Would you dig a touchscreen mobile internet device running a full Ubuntu desktop that was light, small and totally portable? What if i said you could get one for just £90 / $130 / €97?
Meet the SmartQ 5.
Thanks to Ubuntu’s recent port to ARM, it means devices such as these can happily run a full desktop with all your favourite applications.
The SmartQ 5 itself packs an 667MHz ARM11 processor processor, a 4.3 inch touchscreen (800×480), SD expansion slot (up to 32GB), wifi, Bluetooth 2.0, 256 RAM and 1GB flash SSD, a 2,000mAh battery and weigh just 160g.
Compared to the Nokia N810 – a touchscreen mobile internet device running a custom Debian distro/framework called ‘Maemo’ – which comes with a price tag of around £220 – £400 / $320 – $580, the SmartQ 5 seems like a great deal!
Bear in mind these devices aren’t intended to be productivity devices; you’re not supposed to do spreadsheet or word processing on them. They do make great portable web browsers, IM devices and are great for e-Mail