WITS A81 tablet rebranded and distributed by Wirelession as the W1060
Since publishing the previous update on the WITS A81 tablet MID last month, there has been a lot of interesting discussion on the device from the Pocketables community with particular emphasis on the hardware specifications and the choice of operating system. Thanks to a tip from one of our readers, we have now learned that a company called Wirelession is a distributor of the A81 and has rebranded it with its own model number and logo. The product is sold on the company's website as the Wirelession W1060 MID for $220.
The W1060 is still manufactured by WITS and as such the hardware and software specifications are identical to the A81, but it has been confirmed by the team over at Carrypad.com that the device comes with a 100% full English installation of Windows Embedded CE 6.0. Some other new details are confirmation of the amount of RAM as 256MB; however, 128MB is set aside for use by the operating system, with the remaining 128MB accessible to the user. There is no mention of the exact size of the local storage but we believe it's also 256MB as stated previously, expandable using the microSD slot up to an additional 16GB. The processor is also now listed to be the ARM Cortex A8-based OMAP3530 at 600MHz. Wireless connectivity includes b/g/n WiFi as well as Bluetooth, with built-in GPS being an optional extra for an additional $20. Lastly WITS has confirmed that Android will be available for the A81/W1060 by the end of this month, which should provide a nice alternative for users who don't want to use WinCE.
This is a device that I believe has potential with its powerful processor, good design, portable size, and tempting price. I have had some reservations about the WinCE OS, but reports are that it works well and you can download a custom UI by ColdSun Creations for a cleaner, more modern interface (shown in the image above). One acknowledged problem with WinCE is the slow IE web browser, although some have pointed out that installing the Skyfire browser instead provides a superior alternative. I'm looking forward to the release of the Android installer for the A81/W1060 and seeing what kind of experience we can expect. Let us know your thoughts on the latest updates and whether you would be happy with WinCE or would require Android before considering a purchase.
