Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Ever since its release on cell phones, Android has been rumored to show up on other machines and has been hacked many times to do so.  Of the major products that come to market all have been cell phones.  We have yet to see the mythical Android netbook reach market, nor the Android-based media player.  It looks like we’re about to see the next real device that will ship with Android.

That new device is a MID.  Shenzen-based Eston Technology recently sent one of their latest MIDs to the Chinese gadget site Shanzhaiben.  MIDs are usually not a huge deal, then again MIDs also tend to ship with Windows CE, making them incredibly boring.  One particular new MID from Eston Technology was preloaded with Google’s Android, which should prove to be an interesting new market for the OS.  Shanzhaiben tested the web browsing and “general user experience” of the device, finding it more than acceptable and much better than Windows CE.

While MIDs seem to be a very niche market, putting Android on such a device could make it a hacker’s dream device.  Hacking Android and putting in custom versions of the OS is fairly popular.  However, since all Android devices we have at the moment are phones, there’s always the risk of bricking your phone and having to pay up for a new one.  Granted, MIDs are still expensive hardware, replacing a MID if bricked wouldn’t be the same as replacing a phone.

Even without the hacking, this is an interesting idea.  Android is more than capable as an OS and adding a physical keyboard to a 4.3” screen will surely help that.  With a battery life of about 4 hours this Android MID would be nice to see stateside, or any Android MID for that matter.

Read [Shenzai]