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1999 Psion Revo Plus PDA looks a lot like MIDs today.

(Credit: Miha Ulanov)

The iPhone is a mobile Internet device. Just in case you forgot, ARM wants to remind you that before the Intel Atom processor there was the iPhone and its handful of ARM processors. Yeah, it's a MID too.

Listening to Intel, a casual observer might believe that the world's largest chipmaker is single-handedly creating the class of tiny devices called mobile Internet devices or MIDs.

But ARM processors have been powering small, low-power devices since 1985. There was the Psion series of handhelds, the Apple Newton, Nintendo DS, and, today, products like the Microsoft Zune. All used or use ARM architecture chips.

On a Web page titled Mobile Internet Devices, ARM now posts this marketing message: "It is clear that the future of mobile computing rests in devices that are truly mobile, always connected and providing a rich Internet browsing experience--ARM calls these devices Mobile Internet Devices (MID)." Intel does too.

The Apple iPhone is full of ARM silicon and technically a MID

(Credit: ARM)

ARM lists other devices like the Nokia N95, the BlackBerry 8700g, and the Motorola Q. All powered by ARM silicon.

The Web page continues: "ARM licenses the intellectual property that powers MIDs. This includes all the technology required by the chips at the heart of these devices: the microprocessor, digital signal processing, embedded memory, graphics acceleration, (and) fabric interconnect."

And ARM is not exaggerating. If anything ARM is understating the case. As one of the most understated chip architectures today, few consumers know the name. And almost no one listening to their Zune or iPod or talking on their Nokia phone knows that there is ARM silicon inside. But consumers can hardly miss the flashy Intel, AMD, ATI, or Nvidia branding on their PCs.

And this conspicuous PC-style branding strategy will carry over to Intel MIDs and Netbooks too. Lest consumers forget, maybe ARM should do a little more in-your-face branding.

Sharp got atomized Monday. The Japanese electronics maker along with Willcom announced the ultra-mobile Willcom D4 "communication device" based on Intel's Atom processor and Microsoft's Vista operating system.

Willcom D4 ultra-mobile communications device

(Credit: Willcom)

Microsoft and Intel were also credited with development of the device, according to the Japanese-language release on the Sharp Web site.

The handheld-size device uses a 1.33GHz Z520 Intel Atom processor and runs Windows Vista Home Premium (with Service Pack 1). Other prototype devices based on similar designs--referred to as mobile Internet devices or MIDs--have also been shown running the Linux operating system.

With a separate headset, the device can also be used as a phone using Wilcom's Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) network, both Sharp and Willcom said.

The device weighs in at 470 grams (about one pound) and features a 5-inch sliding LCD (1024x600/262K colors) with an LED backlight, a 1.8-inch 40GB hard disk drive (Ultra ATA/100), 64-key QWERTY keyboard, a built-in camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a mirco SD card slot, and a USB 2.0 slot.

The D4's inclusion of a 40GB hard disk drive is an indicator that the device is meant to run Windows--because of the operating system's typically larger footprint--not Linux.

Intel Atom technology includes a single-chip with integrated graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub.

Atom will find its way into fit-in-your-pocket MIDs from Gigabyte, Toshiba, LG Electronics, Lenovo, and BenQ, among others. Netbooks (inexpensive, Internet-centric ultra-small notebook PCs) such as Asus's popular Intel-based Eee PC, MSI's Wind PC, and Clevo will also use the chip.

Willcom D4 is slated for a June release and is expected to be priced at 128,600 yen ($1,272).

Intel senior VP Anand Chandrasekher touts Linux for MIDs.

(Credit: Intel)

At the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai this week, the buzz was about the Atom processor, mobile Internet devices, and Linux. What wasn't buzzing? Microsoft.

Welcome to the brave new world of computing sans Redmond.

At IDF, there was little media focus on Intel's next-generation Nehalem chip and even less on the Centrino 2 processor--both of which will run Microsoft software.

The focus was on devices that won't necessarily or exclusively run Microsoft software: Handheld-size MIDs--shorthand for mobile Internet devices--and Netbooks. Netbooks will run both Microsoft Windows and the Linux operating systems, but the MID category appears to be shaping up as a non-Microsoft enclave. MID makers, who are expected to begin shipping devices later this quarter, include Lenovo, Toshiba, Panasonic, and LG Electronics.

Asianux distributes Mobile Midinux.

(Credit: Intel)

Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, said in his IDF keynote: "As always, we partner with Microsoft." Then he proceeded to not mention Microsoft again--and mentioned Linux a lot. "We announced an initiative last year. A Linux-based initiative. In order to get the form factor down, to get the cost down, and to even get lower power levels beyond what was achievable. We have an entire ecosystem behind it. Ubuntu and Red Flag. The initiative is called Moblin," Chandrasekher said.

Aptly enough, the Moblin Web site is entitled: "mobile and internet linux project." That's pretty self-descriptive.

Whether MIDs succeed or not, only time will tell. But if they do succeed, it won't be on Microsoft Windows--at least not in the foreseeable future. Microsoft has recently hired Len Kawell, originally the CEO at Pepper Computer, a start-up focused on MID software, to scale Windows from smartphones (some of which run Windows Mobile) to MID-type devices with "larger screens and faster processors," according to a representative at Weber Shandwick, the P.R. firm that represents Microsoft's Mobile business.

Scott Rockfeld, Group Product Manager for Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, said this in an e-mail Thursday: "Windows Mobile is constantly innovating the platform to meet the expanding mobile needs of our customers. MIDs are an exciting class of devices that address many of those needs, and we're focused on ensuring that Windows Mobile is a great platform for partners to build MIDs."

But that's probably news to a lot of the attendees in Shanghai listening to Renee James, vice president general manager of the Software and Solutions Group at Intel.

"This new category requires a new software environment. There isn't a built-in ecosystem of developers who have been doing MIDs," she said, describing the incipient market. "For MIDS, we, Intel, are establishing that ecosystem. We launched it in September. It's called Moblin.org. It's an open-source project. Intel has contributed the foundational stack. More than 500 member companies are contributing code into Moblin. And it's particularly strong in Asia."

If MIDs catch on--and that's still a big if (though Apple's popular iPhone is arguably a MID)--it will be refreshing to see a PC platform develop without Microsoft participation, or at least see a platform unfold in which Linux distributors may have an advantage over the software giant.

First seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the mystery handheld Lenovo was showing off now has a name.

The IdeaPad U8 was unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai Tuesday along with a few more tidbits about what it's packing inside.

(Credit: Lenovo)

We already learned at CES that it runs Linux, is Web-enabled, has GPS, plays music, and takes photos.

By the name, IdeaPad, we can assume it's a consumer device, since IdeaPad is the name of Lenovo's newest line of consumer-oriented notebooks. We also know now that Intel considers it an MID (mobile Internet device), and it uses Intel's new Atom processor. The IdeaPad U8 also uses a touchscreen display, and will run some Microsoft Office applications.

Check out this video over at UMPC Portal of the U8 in action.

It's still only available in China. Western consumers have largely ignored MIDs like the Samsung Q1 and others, due to a combination of low power, less-than-desirable battery life, and awkward form factor, though the combination Atom processors and Linux could possibly change that if it were to make its way here eventually.

Click here for more stories on IDF Shanghai.

Intel is working on technology that would allow handheld Internet devices to wirelessly use big screens.

Intel Mobile Internet Device could connect wirelessly to a big screen.

All technology is a problem looking for a solution (or the converse). Intel is working on technology that would mitigate one of the inherent problems with ultra-small devices: ultra-small screens. Vic Lortz, a research scientist and senior architect at Intel's Communications Technology Lab in Hillsboro, Ore., discussed a technology that would include a wireless display feature on big-screen digital TVs allowing Mobile Internet Devices, or MIDs, to wirelessly use the display on a big screen.

"Imagine if digital TVs included a wireless display feature (either integrated or through an external adapter) so that a MID could easily use that large display instead of or in addition to the integrated screen of the MID," he writes. "Intel is working on this and other similar problems...As we identify the necessary set of technologies and standards to support, we will integrate them into our next-generation mobile devices (both laptops and MIDs)."

Lortz says the success of the MID may ride on whether technologies like this come to fruition. "If we succeed, the MID may confound its detractors and become the next big thing after all."

For an out-there 2009-2010 chip, Intel's Moorestown seems to get mentioned a lot by executives. If you consider, however, that this silicon may represent Intel's single biggest push into the "very large" mobile phone market, then all that jawboning is understandable.

At recent Intel conferences, CEO Paul Otellini and other high-ranking executives have dropped the Moorestown name frequently. Why? First, it will be Intel's showcase system-on-a-chip, combining the CPU, graphics, and memory controller on a single die, which, in turn, will be combined with other silicon. Second, it will probably serve as the main launching pad for Intel into the mobile phone market. The "first entry into phone form factors," as Intel has stated. What the chipmaker calls "MID phones" or Mobile Internet Device phones (see graphic below). Third, it could be a major market for Intel's upcoming solid state drives (SSDs).

Moorestown platform

(Credit: Intel)

MID phones will have other goodies too. Like high-speed WiMax broadband wireless (if, indeed, a widespread infrastructure is in place by then). With Moorestown, Intel is also targeting 10 times lower power consumption (at idle) than the 2008 "Menlow" Mobile Internet Device design. Which, theoretically, means much better battery life.

Moorestown targets "very large" phone market

(Credit: Intel Corp.)

The flip side to all of this is that Intel is currently not a player in mobile phone processors. And its largest competitor, AMD, is ahead here. AMD's Imageon line of chips--inherited from ATI--are currently used in over 50 mobile phones and devices from companies like Motorola, LG, Panasonic, and Samsung. And AMD offers graphics technology to Freescale Semiconductor, Qualcomm, and STMicroelectronics, among others.

Last month, AMD disclosed the Imageon A250 applications processor for video recording/playback and photo imaging, among other applications. The chipmaker also revealed the Imageon D160 mobile TV solution. AMD also offers Z460 3D graphics that tap into the same patented AMD Unified Shader Architecture that provides a graphics platform for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game system.