Aigo P8860 MID now readily available, Microsoft angles in on Intel's turf

Those really sold on Aigo's P8860 MID (also sold as the Gigabyte M528) have already been able to get their hands on one if they were willing to pay a premium and go the eBay route, but it looks like Aigo has only now finally snagged its first official reseller in the form of Direct From Japan, which means the rest of us can now readily get one for $699 (with free worldwide shipping, no less). Perhaps even more interesting that, however, is word that Aigo has also signed a deal to make official Windows XP drivers for the device available in late October, which is more than a little reminiscent of Microsoft's moves to snag a piece of the similarly Linux-friendly netbook market, though only time will tell if this relationship proves as successful.

[Via Pocketables]

[Flashpoint @ Sep 29th 2008 9:11PM]

Microsoft's Achilles heel is that they never built their own cellphone. They should.

One of the reasons Apple is so successful is that their software is tied closely to their hardware and things perform or are troubleshot very easily because their devices are standardized. Running Windows Operating Systems over different cellular environments doesn't work as good for Microsoft and it doesn't work well for companies trying to build a device that fully supports and complements it.

Microsoft built their XBOX and XBOX360 and tied their software and firmware updates to it...we see how well that went. 360 is CLEARLY the winner of the 7th generation video game wars.

They built their ZUNE, and although they didn't do enough to prevent Apple from turning around and releasing the ipod touch/iphone.

A ZUNE PHONE should be released and it should be tailor cut to fit its operating system.

Microsoft is a stronger brand worldwide than Apple. They need to have faith in their ingenuity.

[John @ Sep 29th 2008 9:39PM]

if they did that, they'd be pissing off the companies who license WinMo. Microsoft never had any stake in consoles one way or another before they built the Xbox, and a insignificant stake with regards to music before launching the Zune. Potential gains from selling its own phones are far too small to justify the potential losses.

[Flashpoint @ Sep 29th 2008 10:04PM]

There is always "potential loss".

Xbox and XBOX360 are an incredible success but no one knew the RROD would cost them a large chunk of money.

No one knew Windows Operating Systems would cost large sums of money do to security flaws and need for revision.

That's why companies use RISK ASSESSMENT.


And as for building their own phone, even though they'd take some market share from other phones, keep in mind, those other phones STILL need a good, recognizeable OS and they can continue to license Windows since most of them aren't big enough to take the risk licensing anything else.

[iofthestorm @ Sep 29th 2008 11:12PM]

@John: Not completely true about the consoles, Microsoft worked with Sega on the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast actually ran DirectX 6 and I believe some stripped down version of Windows CE.

[Levi @ Sep 29th 2008 10:23PM]

This thing boots WinXP faster than my PC. If only they would just cram a GSM radio in there :/ I can't justify buying anything other than a laptop in this category unless it's a phone too.

[...sof @ Sep 29th 2008 11:02PM]

I almost agree.... For those travelers, the always-on-the-go folks.. this is a great companion IMO... Addition of high speed voice/data radio would only seal the deal. I'm already waiting on mine.

[linuxamp @ Sep 30th 2008 12:32AM]

Drivers are great but what about hardware customized apps? For instance, will I have to use MS scanner/camera wizard to take pictures? That's kinda sad.

[Jash Sayani @ Sep 30th 2008 2:37AM]

Its just awesome ! But the awesome $700 price tag stops me from buying it !!!

[htd @ Sep 30th 2008 9:14AM]

RRoD of xbox360? they cant control their hardware or software that well. look what a mess their accessory business and vista become.