Aigo N500 MID-Smartphone Revealed [4.3-inch Touchscreen Device Features 3G, Maemo]

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Pictures and details surfaced on Chinese company’s Aigo new N500 device. The device, which is being called a MID (but is basically a phone – more on this later), features a 4.3-inch touchscreen and is running Android’s nemesis, Nokia’s Naemo, the open-source mobile OS optimized for smartphones and tablets.

The N500 is powered by a Marvell ARM PXA310 processor clocked at 806MHz. It’ll have 128MB of DDR RAM, with 256MB of hard flash storage. No word on if the device will include an SD slot – 256MB is rather small. The device will feature connectivity via WiFi, Bluetooth, EVDO and 3G. That’s right, it has GSM radios and can even make phone calls.

Why is Aigo marketing this as a MID – not a phone? According to blog pocketables.net, it’s because of the size of the N500, which is considerably bigger than a smartphone. You’ve got to assume that they’d rather it be known as a MID that can make calls over a giant smartphone.

As stated earlier, they’ve included Maemo, Nokia’s open-source phone OS that’s based on Debian Linux. It’s a bit odd that a phone with a very Nokia-like name (N500) is being released with a Nokia operating system (as opposed to Android, which is the more popular choice). Perhaps Aigo was going to OEM produce them for Nokia and a deal fell through – although this is all speculation on my part.

At any rate, the device will be sold in China for the steep price of ¥4,000 ($586), and its now shipping.