A few days ago I showed you how the new EB MID reference design has been updated from the one that we saw in 2007. Up until this point I had only  seen renders of the device, but it looks like they were showing it off at Computex, and jkk got some hands-on time with it. Have a look at the video below. The reference device has a capacitive touchscreen and a UI that looks like it will be well optimized for touch use once it is completed. Let me note again that the EB MID reference is based on Moorestown and is voice-capable, meaning that you’ll be able to use it as a smartphone as well as a media and web device.

Back in 2007, we saw the original EB MID reference design as seen above. As it was announced on their site, they called it the EB MIMD (Mobile Internet Multimedia Device). It was a slider device with a hardware keyboard and it was based on the Menlow platform. This device was never picked up by an OEM and turned into a marketed product, despite its impressive appearance.

Fast forward two years and we are presented with the new vision of a MID reference design by EB. This newer reference design is now based on the next generation Moorestown platform and that means it will be trying for always-on phone/entertainment/FIE functionality and pocketability. While the original 2007 EB MID reference design looked great on the hardware end, it didn’t seem like EB was pushing much on the software side of things.

With this most recent MID reference, it is clear that EB is trying to leverage the reference hardware along with a strong Linux based OS and interface framework. It is quite important toe note that EB realizes that a MID isn’t going to fly without software that really complements the hardware. Luckily it seems that EB already has a software vision for use with this product and I’m happy to report that from the spec sheet we can see that the device will use a “high resolution” 3.97” capacitive touchscreen, and it will also have haptic feedback. In addition to the capacitive touchscreen, the unit will have WiMAX or HSDPA connectivity as well as GPS to support location based services and navigation.

While this all sounds great, it is still up to a company to pick up the reference design, have it tailored for them, then have it brought to market. I’m hoping that we see that happen and that this design doesn’t get left unchecked, as it seems happened to the original.