Aigo officially launches E500 tablet and also exhibits Aigo 7007 MID
We first heard rumors that Aigo had two tablets in the works, the E500 and E700, at the end of last month. The company subsequently revealed the stunning Tegra 2-powered N700 Android tablet, catching us slightly by surprise and leaving us to wonder about its previously rumored siblings.
Luckily it looks like that initial rumor has now partially panned out with Aigo officially announcing the E500 tablet to join its assault on the tablet market. Sporting a 5-inch WVGA resistive touch screen, the E500 runs Android 1.5 and is powered by an unspecified 600MHz ARM-based processor with a 550MHz DSP. The tablet has 128MB of RAM, the option of 8 or 16GB of local storage, b/g WiFi, a microSD slot, HD (720p) video playback capabilities, and support for a wide range of audio/video/image formats. With a 3200mAh battery, the E500 should be able to provide 10 hours of audio playback, 6 hours of video, or 6 hours of web browsing. As for dimensions, the tablet measures a slender 5.9 x 3.6 x 0.5 inches (WxHxD) and tips the scales at 8 ounces. The device is set to become available on May 15th in China for around US$205.
But the E500 is not the only tablet unveiled, with Aigo also demonstrating the 7007 MID (shown below), a 7-inch tablet that also runs Android but features a different design and includes 3G connectivity. Powered by the increasingly popular Rockchip RK2808, the device seems to be more of a value-oriented offering in comparison to the company's other more powerful tablets, with a white plastic body, webcam, trackball, hardware buttons, WiFi, and GPS. The 7007 designation has not been finalized and may change.
Overall it looks like Aigo is making an all-out attack on the tablet market and covering all the bases in terms of covering the high-end and low-end. The N700 is definitely the stand-out flagship product, but as a mid-range product the E500 looks promising with a very nice design and decent specifications for a good price too.
The main issue is the use of an older version of Android, but hopefully there will be an opportunity to upgrade later. The Aigo 7007 reminds me a bit of the Archos 7 Home Tablet with similar hardware and a few additions, such as 3G and the trackball. Although I prefer the design of the Archos 7, the Aigo 7007 may be worth considering and will likely be cheaper as well. What do you think of Aigo's tablet range?
[Yesky via ChiniTech | Engadget China via ChiniTech]
