At IDF: MID's and AIR

[wallcraft]

Do I win the prize for most acronyms in a title?

See UMPC portal for extensive coverage of the Intel Developers Forum from the point of view of small x86 devices. Intel's Mobile Internet Devices (MID's) run Linux and are like the Nokia 770/N800 except they use an x86 cpu. The nearest thing today is the Pepper Pad 3, which is on the large side for a MID (4" to 7" screen). MID's were supposed to appear this fall, but it now looks like 2008H1 will be when they hit their stride. However, Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) is what really caught my attention in 'Unleashing the Internet Experience.' IDF Keynote. This is shown running Adobe Media Player, on what is probably a MID (i.e. a x86 Linux handheld). I assume it could just as well have been running Adobe Digital Editions. So if AIR catches on, ADE may become the default portable e-book reader. FBReader will certainly run on any MID, and is a better alternative if DRM is out of the picture.