inventors, the iPod epitomizes today’s innovation sensibilities. These include the ascendance of design, the focus on the user’s experience, and the power of ecosystems: The iPod is a hit because it works so seamlessly with the iTunes software. The company’s much-anticipated iPhone, which launches in June, will likely keep Apple high on our list next year too."

so please dont speak unless you know what your talking about, thanks.

http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/most_innovative/index.asp

[Tomek @ Jan 8th 2008 8:04PM]

Can we axe this dumbass? He's a troll and has made this same point (can we call it that?) before, and block destroyed him. This piece of fecal matter is the reason I think most mac owners are assholes.

http://www.blogsmith.com/profile/591361/ thats his profile (sorry if i dont know how to do links)

please please please, leave normal people alone, we all in fact do hate you, in case you didnt know.

(ban him pleaseee)

[Tomek @ Jan 8th 2008 8:06PM]

(miles)

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 8th 2008 10:53PM]

Ok, ez17, I hate to have this argument with someone yet again, but if you must, then here we go.

First with GUI, everyone else follows

Nope, Lotus was the first company to release consumer software with a GUI, and there was actually a fair amount of specialty software from companies like Evans and Sutherland that used GUI for things like simulation and imaging before the Mac ever came out.

First Mouse, everyone else follows

Once again, nope. The first commercial machine to ship with a mouse was the Xerox Star, a year before the Lisa, and three years before the Mac.

USB in iMac

Well, not to imply that Wikipedia might not be the most authoritative source in the world or anything, but by the time Apple put USB in their computers (1999), USB had already been standard on PC motherboards for a few years, and there were already quite a few USB devices. So, nope again.

First wifi enabled laptop, ibook, everyone else follows

I don't actually know which laptop was the first to ship with Wi-Fi as such, and judging from your other factual errors, I doubt you do either. What I do know was that IBM was shipping notebooks with their 2Mb wireless network adapter back in 1995, which was 4 years before the iBook even existed. So, once again, unless you are going to try and argue that wireless networking didn't exist before Wi-Fi, then nope again.

First 17 inch screen everyone else follows

Apple has never, at any point in there entire history, made a single monitor. They buy the tubes or panels of other companies, and just sell them in a different box, so this is just ridiculous. Sure, they might have been the first company to ship a system with no choice but a 17" monitor, but then that doesn't say much since they are literally the only company that dictates you must buy a monitor with your system. Now if you are talking about laptops, then I would really like to see any proof that "everyone followed" with 17" laptops, since it seems to me the vast majority of laptops are smaller than that to this day.

First USB mouse, everyone else follows

You are joking, right? Apple's first USB mouse wasn't until 1998! Microsoft, Logitech, Kensington, and just about every Asian knockoff company there is, had already put out several USB products by then.

First to implement Bluetooth in OS and line of laptops

Are you just making stuff up? Microsoft supported Bluetooth in Win98SE, Win2000 and WinXP, while Apple didn't support it until OS X 10.2, which was mid-2002.

Built in cameras one of the first maybe sony did it first idk

Hey, you are right one one! Sony did do it first.

First to give people palm rests on laptops by pushing the keyboard toward the screen

I don't know if that is true, but you are now talking about a design element, not a technical innovation.

First to use trackballs in laptops

I don't actually know who first put a trackball in a laptop, but I know that most everyone who didn't license IBM's Trackpoint was using a trackball.

1988 - First CD-ROM Player

Funny, the CD-ROM spec was finalized in 1983. Microsoft shipped its first CD-ROM application (Bookshelf) in 1987. Yet you claim that neither Phillips, nor Sony, who wrote the CD-ROM spec, were the first to ship a CD-ROM drive, but rather it was Apple, who doesn't even have a drive manufacturing facility. I think you are just pulling this out of your ass.

1991 - First Built-In CD-ROM

Nope, Amiga 500 in 1990 was the first computer to ever ship with a CD-ROM drive standard.

1991 - First Built-In Video In-Out ; Apple Computer ; Quadra 800/AV

Hate to break it to you, but the Quadra AV line didn't come out until 1993, well after the Amiga and SGI machines already had video capabilities.

1991 - First Mainstream Voice Recognition (Standard in OS) ; Apple Computer ; Quadra 800/AV

Once again, you have your dates wrong. That said, Dragon Dictate and ViaVoice had been out for quite some time by then. No, they were not 1st-party software, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist. I would also argue that there was absolutely nothing 'mainstream' about the Quadra AV line.

1994 - First Trackpad ; Apple Computer

See, as I said, if you just keep naming everything, you are bound to hit one that Apple actually had something to do with. I think another company actually developed it, but I do think you are right that they were the first to put it in a laptop.

First Mainstream UNIX platform designed for use by end users ; Apple Computer ; OS X

Now you are just pulling crap out of thin air, and slapping a bunch of qualifiers on it in hopes that your point is so convoluted that it is unassailable. I think you would have a hard time arguing that OS X is 'mainstreme' after several years of around 3% marketshare. In fact, SGI IRIX was designed for end users, as was Solaris. I suspect that all you are doing is saying that those aren't made by Apple, so they don't count, even though they predate OS X by almost a decade.

2001 - First Built-In Consumer DVD Burning Capability

Hmm, so HP developed DVD-ROM in late 1995, but you would have me believe it just sat on a shelf not used in any HP product for 6 years until Apple ninjas stole it, and put it in the first computer. Funny, it sure seems like HP was putting it in their systems as early as '97.

2003 - First 64-Bit Microprocessor-Based Desktop Personal Computer

I guess they didn't cover the Athlon 64 in Macworld Magazine.

2003 - First Personal Computer with Built-In Optical Audio ports

Nope, there were several computers that shipped from manufacturers with Sound Blaster Live cards with optical inputs and outputs years before that, but thanks for playing.

Next time you might try using sources other than Apple press releases, and you might do better at this game.

[ez17 @ Jan 9th 2008 12:19AM]

@L.M. LOYD 2/2 as for the GUI Apple was the first to SUCCESSFULLY CREATE A USER INTERFACE... Encyclopedia Britannica; "There they were shown the first functional graphical user interface (GUI), featuring on-screen windows, …" http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-92996/Apple-Inc

USB in computers it was Apple who really started that trend. " In a bold move in 1998, Apple introduced the iMac, the first computer to be completely free of legacy ports. The iMac G5 family today includes USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports, and IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports to handle high-speed applications." http://www.everythingusb.com/revolution.html


First 64 bit computer: Entrepreneur; Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has introduced the Power Mac G5-featuring the world's first 64-bit desktop processor and the industry's first 1 GHz front -side bus http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/105474486.html

READ NEXT POST....

[ez17 @ Jan 9th 2008 12:19AM]

iDVD first CONSUMER dvd burning software

Bluetooth:Businessweek; Bluetooth support in Windows remains primitive. Not so with Apple Computer (AAPL ). The technology is standard in many Apple Macintoshes and optional in the rest, and with its new line of PowerBook laptops, Apple is the first to use a new, faster version of Bluetooth. If a Mac detects a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse during setup, it will automatically link to them. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_16/b3929032_mz006.htm


Wow u should be feeling stupid just about now...... I know I would if I were you.

[ez17 @ Jan 9th 2008 12:22AM]

@L.M. LOYD; All right well here goes,
USB mouse: "Cnet; In all fairness, it did have one redeeming
innovation -- the puck was the first mouse to use the USB standard as
its method of connectivity."
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/0,39029552,49293700-6,00.htm

Wifi iBook: MSN; "In 1999, Apple introduced Airport--a
ground-breaking technology that enabled the company's iBook to become
the first laptop capable of sending e-mail and surfing the Internet
wirelessly. Apple beat other notebook makers to the punch by more
than a year with its implementation of the 802.11b Wi-Fi standard."
http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=5004769&page=3

Trackpad: MSN; "After its introduction on the PowerBook 520, the
touchpad set a new standard that lives to this day."
http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=5004769&page=2


I could only put 3 links in each post so i had to do multiple posts...

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 9th 2008 1:50AM]

Hmm... how to respond? Do I actually spend hours searching the web to find evidence of the fact that these articles are wrong, like this:

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/real-history-gui

which contains gems like

"It then takes us through the better-documented days of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad, Xerox's PARC lab, Alan Kay's Smalltalk, and the (possibly even more apocryphal) stories of the rivalry between Jobs' Apple and Bill Gates' Microsoft that gave us the Windows and Mac GUI-driven OSs of today. Along the way we'll learn about the memex, the first wooden mouse, "bit-blitting," the Xerox Star, the Apple Lisa, and what really happened that momentous day in the PARC labs when Steve Jobs and company paid a visit, notepads in hand..."

and

"In 1981, the design and concepts which gave birth to the Alto led to the development and production of the much more streamlined, and more usable Xerox Star – the first true GUI-driven PC."

Or do I instead go for the humor and post several links from a few years back authoritatively stating that there are WMDs all over Iraq, mixed in with articles claiming that the iPhone is the first phone that is also a computer? You know, just because you can find an article claiming something, doesn't make it correct. See, some of us were actually alive in the '80s, so don't have to read an article to tell us what it was like back then.

No one is arguing that this lazy media readily accepts anything Apple says about computer history. What is at issue is how accurate that accounting is. Hell, my girlfriend at the time was the very person who orginized the Apple press event where they claimed to be the first company to integrate USB! If you did real, honest, research, you would find that just about every one of the claims you make, despite all the blurbs you can muster, is factually incorrect, and can be documented as such.

Trust me, I have been having this argument for 20 year now, which is probably longer than you have been alive. What you should retreat back to, is the much harder to disprove, and totally useless argument that Apple didn't really invent anything, but all that matters is that they were the first company to have an ill-defined "mainstream success" in the lifecycle of any technology. That usually makes you Macheads feel better.

[ez17 @ Jan 9th 2008 2:19AM]

@ L.M. LOYD; lol I smell defeat! thats all you can come up with? I thought you can do better then that, I give you facts, Encyclopedia Britannica,entrepreneur, Businessweek and cnet, all reputable sources and all you can come up with is that? your response is laughable....wow talk about naive you believe what you want to if it makes you happy, But I and the rest of the world knows that from any company in the world Apple is the biggest innovator and trendsetter they take the most chances and adopt the newest technology, without Apple the technology world would be a whole lot different.



BusinessWeek teamed with the Boston Consulting Group to find out which companies are the most innovative in the eyes of senior executives
For the third year in a row, the design-driven masters in Cupertino, Calif., lead the pack of creative firms on our list of the World's Most Innovative Companies. Apple manages to dominate any would-be contenders, beating out two-time runner-up Google with more than twice as many votes.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/05/0503_innovative_co/index_01.htm?chan=innovation_special+report+--+2007+most+innovative+companies_2007+most+innovative+companies?sr=hotnews.rss

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 9th 2008 2:29AM]

check my post at the end of the thread that for some reason didn't reply inline.

Anyway, how many of your sources do I have to find direct contradictions of before you figure out that actual scholarly research and life experience trumps a random collection of clips from fluff sources like Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week?

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 9th 2008 2:38AM]

so, ez17, so far your exhaustive research of the computer industry has failed to turn up VisiCalc (which is what I meant to say as the first commercial software with a GUI, not Lotus, sorry, I confused them), the DEC Alpha, the MIPS R400 and above (64-bit processors that predate the G5 by many years), anything done by Xerox PARC or Evans and Sutherland, and a number of other well-documented omissions, but you ask if I am willing to admit defeat because Business Week agrees with you? Wow, you are special. I guess you are thinking different.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Jan 9th 2008 2:40AM]

sorry that should be MIPS 4000, not 400. I hate that there is no edit feature.

[ez17 @ Jan 9th 2008 8:17AM]

@LM Loyd go to the last post my comment went there for some reason

[nickfawwaz3 @ Jan 10th 2008 10:38PM]

I heard that Apple invented the letter i and the shape of the apple too

[Ryan @ Jan 8th 2008 4:03PM]

You mean trying to rip the LG Prada? :p

[wes joyce @ Jan 8th 2008 4:04PM]

I really like this phone...it may have ripped off some icons but I like the slideout key board... Takes up less room on the screen like the iphone but its not as cool as the touchscreen keypad. If the browser is full like the iPhones then count me in!! Cause I already have the ipod touch, which I'm typing this on haha

[bob @ Jan 8th 2008 11:23PM]

its not a phone , its a pc, you can run xp on it

[mike @ Jan 8th 2008 4:06PM]

I think lots of this stuff is open for debate. I mean, it's touch. So, there are icons with pictures which you touch. What else is somebody gonna' do?
It's like complaining every car with a steering wheel or tires was ripping off the first one with a steering wheel or tires.
An obvious use or evolution is not "ripping off"...
Having said that, I haven't used an iphone or this thing... so maybe it's deeper.
As for the janky part... I'll take the flexibility of linux in exchange for a little jankyness over the iphone.

- mike

[Jason @ Jan 8th 2008 4:19PM]

Mike, the icons are a complete 'copy' of the look, shape, style, size, etc. of the iPhone icons: http://iphonic.tv/iphone.jpg

[OK @ Jan 8th 2008 4:22PM]

Jason, you mean rounded corners? Wow, what a great invention!

[Jason @ Jan 8th 2008 4:33PM]

@OK, it's more than just the rounded corners, but that's a big part of it. Why not just make them square? Or round, or oval, or have shapes like PC/Mac icons? Or squircle like the Zune's nav wheel thing? No, they're same shape and proportions as the iPhone's icons. Hell, the icons on that thing even have the same bevel effect as the iPhone icons, albeit at a slightly different arc. Put that thing next to an iPhone and anyone that can't tell that Aigo blatantly copied the iPhone's icons is blind. Not to mention the iTunes icon for whatever it is they're using it for on that device.

That's not to say Apple didn't steal the design for the iPhone's icons or interface from someone else (I don't really know)...

[Carl Vitullo @ Jan 8th 2008 6:46PM]

why make them square? make em transparent around the edges and make em what ever the hell shape you want.

and i'm sick of the slew of ipod touch/iphone like guis. enough with it. you're all starting to seem like sheep. i don't think there's been an MID with an original gui yet.

[Hung @ Jan 8th 2008 6:50PM]

Squircle and rounded corners are the same thing.

It's obviously Linux-based. Check how the icons are pictures of items zoomed in. iPhone icons are pictures of things that are zoomed out to show the whole picture. Derrr.

Actually, I'm not sure whether or not I was actually being sarcastic. A little bit of that is actually what I think. Scary, I know.

[Johan S @ Jan 8th 2008 4:07PM]

Ok, my usual complaint about why the damn thing has a thick margin on the sides (instead of being longer if they needed the space for circuit crap).

[OK @ Jan 8th 2008 4:13PM]

Hmm, must be like how the iPhone "ripped" off PalmOS. It seems like history started with the iPhone around these parts.

[vcx @ Jan 8th 2008 4:22PM]

..and PalmOS ripped off the Apple Newton. History goes back a long way kid.

[OK @ Jan 8th 2008 4:25PM]

Yes, vcx, that is why I was being sarcastic and included quotes.

Such an amazing concept, buttons to start an application in a GUI! I wonder why no one though of that before. Oh wait, Windows 3.x had them. Heck even the Apple II had them.

[Silenthillnight @ Jan 8th 2008 4:35PM]

And Henry Ford ripped off the Model T from the Flintstones. But he designed the car to where it moves on its own and doesn't need you to burst those blisters on your feet when you're trying to pass that asshole in the hybrid driving 60 mph in the fast lane.

It's all about progression and innovation. Who cares if someone copies another as long as it makes life easier. My feet sure are grateful!

[mmh @ Jan 8th 2008 4:14PM]

Just think of it like this: painters have been dripping paint for centuries, but after Pollock, people are just going to say that's so Pollock.

[OneLove @ Jan 8th 2008 4:15PM]

where did veronica go?

[sk8rpro @ Jan 8th 2008 4:15PM]

There are gadgets that are more of iPhone imposters than this. Everyone - what about the LG Voyager?

This is more of a hybrid of a sidekick and iPhone. But I couldn't consider this a ripoff.

[ilh @ Jan 8th 2008 4:42PM]

Um, the LG Prada came before the iPhone so I think it's safe to say that they expanded on that for the Voyager.

[joe23521 @ Jan 8th 2008 4:18PM]

The screen looks pretty sharp.
What's the resolution and other specs?

[Steve Paine @ Jan 8th 2008 4:23PM]

This should be in a different class to the iphone in terms of browsing. Far far faster. Mozilla engine and the possibility to run XP (if you so wish.)
I like UMPCs, I like iphones, i'm glad they're coming together.
Chippy.

[Steve Paine @ Jan 8th 2008 4:27PM]

Oh, its also available from Gigabyte too.
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1168

That means EU, US distribution. FIngers crossed for 3.5G and good pricing.

Chippy

[Russ @ Jan 8th 2008 4:28PM]

can't find any sites related to CoolFox. googling for "mozilla CoolFox" brings back this article! how is it different to firefox? who develops it?

[nVening @ Jan 8th 2008 5:06PM]

wth, just cause the icons look like the iphones (remember they're just icons which are present on virtually everything) doesnt make it an iphone rip off! Its not even a phone, the reason the UI dev probably based the design on the iphones icons is because they are very attractive and usable - why should they choose something worse off so they look a bit different??

And don't get me wrong i love the iphones UI :)

[nVening @ Jan 8th 2008 5:10PM]

May add that i wants XD

Is this the intel funded distro, hows mobile ubuntu coming??

[raging_hamsterx @ Jan 8th 2008 5:26PM]

but does it play doom?

[bob @ Jan 8th 2008 11:22PM]

yes , just put xp on it and it,ll play more than just doom.

[decypher44 @ Jan 8th 2008 5:37PM]

Is there an acronym reference guide at Engadget? I can't keep up! What does "MID" stand for?

[decypher44 @ Jan 8th 2008 5:39PM]

Nevermind, I figured it out.

[Jeff Lewis @ Jan 8th 2008 7:16PM]

See, if the original POST is a troll, you don't even make it past the first comment before the entire thread becomes drool-saturated...

Now rather than spend hours debating who did what first and who copied whom... how about something interesting and useful - like a feature and ease of use analysis?

Because *I* don't care who thought of it first - I care about who did it better.