Review: W1060 7-inch MID by WireLession

[Dalkor]

There is no Google Market for A81, but I think, that third-party patch/custom firmware will be released soon after release of full Android 2.1 or even earlier.

[bassman3401]

dalkor...

thanks for the answer...but what does it means third party patch/custom firmware?

[mervsduh]

@bassman - He doesn't know what he's talking about. I have an A81 and I have installed Android 2.1 on it.

At the moment Android 2.1 on A81 does not have Android Market. However, you can configure the Android 2.1 on A81 to run downloaded APKs (no custom patch or whatever - you simply check boxes that allows unsigned programs). There are two sites that you can download an APK from, the SlideMe and the AndroidFreeware org. You basically browse to these pages using the Android default browser then you DOWNLOAD it to your SD card (yes it allows you to do exactly that). After download you will be given an option to install the APK.

Simple as that. This is how I install apps on mine without the market. The only disadvantage is not all of the available apps on the Android Market are available on the sites that I mentioned (there are a lot more out there but the two ones are the more popular ones). By the way - most of the popular apps are available as APKs anyway... so no biggie.

If you need further help listen to someone who actually have an A81. Cheers.

[Dalkor]

@mervsduh

Here http://translate.googleusercontent.c...2krXGIUdp4Ev7Q current Android build called "beta". Shall I explain the difference between full working version and beta version?

"Custom patch or whatever" is usually used to install Google Services and Android Market on devices, that don't have them, the only exception I know are Archos internet tablets, which have market installable via apk installer.

P.S. Please, be more careful claiming somebody doesn't know what he is talking about.

thanks for the answer...but what does it means third party patch/custom firmware?

If for some reasons manufacturer doesn't preinstall Google services or android market and doesn't add them after device hits the market, independent developers can create a patch or modify an official firmware ROM to add needed functions.

[Rabbit62]

Originally Posted by Dalkor

@mervsduh

Here http://translate.googleusercontent.c...2krXGIUdp4Ev7Q current Android build called "beta". Shall I explain the difference between full working version and beta version?

"Custom patch or whatever" is usually used to install Google Services and Android Market on devices, that don't have them, the only exception I know are Archos internet tablets, which have market installable via apk installer.

P.S. Please, be more careful claiming somebody doesn't know what he is talking about.



If for some reasons manufacturer doesn't preinstall Google services or android market and doesn't add them after device hits the market, independent developers can create a patch or modify an official firmware ROM to add needed functions.

Dalkor,
Thanks for this link.

[bassman3401]

mervsduh,

can you post a video of the tablet with android, to see speed of the device(just to be sure before buying it's not slow as various eken, etc...)?or also you ca pm me.
Do you know if it's possible to use a 3g usb key with the tablet?
Last question(sorry for the huge amount)..is it possible to buy a a81 tablet with wince and install after android OS?
thanks

[pphilipp]

Originally Posted by bassman3401

mervsduh,

can you post a video of the tablet with android, to see speed of the device(just to be sure before buying it's not slow as various eken, etc...)?or also you ca pm me.
Do you know if it's possible to use a 3g usb key with the tablet?
Last question(sorry for the huge amount)..is it possible to buy a a81 tablet with wince and install after android OS?
thanks

Mine came with wince, but now it has android. I had a problem and it completely died on me and I couldn't resurrect it with wince, so I located Android 2.1 on a Chinese website... and it works again!

This is Much, much better than eken m001/m003... I know since i had one! It cost me about $5 more than what I sold the eken for but is in a whole different league. The two devices are like night and day.

Very speedy, but big problem... no hardware buttons! Somehow I must find software navigation buttons for the taskbar. The eken has them so I know they exist. This would improve the device 100%. Android 1.6 on Eken included a home button and forward and back arrow taskbar keys which were accessible all the time... just what the W81 needs badly. With the W81, you have to keep clicking the one off/on button to get back to where you want. Also, it's hard to access the menu at times. I know eventually I will locate some navigators which will improve this greatly.

Otherwise its not bad (great compared to eken).

[DMDyne]

@nonanon The firmware you linked is for the C screen and I need the A screen. Wits and Wirelessions web sites have that version as well. Thank you for trying though. lol

I just sent another email to Kathy and Lencho Lee in hopes that one of them can direct me to the 1.8.11 firmware for the A screen. I'll keep everyone posted for those other A screen users.

[imaredr]

Originally Posted by DMDyne

@nonanon The firmware you linked is for the C screen and I need the A screen. Wits and Wirelessions web sites have that version as well. Thank you for trying though. lol

I just sent another email to Kathy and Lencho Lee in hopes that one of them can direct me to the 1.8.11 firmware for the A screen. I'll keep everyone posted for those other A screen users.

I have the A version too. I would love to have Android on mine.

Ellen

[pphilipp]

One week with Android and I'm back with Wince. I finally located 1.8.11 firmware and it is better and apparently more stable than 1.8.9. Better keyboard, suspend works, and better memory management.

I really like Android, but in addition to poor implimentation at the moment, the OS has a bit to go before it reaches ipad's level of ease. I will continue to bounce back and forth to keep up with improvements.

If your W81 has 1.8.9, you should definitely update to 1.8.11. It can be found at Witstech's site.

[mervsduh]

beta or not you still don't know what you're talking about. why don't you buy an a81 then tell people what you think of it after personally using it.

you couldn't even say that you can install android apps on a81 using just the browser without the market. and yes I have installed heaps of apps just by downloading. I just installed a currency converter widget before this site.

right now I'm getting launcher pro. I just installed open home so I have been trying out the best homescreen. two things I love about android - widgets and homescreen. awesome!

man... 'love my a81.

[Spatulator]

Pphilip,

In an earlier post you mentioned that there was a trick or something to getting older apps to work on winCE. What was it?

[pphilipp]

Originally Posted by Spatulator

Pphilip,
In an earlier post you mentioned that there was a trick or something to getting older apps to work on winCE. What was it?

There is a procedure that seems to work about 30 to 40% of the time. On a Windows computer, download an app called "MSCEInf Wince CAbs Analyzer". This allows you to open cab files and view their internal structure. View the cab's .exe file and search for all the .dll helpers it requires to run. If you don't already have those .dll files, go to one of the websites where they can be downloaded (http://www.dll-download.net).

I then create a folder where I pull all the cab's components and add all the .dll files which it searches for. Normally an application will look in the system (windows) folder for dlls, but if they're in the same folder as the app, it has no problem finding them.

This procedure seems to work best for older apps (2000 to 2007) but occasionally also work on the newer 'windows mobile' ones as well. Just remember, it takes a little time to compile the components, and might not work after putting forth the effort. Someone with more knowledge than myself could probably locate and modify the app's code so they could run correctly.

[jonathanreid]

I am looking at getting an A81 and want to run Android on it (have read various forums and understand this is early days). Do the extra hardware buttons on the newer A81 get used by android ?

Edit - did a translation on Witstech website and yes extra buttons are used by Android so I have ordered. Thank you to people who have been contributing to this thread it has been very useful.

[zapikoe]

This is more like a noob question.. Have anyone find how to manually rotate the screen?

On Aldiko, and several Bejeweled like clone it rotates the screen well, but haven't figured out to do so, directly from Android.
I imagine something like Wits have done with WinCE, with it's Rotate Screen app