Aigo -- Engadget

Video: Aigo's MID gets Windows XP, relabeled a UMPC

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 12th 2009 at 5:31PM

Aigo's MID has been around the block for what feels like ages now, but it's getting an all new purpose in life thanks to one of Redmond's operating systems. If you'll recall, a MID typically runs a "lightweight" OS and is designed to be more of a sophisticated PMP; on the other hand, a UMPC is built for a real-deal OS, something that business users may appreciate. Semantics aside, what we have posted up after the jump is a ten minute video showing off just how well this machine handles Windows XP, and by our estimations, it looks pretty darn good.

[Thanks, Benz145]

Continue reading Video: Aigo's MID gets Windows XP, relabeled a UMPC

Aigo's "Jigsaw of Love" MP3 player completes you

by Thomas Ricker, posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 5:06AM

No specs here to speak of. Only pics of this oddly shaped player from Aigo called the "Jigsaw of Love." Presumably then, you can mate the DAP with your partner's piece and then "leak" the sordid video onto the Internet in hopes of fake-fighting a revival to your fading career. But that's just a guess.

[Via PMP Today]

Gigabyte's M528 MID gets unboxed, photographed lots

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 24th 2008 at 5:18PM

We've already had the pleasure of checking out the Aigo Patriot in its natural habitat, and now we're finally being treated to the same with its Gigabyte-branded counterpart. The Atom-based MID has been unboxed all official-like over at UMPC Fever, and the photographer didn't even shy away from snapping a few with the lid off. Have a look yourself in the read link below, but don't get too attached -- so far as we can tell, it'll cost you a pretty penny to get it imported from a foreign land.

[Via SlashGear]

Aigo's P8860 MID reviewed: sweet, but potentially irrelevant

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 30th 2008 at 7:57AM

We already knew Aigo's P8860 MID was hacker-friendly, and all that is well, fine and good -- but what about for consumers who aren't into soldering irons and illicit boot ROMs? The crew over at Pocketables sat down with the handheld for a spell in order to bust out their best review, and at the end of the day, they found it to be somewhat compelling and a touch irrelevant all at the same time. You see, hardcore nerds (read: us) will likely be able to appreciate the fact that an x86-based system, with all the amenities of Flash support, etc., was squeezed into such a small device; the average joe / jane, however, probably won't take the time to recognize the advantages over their current smartphone. In other words, this here is an splendid example of a niche product, and you should probably consider how necessary it is in your life before pulling the trigger -- but you already knew that, now didn't you?

How-to video shows 3G implant into Aigo P8860 MID

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 25th 2008 at 11:26PM

Aigo's P8860 MID was already a potent, handsome piece of machinery in its factory form, but adding in 3G is like adding melted chocolate to a glazed hot doughnut from Krispy Kreme -- it's just better, even though it's tough to accomplish and potentially harmful to your health. Far-reaching metaphors aside, our pals over at jkkmobile have put together an all-telling 18 minute video that explains how to add 3G HSDPA to this here MID. For seasoned DIYers, the process of opening it up, soldering a mini PCI-e connector / SIM card slot and tossing in a 3G card / antenna won't seem that difficult. For everyone else, we'd recommend watching thrice to make sure your confidence level is at the appropriate position before delving in. Vid's after the break, per usual.

Continue reading How-to video shows 3G implant into Aigo P8860 MID

Aigo "revs up" Formula One-themed PMP with 720p output

by Samuel Axon, posted Oct 24th 2008 at 5:26PM

Unlike certain other Chinese devices, the Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP5 personal media player is actually a working, fully-featured PMP with support for FM radio, eBooks, and an adequate variety of audio and video formats -- it even outputs 720p content, though its own display is limited to 480 x 272. While Aigo's sponsorship of the McLaren Mercedes Formula One car is this thing's excuse for existence, it's technically also under the company's Patriot name (it's called the Patriot MP5-MK3510) but we're guessing the F1 theme will be more attractive to the Y chromosome than Winnie the Pooh.

[Via PMP Today]

Aigo's stretchy USB speaker borrows sock technology to boom the bass

by Thomas Ricker, posted Oct 24th 2008 at 3:45AM

Mmm, elastic, is there anything you can't do? First it turned that quitter of a sock into a winner, now it promises to assist in producing "the deepest music" from an open Aigo E086 portable speaker. The 1.7 watt USB speaker features a single 36mm driver, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a 3-hour charge for up to 4 hours of usage. And hey, Cingular was done with that logo anyway. Yours in Japan for ¥2,580 or about 27 greenbacks.

[Via Impress]

Intel-based MID to make a splash on France's SFR

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Oct 23rd 2008 at 12:09PM

It looks like France's SFR will be getting some tweaked variant of Aigo's familiar P8860 Intel-based MID... with 3G on-board. The device features an 800 x 480 touchscreen display, an 800MHz Atom CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash memory, Bluetooth, WiFi, a VGA webcam, 3 megapixel camera, and a full slide-out AZERTY keyboard (as well as some odd, circular navigation wheel). Obviously the big bonus here is the 3G connectivity, which sounds like it will be offered at €19.90 (about $26) or €24.90 ($32) per month, depending on plan. By appearances, those plans include unlimited data -- though the machine translated article seems to suggest there could be some capping. The Linux-powered device will sell for €249 / $310 (€349 with a €100 rebate) -- no word on release date.

Aigo P8860 MID cracked open, modding possible

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Oct 7th 2008 at 8:02AM

The cats at UMPC Fever have taken the liberty of cracking open Aigo's P8860 MID and splaying its contents out for the world to see. Apparently, the crew was looking for modding possibilities, and discovered that while the RAM and SSD are soldered to the mainboard, there's ample room for an HSDPA or flash drive upgrade (they suggest 16GB or 32GB is doable, and who are we to argue). A picture says a thousand words, or so we're told, so hit the read link and take a look at all the nasty innards.

[Via iTech News Net]

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

by Donald Melanson, posted Sep 29th 2008 at 8:57PM

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]

Compal's MID slider with global HSPA/EDGE data -- first UMPC it, now you don't

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 5:20AM

Compal's been a vocal supporter of Intel's MID followup to the tragic UMPC platform ever since It was announced in April of last year. Hell, the Taiwanese ODM even dedicated a team to crank out all the devices expected in the first half of 2008 but never came thanks in part, to Intel's Atom slippage. Now Compal looks ready to toss a MID to consumers (either direct or through a third-party manufacturer, it's not clear) with the unveiling of this handheld at Intel's IDF in San Francisco. The QWERTY slider packs GPS, a Linux-based OS with media player, browser, eMail and IM clients, and Option's GlobeTrotter Connect and GTM501 HSPA data kit offering tri-band HSUPA/HSDPA and quad-band GPRS/EDGE connectivity the world-over. No pricing or availability has been announced but we hope to hear more later today.

Update: Ah ha, it's the same reference design used by Aigo's Patriot, aka, M528.

Gallery: Compal's MID slider with global HSPA/EDGE data -- first UMPC it, now you don't

[Thanks, Stuart L. and LosOutlandos]

Aigo P8860 MID surfaces in Windows XP colors

by Paul Miller, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 1:43PM

We've seen Aigo's flagship MID from just about any angle you could imagine, but now that the P8860 has started to ship, we're starting to see it freed from its Linux trappings and dressed up in a little bit of Windows XP. Video of just such harmony (or atrocity, if that's the way you see it) is after the break.

Continue reading Aigo P8860 MID surfaces in Windows XP colors

Video: Aigo's Patriot MID released, demonstrated inside elevator

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 3:22AM

Right on schedule, Aigo's 800MHz Atom Z500-powered P8860 MID (aka, the Gigabyte M528 for the US and Europe) is hitting the mean, retail streets of Hong Kong today. With it, we've got a bit of video showing off the new pen+finger-based MIDLinux (aka, Midinux) GUI which looks far better than it did when we went hands-on with the Gigabyte back in March. All in all, this 4.8-inch MID with Bluetooth, WiFi, sliding QWERTY, 4GB SSD, microSD expansion, and GPS and HSDPA data options is looking quite righteous for that $700-ish price tag and early reports coming out of UMPC Fever. Now bust out the xylophone and get ready to play along with the video posted after the break.

[Via Pocketables]

Continue reading Video: Aigo's Patriot MID released, demonstrated inside elevator

Aigo's Atom-packin' MID gets unboxed

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 4th 2008 at 5:58AM

Aigo's MID (more formally known as the MID P8860) just arrived in the anxious hands of UMPC Fever, and of course, it uploaded a number of photographs so we could all share in the joyous unboxing experience. Granted, you've already seen so many in the wild shots that you aren't apt to be surprised, but we're rather impressed with just how nicely everything was arranged inside of the subtle black box. We'd totally have to debadge it (is the Atom sticker really necessary... really?), but other than that it's not a half bad item to have residing in your rear pocket. More shots in the read link.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Jenn]

Aigo's Atom-based MID gets a price, release date

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 3:26PM

Aigo hasn't been keeping many secrets about its Atom-based MID, but it has been slightly less than forthcoming with any official word of a price or release date. The company now looks to have finally gotten its act together, however, with it announcing that the handheld, now officially dubbed the MID P8860, will be going on sale in Hong Kong on August 8th for $5,228 HKD (or about $670 -- a full $100 less than the last price we heard). That'll get you an 800MHz Atom Z500 processor, along with 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and, perhaps most notably, GPS. We even hear you can run XP on it.

[Thanks, Joe]