Intel sees MIDs as intermediary of the future

The company had MID protypes on display at Computex yesterday and announced a short list of Moorestown platform partners, including two Taiwanese firms.
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Intel Corp said yesterday it remained bullish on mobile Internet devices (MID) and viewed them as a cross category between smartphones and netbooks, but with higher performance and software compatibility.

“Going into the near future, we shall see MIDs with voice capabilities, long battery life, mobile augmented reality as seen in Tom Cruise’s movie Minority Report, high-definition video, high-quality camera and constant Internet connectivity, all in a smaller package,” said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel’s ultra mobility group senior vice president and general manager, in a speech at the Computex trade show yesterday.

Demonstrating a couple of MID prototypes, Chandrasekher said future MIDs would be able to connect seamlessly all hardware peripherals and computer devices at home.

Last year, Intel introduced the Atom chip-based MID platform, codenamed Menlow, the first ground up, low power central processing unit (CPU), targeting at ultra mobile personal computers (UMPCs), MIDs and netbooks.

Intel said last October it would launch a more advanced Moorestown platform for MIDs next year.

“Moorestown, which is set to be released sometime in 2010, is on track to achieve up to 50 times idle power reduction, translating to allday computing, while reducing the board size by half, compared to its predecessor Menlow,” Chandrasekher said.

“Moorestown will be accompanied by a newer Moblin software version — the Moblin v2.0 — that is based on the Linux operating system. This software is designed specifically to deliver a greater PC-like Internet experience, while also supporting cellular voice capabilities,” he said.

Future Moorestown-based MIDs will provide dual environments such as Windows and Moblin, or even Android, he said.

The third generation of MID CPU, codenamed Medfield, is targeted at mainstream smartphones with more power reduction and is scheduled to reach to manufacturers sometime in 2011, he said.

Intel announced a short list of MID hardware and software partners working on the Moorestown platform yesterday, including Taiwan’s Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) and Inventec Appliances Corp (英華達), as well as Nordic smartphone developer Aava Mobile, UK-based storage and multimedia distributor CCI Distribution Ltd and Finland’s Elektrobit Corp, which develops embedded technology solutions for automotive and wireless industries.

Separately, Intel and Ericsson AB will cooperate in using mobile-phone technology for netbooks, helping the chipmakers benefit from the fastest-growing segment of the computer business.

Ericsson will offer a mobile-phone module that will work with Intel’s Atom chips for netbooks, Jan Backman, director of marketing for Ericsson’s mobile broadband business, said yesterday in Taipei.

“We’re recommending Intel and vice versa,” he said.

The two chipmakers will jointly design netbook technology and market their products to computer manufacturers, he said.

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BY Elizabeth Tchii - STAFF REPORTER, WITH BLOOMBERG
Source：The Taipei Times

Shardae Chiu (邱雅欣), a Taipei-based spokeswoman for Intel, confirmed the cooperation.

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