electronrun.com

Intel MID devices in CES 2008 were only mockups to give us an idea of size. In three months, Intel has progressed dramatically. The device segment between mobile phones/smartphones and laptops is the next cash heaven for device and chip manufacturers and Intel wants to be strong in this market as soon as possible. Atom processors and the MID concept are the names around which Intel wants to build a strong presence.

Today Intel announced some Atom spec for the first time. It is the smallest CPU in the company’s history with a power consumption a scale of magnitude lower than the 35W typical of today’s best laptop processors. Of course that fact does not guarantee anything, as for the time being Atom handles data but no voice. And since consumers want voice and data in one small mobile package, it is probably a matter of time before this is offered as well. For this reason, analysts estimate that Atom chips will be in a truly competitive position by 2009 or 2010.

The ground of MID devices claimed by Intel is not of course paved smoothly. Established players from the mobile phone business are already there figuring out their next moves. ARM and Qualcomm are already designing and supplying chips for mobile devices, integrating voice and data. Mobile telephone manufacturers are already offering web functionality, from Apple and its iPhone to Samsung’s Instinct that lets its user surf the web for under $300! Is mobile web browsing going to be swallowed by smartphones?

On the upper end of the category, bigger and heavier laptops are not better any more, 13 or 12 inches are now seen as more logical than 15 or 17 inch desktop replacements. Asus’ light and small Eee PC surprise success has proven that light laptops are possible and Linux has a lot to prove. Not so surprisingly, Intel intends to also use Linux for its MID devices, a move already tried with success by Nokia’s N810 that these days receives the WiMax treatment.

All this activity makes the cheap availability of data capable devices in the near future a big certainty. As I have already discussed in the past here, no matter how many devices are developed and no matter how cheap they are, wireless data plans are still in many countries far too expensive. Surely Wi-Fi is a solution, but to have true access anywhere at any time, the service part of the mobile web needs to be sorted out soon. Although a few months back I was pessimistic, all the developments right now convince me that the demand for new affordable plans is so huge that we will start seeing attractive offers by the end of this year or in 2009 at the latest.

Link 1: ElectronRun – Wireless Internet and the rocky road ahead

Link 2: Reghardware

Link 3: New York Times

Link 4: Reuters