Shenzhen State Micro Technology (SMiT) has announced a MID (mobile internet device) that's claimed to run Android 1.5. The MID-560 has a five-inch touchscreen display with 800 x 480 resolution, a 667MHz Samsung S3C6410 processor, GPS, WiFi, and up to 8GB of flash storage, the company says.

SMiT's MID-560 has excited some interest in the blogosphere this week because of the device's supposed resemblance to an "iPad" device, rumored to be on the way from Apple. In fact, the MID-560 certainly resembles other existing devices: for example, SmartDevices' SmartQ 5 MID, introduced in May with a similar screen size and the very same Samsung S36410 SoC on board.

Where the Smart Q 5 was said to run Ubuntu, however, the MID-560 runs Android 1.5, according to SMiT. So far, though, the device has been pictured only in the rendering shown below, which oddly, not only features a supposed Jan. 12 date, but also analog and digital clocks which do not agree with one another.

The SMiT MID-560

SMiT says the MID-560 includes the typical Android Linux/Java software stack, including a WebKit based browser and a Gmail client, stored on 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of available flash storage. There's also a microSD expansion slot, the company adds.

The MID-560 has a five-inch touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution, a USB 2.0 port, and 802.11b/g wireless networking, says SMiT. The MID also includes GPS and a TV tuner that employs the China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB) standard, the company adds.

The Samsung S3C6410 SoC that powers the MID-560 was announced in February 2008. The S3C6410 is equipped with an ARM1176 core along with what Samsung refers to as "advanced hardware blocks for multimedia processing." A hardwired Multi-Format Codec (MFC) unit allows the S3C6410 to perform video capturing in MPEG4/H.263/H.264 formats, and play back video in MPEG4/H.263/H.264/VC1 formats, while still delivering long battery life, Samsung says.

Features and specifications listed by SMiT for the MID-560 include the following:

• Samsung S3C6410 clocked at either 533MHz or 667MHz
• Memory — RAM n/s; 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of flash storage
• Display — 5-inch touchscreen with 800 x 480 pixel resolution
• Wireless:
  • WLAN — 802.11b/g
  • GPS
  • CMMB television receiver
• Other I/O — USB 2.0 port
• Battery type/life — n/s
• Dimensions — n/s
• Weight — n/s

Further information

SMiT did not release pricing or availability for the MID-560. More information may be found on the company's website, here.

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.