This week is the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China. As per usual, Intel likes to make announcements at IDF. We've been hearing about the Intel Atom processor (code named Silverthorne) for a couple of months now and it appears that we're finally getting the real details on the processor and the chipset package. Today Intel announced 5 Atom processor and 3 controller hubs to work with those processors.

The press announcement included the usual rhetoric  about "best Internet experience in your pocket" and then got to the details. The Atom processor will ship by itself under the Atom brand name as well as part of the Centrino Atom brand name. The Intel Centrino Atom includes the Atom processor plus a single-chip with integrated graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub (formerly codenamed Menlow).

An Intel  promotional video of Lenovo’s IdeaPad U8 MID is making the rounds. Running Intel’s Atom, info on this Linux based MID is still a bit sketchy but this caught my eye. According to the video, it has “the ability to function as a tablet and a notebook provides flexibility to take handwritten notes directly on the screen.” Engadget’s report says “handwriting recogntion.” The IdeaPad U8 is headed to China so we’ll have to wait and see.

The CeBit Boys, jkkmobile and Steve “Chippy” Paine give us another interesting video, this time of the GigaByte M528 MID.

In his post, Chippy talks a bit about the Moblin software platform and the focus that seems to be going on behind the scenes for these devices, which I find interesting.

Something is happening behind Intel's Atom branding that's more than just silicon development. There's a software infrastructure building that is big, financially supported and not far removed from the way Apple are doing things with the iPhone. The control is there. The guidelines are there. The restricted hardware set is there. The ISV process seems to be both accessible and well controlled and with 150 people working on the Moblin core and distribution through partners like Canonical and Asianux who are also working on optimisations and UI, you know there's some big numbers involved.

While I’m in the camp that says news from CeBit was mostly lackluster, GigaByte looks like they were one of the few companies to score some points with their upcoming products. Now if they can ever get to market, we’ll see just how much so.

GBM reader Alex has posted on his blog that the Willcom MID that was spotted at CES will indeed be based on the Intel Atom. Willcom, a Japanese cell phone carrier, is teaming with Sharp to develop and release this new MID based on the Intel Atom and running Windows Vista. Since the prototype was basically shaped like a large candy bar style cell phone, I'm not sure how well a Vista interface will work on that tiny screen. Should be interesting to see.

However, don't expect to see the Willcom device outside of Japan. It's supposed to be based on (yet another) proprietary Japanese wireless technology - the next-gen PHS network. While the technology share some features with WiMAX, I can't understand why Japan would once again move away from world standards to create their own network type. I used to get so frustrated because my cell phone wouldn't work in Japan. With UMTS, I finally have complete cell phone coverage worldwide. Hopefully that will last.

Willcom's press release is in Japanese. Here's the auto-translated version.

Read more on Pocketables, Akihabara News, and Alex's Japan's Cellphone Edge

Engadget has some information (even a video posted below) on a MID placing a rock-solid VOIP call.  And amazingly enough - they crashed the OS while on the call...  I am still waiting for these things to be released.  I really want to see if they fit in my lifestyle, or if it would be something like the N800 that I only use when I am doing some surfing... 

It's makes one think (like was said in the post) - when will we say good bye to cell phones and carriers and move to a VOIP only type of communication - I think that's one for Warner to expand on...  Check out the video to see the rest

CeBit 2008 is just around the corner and information is starting to come out about UMPCs and MIDs ahead of the show. Both jkkmobile and UMPCPortal’s Steve “Chippy” Paine look they are heading to CeBit so I’m sure we’ll see lots of great coverage from both of them. (I hope they have time to do some podcasting as I enjoyed their week of podcasts during CES.) Both of these intrepid bloggers are already running some info on GigaByte’s UMPCs and MIDS that will be shown off at the show.

I’m hoping CeBit will help us advance the story on MIDs that kicked off during CES, as we’re still a few months away from these new devices being available.

We’ve talked in the past about the blurring lines (and horrible branding) when it comes to mobile devices like MIDs, UMPCs, and the like. It looks like those blurry lines are going to continue to become even more fuzzy from the Personal Media Player (PMP) sector. Electronista is reporting that Archos is readying a new PMP that includes 3G connectivity that allows access to the web using the Opera browser.

Some have already called the iPhone (yours truly included) the first MID, and some are really enjoying using the iPod Touch in the same way, when WiFi is available, (again, that’s the case here.) So media players as web browsers is nothing really new. I am increasingly thinking that the blurry lines defining these devices is largely irrelevant as far as the consumer is concerned. And it seems that those making and marketing these devices feel the same. Given that the focus for UMPC and MID development centers on consuming media and web browsing, as long as the consumer is getting what they need from a small device does it really matter?

Of course the question will come down to marketing. It always does. 

Thoughts?

BenQ is shaking things up a bit with some news about their first Mobile Internet Device (MID) at the Mobile World Congress. Focus on this round of news has to do with the UI. Looks like users will be able to work with their screens with touch and also a little shaking:

The MID's distinctive user interface was meticulously designed to bring an intuitive user experience to consumers. The startup icons on the desktop flip like a vertical window blind as you glide a finger across the device's 4.8-inch touch screen. Users can simply shake their MIDs to minimize open windows as thumbnails on the desktop for more convenience and control. This reduces common errors that occur when users point to small icons on touch screens and eliminates the repetitive action of minimizing and maximizing the windows.

I’m sure comparisons to the Etch-a-Sketch will be coming soon.

Here’s a link to the full press release.

Via UMPCPortal

Every once in a while I'm really surprised the response to a particular article. In this case, I quoted Dean Weber, President and CEO of One Voice Technologies, on the prediction of 90 million MIDs in 2012 (based on research from ABI Research). And I got an email the next day from Mr. Weber himself.

Over the next two years the size of the MID will become about the size of a current smartphone.  This is about as small as they will probably go while keeping a reasonable screen size for full Internet browsing.  One thing to keep in mind regarding the ABI Research prediction is that Apple has already shown the demand for a small fully functional web browser in their current iPhone.  The iPhone is very much like a MID although the iPhone lacks WiMAX, video camera, etc. - I'm sure Apple has this in the works.  You will see an overlap soon between the iPhone and MIDs and people will demand more functionality from their devices - like the functionality in a MID.

I was thinking about his statements when I posted about Intel's Silverthorne processor a few minutes ago and thought I should share his wisdom. I think he's on to something.  One thing I hear consistently from my friends with iPhones is that they loving having a full browser. Maybe MIDs will bring that to me too, and 90 million will sell by 2012. And if One Voice Technologies has their way, all 90 million will be voice-controllable.

Yes, the phrase is borrowed from Apple, but Intel also looks to put the Internet in your pocket with the introduction of the MIDs running on the Silverthorne processor. The Menlow platform is comprised of the Silverthorne processor and Poulsbo chipset. Wired has a provoking article that leads off with some great info on the Silverthorne, then moves into discussing MIDs in general.

This week at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Intel revealed more technical details about its new low-power processor, codenamed Silverthorne, which consumes between 0.6 to 2 watts of power (compared with 35 watts from Intel's Core 2 Duo, a popular desktop and laptop CPU).

This is the first time I've seen solid power numbers for the Silverthorne and they're appropriately impressive. This should have a major impact on battery life, although obviously the devices that use the Silverthorne tend to have very small batteries and thus may still have a short power life overall.

After that bit of useful info, Wired starts talking about MIDs in general, and that's where the provoking part comes in. Declaring that consumers have "have already resoundingly rejected Intel's earlier ultramobile platform, the ultramobile PC (UMPC)", Wired then claims that the lower prices of the MID platforms will "combat consumer apathy". Even at lower prices, though, some analysts remain unconvinced of the potential market for MIDs.

"The challenge for these devices is that at the end of the day they're still too small to be productive, too big to be ultraportable," Martin says of MIDs. "Ultimately, the smartphone inevitably overtakes that market," he says, because people would rather have an all-purpose device that does everything adequately than fill out their gadget portfolios with more specialized devices to meet specific needs.

I'm still sitting on the fence with MIDs. I want to like them. I'm enthusiastic about the idea of the "internet in my pocket", but at the same time, I'm not sure what the convergence path is for these kinds of devices. It seems possible that in the 2009-2010 the MID may replace today's smartphone. Is it still a MID if it's also my cell phone? When I talked to Pankaj Kedia at CES, I got a preview of the Moorestown platform, the successor of the Menlow, targeted for 2009-2010 timeframe. It seems like Moorestown could just be the processor in my phone, at which point I'm still carrying one device, just a device significantly more processing power courtesy of Intel, not ARM.

And if I can get a 1-2GHz processor in my phone, do I need a secondary mobile device? Maybe I just need something like the Celio REDFLY that will give me a decent keyboard and screen to go with my phone. Interesting thoughts indeed.

via Wired

One Voice Technologies president and CEO Dean Weber slipped a nice little gem into the press release on voice control for MIDs.

“MIDs are expected to begin shipping this year in 2008 and ABI Research predicts that by 2012, 90 million MIDs will ship (see http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/MID). Voice control will be the standard for these devices and One Voice is positioned as the premier provider of this technology.”

Unfortunately, the research that he mentions is not freely available, so I can't tell if it's 90 million will ship over the 5 years, or they're predicting 90 million will ship in 2012. Either way, that's a huge number of MIDs, particularly when you compare that number to the shipped Tablet PCs. Of course, analyst predictions back in 2004 also called for 5 million Tablet PCs to ship this year (in 2008), with a total of around 10-11 million sold in the 4 year period. That obviously hasn't happen.

Do you think that the world wants 90 million MIDs by 2012? What effect will that have on mobile computing in general? Although that is no where near the number of cell phones deployed throughout the world, that's still one MID for every 73 people in the world. That's a pretty aggressive growth rate. There must be a pretty strong pent-up demand to sell that many that quickly.

As everyone eagerly awaits the first shipping MIDs, we have to appease ourselves with what news we can get, and this is an interesting nugget. One Voice Technologies, Inc. released an announcement today that they will be demoing voice control for MIDs at the Mobile World Congress conference next week. Obviously voice control has been a goal for many users for a long time. It will be great if One Voice is able to get a viable solution working on MIDs in time for the upcoming product launches.

As a side note, since Intel said before that there will be announcements of new MIDs at major conferences throughout 2008, maybe we'll get to see One Voice demoed on some new MID models. I'd volunteer to go to Mobile World Congress to check it out - the conference is in Barcelona.

jkkmobile and Pocketables are showing off a new UMPC design from Inventec. (Or is it an MID, hmmm...) Pocketables is reporting that this is yet another Intel Menlow based design, which should mean a decently powerful unit. The "creatively" named Inventec UMPC 7-A, pictured below, has a 7" screen and sliding keyboard on a slight curve, which should mean a comfortable user experience if you're holding it while typing. That said, I'm curious if the back side is actually curved like it seems to be in the pictures. That would make it very unstable when sitting on a desktop or dashboard. I'd have to see how the keyboard is for "thumbing" since it is unlikely to be a touch typeable keyboard.

Inventec has a smaller model called the UMPC 5-D with (you guessed it!) a 5" screen. The 5" MID appears to have multiple docking solutions which includes an iPod dock in the back of one, and another with a D-pad control, presumably for gaming. 

Chippy has done it again, posting a hands-on review and videos of the new Amtek U560. I got an opportunity to get my hands (in the picture) on one of these at CES, and it feels pretty good in the hand, at least when you're trying it out for 3 minutes. It looks and feels a lot like the Sony UX series to which it is frequently compared. As you can see in the picture, it isn't a really small device, but it feels pretty solid. This system runs a full Windows Vista install.

The place where the Amtek seems to shine is the docking station. This adds a full optical drive as well as acting as a port replicator. Final pricing on this device in the US isn't out yet, but based on the UK pricing at Moblx, expect around $1000+.

Technical Specifications (from Amtek site):

• Intel Processor A110,A100
• 600 And 800 MHz 400 MHz FSB, 512k L2 Cache
• "4.8"LCD(1024*600)
• 1XSODIMM Slot,Single Channel,DDR2 400 (Factory Option)
• 1GB Maximum(512MB Default)
• Intel 945GU(Simultaneous And Multi-Monitor)I
• WLAN802.11 B/G
• Ethernet 10/100/1G On Docking
• Blue Tooth V2.0+EDR
• 2-cell battery, Optional 4-cell extended battery pack
• 189x107x36mm, 675g

Docking Station adds:

• 1XDC Jack
• 1XAudio Out
• 3XUSB 2.0
• 1XTV Out (S Video)
• 1X LAN RJ45
• 1X ODD--Combo,Super Multi Option

There were many personal highlights for me at CES 2008. One of those was working with mobile tech buddy, Kevin Tofel, on a video produced by PodTech. We were asked by Podtech producer Catherine Girardeau if we would spend some time sharing our respective opinions about MIDs and we did. To be honest, I was flattered to be asked and delighted to participate. It was a blast. You can check out the video and the article accompanying it here.

I expect this is the first of many such announcements we are going to hear in the coming months. UMPCPortal is reporting that they received word that GigaByte is going to increase its Ultra-Mobile focus aiming for sales in the 200,000 range.

With the standard notebook market over competitive, Gigabyte will focus more on small- and medium-size panel devices to suit client demand. Basic notebooks will focus on adopting 7- to 9- inch panels, while pushing price and unique functions as the main selling points. UMPCs will focus on 7-inch panel-based sliding case devices. The company will also cooperate with telecommunication vendors to push out MID products with 5-inch panels and 3G communication functions, added the paper citing Richard Ma, vice president of the company, adding that the company also aims to enter the China retail market with its notebook products.

And I thought I was bearish on the future of UMPCs and MIDs. Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times is wondering what happened to the UMPC platform and links to an IDG story that is even more bearish on the future of mobile devices. The arugment essentially boils down to the fact that there isn’t a compelling usage scenario for these devices yet. In the IDG piece there are some interesting quotes and observations worth noting:

• The LG UMPC we saw at CES may never ship according to an LG official.
• HP’s Paul McKinny says: “There's a lot of people coming out with products, I don't think anybody's found what the killer application or what that killer use case model really is.”
• Alp Sezen of Via Technologies says the key is better broadband speeds.
• Bluetooth support for making phone calls might be a key?
• and HP’s McKinney says: "Let a marketing person loose for 10 minutes and they'll come up with a category. You can say UMPC or MID, what the hell's the difference?"

I know I’m off in a corner beating a drum loudly by myself, but I still think the boat was missed when Inking was essentially abandoned on the UMPC form factor, and the rush to add keyboards ensued. Beyond that point, there’s some merit to the arguments here, as the rush to make a small device for media consumption that some work can be done on is essentially creating yet another category of portable media players.

Thoughts?

One of the things I love best about CES are the random encounters. I was trotting through the North Hall where all the car audio stuff it when,  out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something that looked like a UMPC running Yahoo in a browser. Viliv, a Korean company, appears to mostly focus on PMP and GPS navigation, but this year they decided to debut three new models of portable devices.

The first, the Viliv X70 VANT, is more of an overgrown PMP, although it still provided full browser capability, running on Windows CE.

This one had specs posted:

• Processor RMI Alkemy Au1250 700 Mhz with 256MB of DDR2 memory
• 30/60 GB Hard drive
• 7" WVGA (800x480) screen with 16M colors and touchscreen
• Mobile TV, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi
• Optional WWAN: HADPA, WiMAX
• 7 hour battery life

Based on my conversation with the booth representative, the next two are acually Menlow based designs and share the same specs and internals, just wrapped in a different form factor.

The smaller of the two reminded my of the Samsung Q1 Ultra in design with its split keyboard.

• Intel Menlow platform with 1.86GHz Silverthorne processor
• 512MB RAM, 1GB max
• 30/60 GB hard drive
• 4.8" WSVGA (1024x800) screen with touschreen. Optimized for video playback
• Mobile TV, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi
• Optional WWAN: HADPA, WiMAX
• Continuous 7 hour movie playback battery life
• Two cameras - one front, one back
• Weighs 560g (~1.2 lbs)

The final model appears to be inspired by the HTC Shift in design. The rep said that it shared the same specs as the above model, although I couldn't find any specs listed anywhere. This appeared to add a fingerprint reader to the mix, although nothing else was readily apparent through the glass case. The keyboard looked touch type-able, at least for me.

No word on pricing or availability in the US. The rep said they are targeting "worldwide distribution through partners" so it's possible we may see this sometime soon.

If you haven’t had enough of CES Coverage there is more to go around. Some sister sites in the mobile space did some great coverage of the comings and goings in Las Vegas. Here’s a quick rundown of some that caught my eye.

The Student Tablet PC. It was great to finally meet Tracy Hooten in person! In addition to some great photos, Tracy also has a short video of the Tablet PC/UMPC meetup.

jkOnTheRun: Kevin Tofel and James Kendrick did some live blogging from the floor with an array of pictures posted straight from vendors booths.

Daniel Gentlemen (aka Thoughtfix) was everywhere at CES as well and posted some great coverage on at least two of his many blogs. Check it out here and here.

Steve “Chippy” Paine and jkkmobile had some great coverage and they weren’t even in Vegas, proving that you can cover CES from afar. Their week of CES podcasts is definitely worth a listen.

You’d think Engadget with all their resources would dig just a little deeper, but then, hey, CES can get a bit crazy as we all know. Proclaiming that they “finally bring to rest the following question: what the hell’s the difference between a UMPC and a MID.”, they take their cues from Intel’s Dan Monahan, swallow the company line, and basically wipe out some history and miss the real point of the story. Here’s what Dan (and Engadget) are pumping out.

A UMPC is a business class device for enterprise users. It runs a heavy OS like Vista and is optimized for office-use applications like Excel and Word. (Ok, hold your laughter.)

A MID is a consumer-class lifestyle device. It runs a lightweight OS (like Linux,) and is optimized for things like media playback and web surfing. (And yes, you’re not the only one feeling all deja vu like.)

I guess the Engadget folks never really picked up one of the UMPCs or read any of the press releases on the devices. I’m sure Intel did (they were a part of the development of the dang things) and now they are just looking for some market differentiation. The definition above of a MID is basically identical to the early descriptions of UMPCs, and no one should be surprised there. But things sure seem to be shifting on the UMPC front now don't they?

Let’s get two points clear here, and admittedly, this is all from my perspective. No one has any real idea what the MIDs are going to be. Yet. We can all see the potential. (Can anyone say iPhone?) I buy consumer focused, and media and web centric. That part is a no-brainer. And it was the same no-brainer with the UMPC when it was rolled out. What I’m not buying is the supposed business-class device orientation for UMPCs. Give me a break. Sure maybe some of the TabletKiosk devices and other rugged devices will fit into a vertical market or two. The OQO Model 02 (which interestingly enough doesn’t have a touch screen) is certainly priced at the business class level. If that is what Intel is pointing to with that kind of definition, then Intel has kissed the UMPC as a consumer device goodbye by kicking it into the Enterprise realm.

Here’s point two. Those of us following the UMPC space since its inception have been saying for some time that the current MID promise is what UMPC should have been all along. In fact it was. Engadget should have dug a little deeper before drinking the Kool-Aid on this one. The handwriting has been on the Internet wall for quite some time and in much more depth.

Another point. Someone tell Microsoft. They just announced Origami Experience 2.0. Regardless of the merits of that software navigation overlay, it sure doesn’t strike me as aiming at the Enterprise. For that matter neither does Samsung’s new Q1 Ultra Premium UMPC. Anyone check out that new Asus R50A UMPC at CES? C’mon be honest. Is Asus aiming that cute piece of hardware with all the light up buttons at the Enterprise? Don’t think so.

Microsoft opened the Ultra-Mobile window and goofed by not putting a good window screen on it with a clear definition of what a UMPC is. They are paying the price for that now as Intel sees clearer Vistas ahead with the MIDs. I don’t blame Intel for trying to define things the way they are at this point, because clearly there is confusion out there and a vacuum. Someone needs to fill it. And since Intel is jumping in first, I guess they can do what they want. I do think, however, they’d better serve every one involved by being a bit less disenguous in their description. Intel is betting on the MID in what really isn’t a horse race. They and their partners, don’t have that horse ready to come to the gate yet. (We’re looking from MIDs six months or so in the future.) So they can’t quite put the UMPC out to pasture just yet with products still in the pipeline.

Before reading between the lines, I’m sure anyone who knows anything at all about this space did a spit take when they saw the UMPC definition Engadget swallowed hook, line, and sinker. I’ve been saying all week that with the introduction of the MID, the name UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC), and prehaps the device, as we know it today will be dead and gone in 18 months. Intel just confirmed that is the way they are thinking as well.