Prediction: 300,000 MIDs will be sold this year

[wallcraft]

The Mobile Internet Device (MID) sits between cell phones and UMPC's. Forward Concepts projects 300K MIDs will be sold this year, most in the 3rd and 4th quarter with perhaps a couple of dozen new devices on the market. The important e-book related properties of a MID (as defined by Forward Concepts) are: 24-hr battery life, VGA 4"-6" color touch LCD screen, $300-600 low-mid price range. I'm not sure that even one device on the market today meets this criteria, with the Nokia N8X0 and perhaps some Windows Pocket PCs being closest.

For more details, see UMPC portal's Moblin, Millions of Netbooks and a strong position for Atom. and Electronics Supply and Manufacturing's Interview: Will Strauss of Forward Concepts on Mobile Internet Device (MID) study.

[manchuia]

The main problem is price. Very few of the MIDs will come into that range with a hardware set that will run Vista (OS of choice unless they are sporting Ubuntu Mobile (which is not completed yet)) or XP tablet well.

Then you get into the classic battle of needing better hardware to run the OS and then you have priced yourself right into new tablet pc territory where the MID lacks in hardware (again) and full usability (screen resolution, keyboard size, HD size / options, wireless options).

I am really looking forward to the MID market at the end of the year, but I think MIDs will end up like the EEE PC. Promised as a low cost alternative, but filled with a lot of devices that are just $100 - 200 too much for the average person to justify getting it (over a "real" machine).

The Nokia IT is the best example of a decently priced / spec'd MID, but the OS just annoys the ever loving crap out of me!

[wallcraft]

If it runs Vista then in my book it is a UMPC, rather than a MID, and I agree that it isn't clear that UMPC's other than Mini-Notes have much of a future. If Mini-Notes can morph into convertible tablets over time without adding too much cost then perhaps these become the true UMPCs.

Intel coined the term MID for devices with Intel Atom inside, but, as defined by Forward Concepts, many MIDs will have ARM microprocessors which can only run Linux or Windows Mobile. There has been talk of Windows Mobile 7 being a much more serious competitor to Linux on MID's than the current Windows Mobile 6.1. Which Mobile Linux will be the best choice is also up in the air, with Google Android being one interesting option.

[bjkel]

I think MIDs sound really promising.

I currently read books on a Dell Axim, which I enjoy, the only thing is I would like a bigger screen 5 - 7 inch would be perfect. Would also prefer a longer battery life.

The thing that puts me off dedicated readers is no backlight.

A simple operating system like Windows Mobile or Windows CE would be fine as I like Mobipocket so could still use it. Also for it to have a SD card slot and be reasonably priced.

All I really want I guess is a larger Axim with more battery life.

[rmeister0]

Part of what's funny about this whole MID/Netbook/low priced laptop thing is that this is exactly what the Foleo was about. It just got announced a year too early, and now Asus seems to be cleaning up and others are playing catch-up.

But 300,000 units?

I'm not one to make predictions about what Apple will do, but I know something I'd like to see...a clamshell like device running the iPhone/iPod Touch OS. Or, perhaps a clamshell with a screen, keyboard, and battery that your iPhone slides into, turning your i/device into a sub notebook.

Similar to Celio's Redfly.

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by rmeister0

Part of what's funny about this whole MID/Netbook/low priced laptop thing is that this is exactly what the Foleo was about. It just got announced a year too early, and now Asus seems to be cleaning up and others are playing catch-up.

To some extent I agree. I was really looking forward to the Foleo at one point, as it appeared to finally be a good replacement for my old Psion Series 7. The problem for me was that it required (or they tried to require) the phone to really work, at least for some things. The unit had WiFi, but could not connect directly to send/receive email, for instance -- it had to go through the phone. That was only the integrated email, however, you could connect directly for webmail or a third-party email app. Silly.

IBM proposed a system a while back that involved a small unit that was the heart of a computer (CPU and memory/storage), but could be docked with different form factors (simple sleeve with a touch display for a handheld, a sub-notebook, or a mini-desktop), which would provide various interfaces as needed. There would be no need to sync various devices as you would always be using your own computer and data. If it used an eXecute In Place design with flash storage, you would not even need to reboot when you switched. Neat idea.

Jack

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Jack B Nimble

To some extent I agree. I was really looking forward to the Foleo at one point, as it appeared to finally be a good replacement for my old Psion Series 7.

Isn't the redfly (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/redfly.asp) basically what Foleo was planning?

BOb

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Isn't the redfly (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/redfly.asp) basically what Foleo was planning?

BOb

Looks almost the same. Nice product but a little expensive.

Dale