Intel calls iPhone a MID. Obviously Preparing for Moorestown Marketing.

Posted on 26 February 2009, Last updated on 19 November 2012 by

I enjoyed this article at APCMag. There’s a lot you can read between the lines and a lot of straight-up info.

  • Intel are now calling smartphones, MIDs
  • There’s a definite netbook roadmap
  • It will take 3-5 years to seed MIDs on Intel
  • Some netbooks may appear on the Moorestown platform

Favorite quote:

“Every smartphone is a mobile Internet device, including the iPhone inch says Pankaj Kedia, director of ecosystems for Intel’s Ultra-Mobile Group. “If the device is mobile, if it delivers a rich internet experience and has a targeted usage, it’s a mobile Internet device inch.

You’ll also see some talk about power consumption. 10x less idle power takes a Moorestown MID down to about 200mw. I assume that’s with screen off and radios sleeping though. It’s enough to get Intel into the high-end all-day smartphone market but not quite into consumer pockets just yet. That would take another iteration of Atom and a 2011/2012 timeframe in my opinion.

So smartphones are the new MIDs. Or should MIDs be the new smartphones? Have a read of the article and let me know your thoughts.

17 Comments For This Post

  1. Steve 'Chippy' Paine says:

    Intel calls iPhone a MID. Obviously Preparing for Moorestown Marketing. http://tinyurl.com/aee48a

  2. Jenn says:

    Oh, for heaven’s sake. Intel’s original definition was the basis of my own MID definition! So much for my purist approach to gadget class organization. Now we just need to settle on the definition of “mobile,” as in the most generic sense of the MID term, even a full-size laptop could be a mobile internet device.

  3. Ben says:

    Good point Jenn; at what point does something become mobile? When it fits in your bag? When it fits in your pocket? I would imagine it is different for everyone. Maybe anything that is ‘hand-held’ (practically usable while in the hands) is mobile? Who knows…

    I’ve always considered the iPod Touch and iPhone to be MIDs. I feel like there is a likely chance that companies will jump on the MID name bandwagon as they become more popular to try to present their device as more of a consumer oriented device, and give rid of any ugly corporate/business connotations that the name smartphone seems to have.

  4. The Dark Free Soul says:

    int make_marketing_fun() {
    int t;
    if (smartphone == MID) {
    // Yes, lot of people out there are fools
    t = yes_cows_are_flying();
    } else {
    // Ok, not exactly everybody…
    t = try_not_to_fool_consumers();
    }
    // but, hey, what can a cunsumer understand? eh? :)
    t = yes_cows_are_flying();
    return t;
    }

    At Intel the marketing managers are geniuses! Intel should double their salaries because they are incredibly efficient!
    Two years hype about MIDs, then the netbook surprise! Same arch of MIDs and tons of netbook sold!!! WOW!!! Let’s say bye bye to MIDs, who cares!
    Now they want to make a new hype for 2010 MIDs and they say that nowadays smartphones are MIDs (since anybody wants or has a smartphone) and of course they will buy next generation smartphones by Intel! Think! Gotta be great !!!!

    I really really *LOVE* Intel marketing guys! They are sure that people will belive *ANYTHING* they say… and damn, they are often right :'(.

  5. The Dark Free Soul says:

    Oh I was forgetting a thing.
    At the attenction of ARM, Nvidia, Via, anybody_else,

    Please propose an alternative more soon then possible !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Thanks!

  6. Ben says:

    If the iPhone was a MID, wouldn’t it be called iMid? maybe if all smartphones are MIDs, maybe we should call them midphones.

  7. DavidC1 says:

    The CPU-level idle power reduction is 10x actually, I think the Intel guy made a mistake here. Multiple presentations they said CPU-level reduction of 10x. One presentation I saw put platform level reduction of 30x over Menlow.

  8. turn.self.off says:

    as long as we do not see another low powered cpu paired up with a power hungry chipset, im game…

  9. DavidC1 says:

    As for “power hungry chipset”, you are probably referring to the 945GC chipset combo. Atom 230 with 4W TDP and 945GC chipset with 22W TDP is a Nettop combo.

    Netbooks use far more efficient Atom N270 with 2.5W TDP and 945GMS with 4-5W TDP.

    The “power hungry chipset” mentality probably came from this review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Atom-Efficient,1981-7.html

  10. turn.self.off says:

    hmm, “rich” internet. sounds like something verloaded in flash and silverlight to me…

    another term on the buzzword/bullshit bingo board i guess…

  11. ossi says:

    My proposition is this :D… Smartphone, can surf internet and do various more sophisticated things than regular phone .MIP=mobile internet phone, can make voice calls, has desktop level internet experience, includes everything smartphone can do but can do more. MID=mobile internet device, lacks voice calls but otherwise same functions. Mobile = 5″ or smaller screen.

    Anyone got more terms we can use ;)?

  12. animatio says:

    so we (will) have …
    sMID’s = small, pocketable MID’s (the whole bunch of smartphoes, PDA’s)
    mMID’s = medium sized (the classic) MID’s
    netbooks
    laptops

  13. Rich says:

    New Nokia tablet/ MID may be a phone too,

    http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=265118&postcount=13

    http://bleb.org/software/maemo/telephony-maemo.c:source

  14. Christian Kurz says:

    The funny thing is, that an Ultra Mobile PC is less mobile than a “standard” mobile internet device.

  15. Chippy says:

    But I think if the tech had been as advanced as it is today, 3 years ago, they would have aimed for 5″ AFAIK, a MID is exactly what the Origami UMPC wanted to be, but couldn’t

    S.

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  17. Sandalio Jure says:

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