INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => Media Center 12 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: JimH on January 10, 2008, 08:27:49 am
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I've seen the term MID recently and didn't know what it meant. I found out at CES when I discovered a large display in the Intel booth.
They are full blown computers, similar to the UMPC concept or the Sony UMX series. They're smaller than a very small notebook computer but the screen is a bigger than the big cell phones. Something that would fit easily in a glove compartment or a small drawer but still be big enough to read.
They run Linux or Windows (XP or Vista).
The Lenovo device had a very nice touch interface with animation. It was about the size of a PSP but with square corners.
Neat stuff. Pictures are here:
http://pix01.com/eI@FF3i
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Anand posted a preview from CES of all of Intel's Menlow-related stuff: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3199
Menlow is of course the Centrino-like x86-based "platform" that Intel is positioning to eventually compete with the ARM processors used in all the Palms, SmartPhones, Set-top-Boxes, and (of course) the iPhone. It is the CPU and Chipset being used to power all of these MIDs they're all squawking about.
To me, and many people in the "biz", these seem to be just v3 of the UMPC thing that Intel and Microsoft pushed a while back. At least Intel woke up this time and realized that Vista is far too heavy to run well on any of these portable devices, which is why most of the MIDs run Linux. However, most early looks I've seen are less than enthusiastic.
I think Menlow has some real potential though... Especially in the 2-3 year horizon. Moorestown (the next-generation Menlow platform) should be quite competitive with ARM power-wise and should have significantly better performance. Also, the fact that it is x86 means huge software-side efficiencies will come heavily into play. Until then, when someone can put it into something as slick and usable as the iPhone (I wouldn't bet against Apple), I'd say the MIDs will be confined to a niche market.
Now... If Apple decides to throw us a Menlow-based Tablet PC, with an iPhone-like UI on-top at Macworld, then we'll really be talking!
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Jim-
Please continue posting about the cool stuff you see. Any hints as to how much $$$ a MID will cost?
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Sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for to use as a remote for my music library...... Be able to browse my library with nice thumbnail view schemes, yet not be tied to the downstairs pc.
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Sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for to use as a remote for my music library...... Be able to browse my library with nice thumbnail view schemes, yet not be tied to the downstairs pc.
perhaps this one (Nokia N810) ?
http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n810