SmartQ 5 MID gets unboxed

We've already seen the SmartQ 5 MID out in the wild, and even sporting Ubuntu, but those sitting on pins and needles for the inevitable unboxing can now finally rest easy, as Kam Leung has stepped up and done the honors. From the looks of it, however, there's nothing but the bare minimum included with the 4.3-inch MID / PMP although, judging from the pics, SmartQ may have been wise to at least include a dust cloth. Hit up the link below for the full show, and then start figuring out the best way to import one of these if you're sold on it, as there's still no word of an official release 'round here.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 5:11PM]

finnaly!

[Information Central Posted Apr 2nd 2009 4:48AM]

It's time to get over the idiotic "unboxing" crap. How pathetic is human existence when people flock to see shit being removed from a cardboard enclosure?

Highly pathetic.

Go out and DO something with yourself.

[Pingles Posted Apr 1st 2009 5:23PM]

Trying to figure out what the features are. Can't even find a website for them. SmartQ.com is an IQ website...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:04PM]

Ya, same. For example, what OS does it use? Does the browser have flash?

[nzomatrix Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:14PM]

Chinese company so it would be smartdevices.com.cn. Use google translator to make it into english.

[hmmwv Posted Apr 2nd 2009 10:10AM]

I noticed on the product page it has the T3 and T5 series too, look like they are NES capable.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 5:26PM]

http://www.smartdevices.com.cn/

[pohatu771 Posted Apr 1st 2009 5:33PM]

This is the nicest-looking Super Famicom accessory I've ever seen.

[givemelove Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:00PM]

Need!

Do any of you know how to get one soon?

[jitters333 Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:10PM]

Specs?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:25PM]

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.smartdevices.com.cn/&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[Brainy142 Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:26PM]

Spec you want eh?

Here they are
* Samsung S3C6410 mobile processor (667mHz) ARM11
* Wifi enabled
* 128MB DDR Ram
* 1GB of internal NAND Flash - SD slot that will support upto 32GB SDHC card
* USB OTG function for additional peripherals and data storage devices
* Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR module - with teathering to mobile phones allowing the MID to act as a phone
* 800 x 480 resolution screen
* 4.3″ touch panel
* Dimension: 120*74*14mm (1.4cm thick!!!!!!)
* 2000mAh lithium polymer battery.

[jitters333 Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:36PM]

Thanks mucho

On another note... DAMN that girl is hella fine!

[CheesusCrust Posted Apr 1st 2009 7:40PM]

Ty

[Brainy142 Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:28PM]

It's running Ubuntu with lxde window manager

[rento Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:36PM]

I for all welcome Smarty Pants

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 6:39PM]

Interesting to compare with the iPod touch: probably similar processor and RAM, similar flash once you put a card in, both have WiFi and Bluetooth, slightly larger (1cm more in X and Y and about 5mm more in Z), much higher resolution screen...

...but this one runs Linux. So here you can attach any USB peripheral you want without it having to be "certified for iPod ($4 to Apple)". And you can have a filesystem that's shared between applications. And you can run more than one app at once. But, you probably don't get as smooth a user-interface, and you certainly don't get 20,000 fart apps - but do you get the apps that you want? Presumably it could be persuaded to run Android, if a decent selection of apps ever emerges for that platform.

One unanswered question from the specs that Brainy142 posted (thanks!): what sort of touch-screen is it?

Going the other way, another interesting comparison would be with the AlwaysInnovating thing. There's going to be lots of interesting stuff in this space soon - I hope.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 7:07PM]

I see a stylus so probably resistive.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 7:29PM]

The comments everywhere show that the speed of SQ5 is a little slow.
They may update the firmware on final release.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 7:46PM]

SmartQ 5 is really short supplied now. About 20 people queued up for 1 at the moment. I was lucky to be able to get one.
http://kamleung.com/goodies/q5/

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 7:49PM]

I am not familiar with the OS but I will play around with it and make some comment later. 1st impression though - it's not something you can compare with the ipod. They are just not in the same grade.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 8:34PM]

bleh.
i don't really trust the brand.
especially when it comes from china.
or it seems to have.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2009 9:27PM]

guaranteed to fail here in usa if priced over $229.mark my words.,.,this will only boost ipod touch/iphone sales. People will see this overpriced device n say what brand is more trustworthy appl or smartq.,?they will also say,well $99 for iphone ,it is a widescreen video ipod that i always been wanting. others will say well touch $229,plus best safari browser ever,more portable,n such a sought after device.,sold.theyll say F the smartq ,im buying american to boost USA economy. Thats my theory,sound right.,???

[TapTap Posted Apr 2nd 2009 1:12AM]

The price is on SmartQ's homepage : 899 yuans ($132) in China.

[r351574nc3 Posted Apr 2nd 2009 2:44AM]

How do you buy one? I went to the site linked, and I can't find an import option. Any ideas? Do I have to call someone?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 5:48AM]

see more pictures and introduction go to www.jiongtang.com/blog
and other MID products

Audio Support: MP3、OGG、WMA、FLAC、APE 、AAC、WAV(PCM，ADPCM)
Video: H.264、AVI(XVID/DivX3.11)、RM/RMVB、FLV、WMV、ASF、3GP、MPEG、DAT、MP4
Maximum output power: 40mW
Frequency response range: 20Hz-20kHz
SNR: 94dB　
Read: fb2、HTML、CHM、plucker、Palmdoc、zTxt、TCR、RTF、OEB、OpenReader、Non-DRM’ed mobipocket、Plain text and so on，screen switch
Picture : JPEG、GIF、PNG、BMP
Operation Touch Lens
Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
lyrics display lyrics synchronized
Feature: high-performance Samsung ARM11 processor 667Mhz；pen Linux operating system pre-installed;
Support QQ, MSN, Fetion; support BT download; support for full-featured browser, mail, etc.;
Built-in 802.11b / g WiFi card; built-in stereo speakers;
USB EDGE high-speed connection to the network card on the Internet; to connect USB mass storage hard drive, USB mouse and so on.
Memory: Built-in 1GB flash memory, 256MB user available to some
Support for external SD cards, the maximum capacity of 32GB
Battery: built-in lithium polymer battery 2000mAH battery
screen size : 4.3 inches
Resolution WVGA (800x480 pixels)
Screen panel: Touch Lens
color: black
Dimensions: 120mm (length) x74mm (W) x14mm (thick)
Weight : 160g
Accessory : adapter, earphone, USB data cable, touch pen, quick start guide, warranty card, certificate
operating system : Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Linux

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 5:53AM]

mp6, can you give us any more impressions? I have a guy on taobao that can get me one in a couple days. i want to know if it is worthwhile. Is 128MB of ram enough to run the OS reasonably well? Have you plugged anything into the USB and gotten it to work (I read that it could run an EDGE modem)?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 1:59PM]

Played around with SmartQ 5 for a day. It's a bit slow. I am not sure if it's the small 128M or bad tuning of software.
- slow reaction, sometimes a few seconds between tapping and firing of application
- connected to Wi Fi ok
- super nice screen and resolution
- Added SD card, plugged into my notebook and detected as mass storage
- about EDGE modem, I haven't tried but heard that the only available driver only works for the China Mobile USB modem. Don't expect you can plug in any modem and get it to work!
- haven't gotten a keyboard or mouse to work with Q5
- battery life about 3-4 hours
- Chinese ONLY
- 220-240V input ONLY
- played AVI, vedio quality ok
- MP3 ok, player too small, hard to tap buttons on screen
- nice JPG viewing, but again, player too primitive

Now sure if other players and software can be installed on the OS. Any input from you folks?

More later ...

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 2:00PM]

BTW, "Kam" is "MP6" :)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 9:14AM]

Size comparison with iPod Touch and Centro:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3407029140_6c81cc6b6a_o.jpg

[asktomcat Posted Apr 2nd 2009 10:25AM]

got one on the way, should be here on the 11th of the month, cant wait cant wait!!!!!

[r351574nc3 Posted Apr 5th 2009 6:50PM]

How much USD, was it? Who did you import through? I've checked the sites mentioned here, and I can't figure out how to import it.

[asktomcat Posted Apr 5th 2009 8:05PM]

To r351574nc3

it was about 140 USD, just happen had a friend visiting China and i have him pick one up for me. i have also contacted the corporate office but the people there wasn't too friendly.

[asktomcat Posted Apr 2nd 2009 10:29AM]

Mp6 i heard the Device is in CHINESE only is that true????

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2009 2:06PM]

Correct. Chinese ONLY.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 9th 2009 1:22PM]

Mmm... has anyone else noticed FCC certification on the back? Potential US release?

[Chmro Posted Jun 17th 2009 6:55AM]

just got mine shipped!
http://www.allpmp.com/goods-585-SmartQ+5+MID+Official+English+Version.html

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 21st 2009 5:09PM]

did you recieve yours? i just got mine and it will not power on. I noticed it takes 220V but I was told it works with 110V as well. I'm in the United States where power is set to 110V. Did you have the same problem?