I could easily round-up the coverage of the European-focused MiFi 2352 by saying ‘buy one’ but that would be too easy. There ARE some things you need to think about before you take the plunge and buy one so here’s my final tests and thoughts on the MiFi 2352 personal 3G hotspot for European GSM and UMTS networks.

Announcement: JKKMobile and UMPCPortal will be available on the live page tomorrow (Wednesday 24th June) at 2100 CEST (Berlin) demonstrating the Mifi 2352 and answering questions.

Update: Live session videos are available now.

Also read:

• Mifi 2352 availability and specification details.
• Mifi 2352 hands-on and video.
• Mifi performance testing.
• Slashgear Mifi 2352 review
• JKKMobile charger hack
• JKKMobile unboxing and overview video.

Size

The device is easily pocketable, bag-able and even window-shelf-able. The Wifi range lets you put the device wherever it’s needed for the best 3G reception. Size-wise, you need not give it a second thought. Build quality is good although you might want to keep it in a little bag to avoid the ports getting dirty.

More images in the Mifi Gallery.

Software

The software comes in three parts. The 3G software, the router and the web server. Each has it’s own little software stack and everything appears to work very smoothly together. Starting the device up is simple. Configuring the device is simple. Using it with multiple SIM cards is simple and sharing files from an SD card is simple. The file sharing function is limited to simple web-based downloads and uploads but we get the feeling that 3rd-party software, hacks or even official firmware upgrades could enhance this. At this point I’d like to point you to Slashgear who have also tested the Mifi 2352 and have a good set of images of the user interface.

Wifi sharing without 3G

This is the easiest way I’ve found yet to enable keyboard sharing between multiple devices. Of course, one of the devices needs to have an internet connection (or use the 3G on the MiFi) if you need internet access but it’s a great way to set up a mini network in the home, car or while on holiday.

Battery life

I hooked up my desktop, a UMPC, a netbook and my N82 mobile phone to the MiFi and hit it hard with continuous music streaming, two IM clients and my normal web-based working process which included browsing and a big set of image uploads. The result, a warm MiFi that lasted 3.5 hours. I’m quite impressed. In normal use I would expect 4hrs out of the device and as there’s a few easy ways to recharge the device (and the possibility of cheap spare batteries – I feel sure that Novatel are using a pattern battery that you’ll find in another device) I have no problem with the battery life. And another thing, I barely noticed any difference on my desktop. At HSPA speeds and with normal activities, the Mifi is as good as a cable internet connection.

Heat

As mentioned, the device gets warm but nothing you need to worry about. The Wifi has a good range (one concrete wall or about 20-30m in the open) which means you don’t need the device too close to the clients.

Speedtests

See my previous post. I don’t see the Mifi being the fastest but it’s stable and has excellent reception. A stable, lower speed connection is often far more useful than a spotty high-speed one. HSPA is supported and we’ve seen 2.1mbps download and 1.2mbps uploads.

Price

If you’ve got a USB 3G stick and one computing device, you’ve got a tough choice today. 220 Euros is the same cost as an iPod Touch and you won’t be increasing your mobile internet capability by much at all. It certainly doesnt take much effort to plug a 3G USB modem in! If you’ve got multiple Wifi devices though, the MiFi starts to get interesting. You will be able to enable your own personal wifi hotspot and thus mobilise your wifi devices. The Mifi will save battery life (close-range wifi is often more efficient than a USB modem), and increase your security by giving you a private channel to the internet. If you’ve already got 3G devices, the MiFi can save you money and give you flexibility. In Germany and many other European countries, pay-as-you-go flat rate daily or monthly tariffs are common and by choosing one and sharing it between your devices, you can control your costs.

Issues

• I would have liked to have seen the possibility to attach an external antenna to the MiFi for edge-of-cell use or even a permanent installation as a broadband modem.
• Charging in use. By connecting the USB cable to a PC, you initiate the USB modem mode of the Wifi. To charge the MiFi while in mobile hotspot mode you need to either plug the device into mains via the supplied adaptor, use a power-bank with a USB output or make a cable modification. It would be nice to be able to disable the USB modem mode through software.
• There is a surprising amount of heat generated considering the device is only using 1.5w of power under maximum load. This may be a consideration if you want to keep this in a pocket.
• Indicators. I find the indicators confusing. There are no fewer than 14 combinations of colours and steady/flashing status indicators. It’s worth learning the combinations but it shouldn’t be this hard cnsidering the space available on the device.
• Popularity is going to become an issue. Sharing a single connection with multiple devices means more devices per cell which effectively means more data on the same number of connections. Backhaul bandwidth (from the cell tower to the data center) is already an issue and major bottleneck. If the Mifi becomes popular for Wifi device owners (iPods, PMPs etc) then expect more congestion. This is another reason to be using pay-as-you-go services so that you can hop onto the best service providers network at very little cost.

Future products

Expect Huawei to come out with a competing device soon and expect to see these devices popping up all over the place on the city high-street. Also expect carriers to be offering the devices for free with contract lock-ins or even to enable ring-fenced TV or music services so yes, if you wait, you might find a good deal with your favorite provider but 24 months is a long time in mobile internet. 24 months ago, the prices were double and the bandwidths half of what they are today. In my opinion it’s better to buy a MiFi without commitment now and start enjoying the benefit.

Summary.

The Mifi is a groundbreaking product for anyone interested in mobile internet and there are very few issues to consider. It has the potential to save you money, increase your security and turn hotspot-bound device into mobile ones. It’s a shame that the battery life doesn’t last a full days activities but this is about as good as it gets from today’s technology. If you’ haven’t just bought a 3G USB stick, take a close look at the MiFi, the extra cost might save you money in the long run and simplify your mobile internet life.

We bought the Mifi from Mobilx.EU in Hungary who are an affiliate of ours and also pay for advertising on UMPCPortal. There are no affiliate links in this article and the article has been written without any external review or influence. We encourage you to visit the links shown at the top of this article for reviews and information from other websites and to view the live, recorded review and Q&A session. [Details here after 24th June]

Don’t get too excited at this stage. No products. No software. But at UMPCPortal we’re excited to see these two huge mobile computing and communication companies work together on a mobile computing project that will create the next generation of mobile computing products.

Key elements of this ‘technology’ announcement:

• Nokia and Intel want to co-develop a new class of Intel Architecture based mobile computing devices.
• Collaboration in Open Source projects. (Maemo and Moblin)
• Intel acquire Nokia HSPA device license.
• “Leader in computing. Leader in mobile communications” coming together.

Note that this announcement has nothing to do with WiMax or Symbian or any part of the existing ARM relationships.

From the Press Release…

SANTA CLARA, CALIF., and ESPOO, FINLAND, June 23, 2009 –

Further uniting the Internet with mobile phones and computers, Intel Corporation and Nokia today announced a long-term relationship to develop a new class of Intel® Architecture-based mobile computing device and chipset architectures which will combine the performance of powerful computers with high-bandwidth mobile broadband communications and ubiquitous Internet connectivity.

Full press release is here.

‘No comments’ on specific products or timings.

For the end-customer, somewhat boring but clearly a significant boost to Intel’s Ultra Mobile ecosystem and something that will have significant impact on devices in 2010, 2011 and beyond. In terms of software, if Nokia move to Intel architecture then they will have to shift Maemo over to a Moblin core. Expect Maemo to branch into two within the next few years. This is all about high-end smartphones, social networking, video and back-end systems.

As always, respect to Mobilx for shipping the retail Mifi 2352 over in super-quick time. Their stock came in yesterday and I’m sitting here, 24 hours later, with one in my hand/pocket/rucksack.

More images in the gallery here.

I’ll be heading out for a camping weekend in Holland in a few hours (yes, the Mifi is coming too) so I don’t have time to write too much at this stage but yes, it’s working as expected and I still think it’s the mobile computing  device of the year. I need to do some testing on battery life and reception quality and that will come next week. In the meantime, enjoy this overview unboxing and demo video. You’ll also see the built-in Micro-SD card slot in use.

Affiliate advertising. Click for info.

If the ‘HQ’ button is available on the player above I recommend clicking it for higher quality playback.

The unlocked Mifi 2352 is now available for 220 Euro (inclusive EU taxes) from Mobilx.eu. (Direct link) I’m not aware of any other resellers that have it yet but if you know of someone else selling it, let us know and we’ll happily add the details here.

Update: Expansys are listing it.

We’re happy to say that Mobilx is a long-term and trusted affiliate of ours. You can support UMPCPortal by buying your MiFi through the affiliate advertising.

Lord knows the US data market needs a whack over the head and an injection of new ideas. WiMax is one pincer. Virgin Mobile could be the other.

Virgin Mobile Broadband2GO is a pay-as-you-go broadband service on the Sprint EVDO Rev A network available in 10-day or 30-day long packages. Overall the cost per MB is probably higher than other services and certainly higher than in Europe but this is just the start of it. Giving flexibility to test out mobile internet or to use it when away for business trips and pressuring the big carriers to re-think their stupid $60 / 24-month contracts. It’s great news.

I hope it’s possible to buy a SIM without having to buy the dongle. A MiFi option might be interesting too. I’m over in the U.S. in Sept so I’ll probably be needing this.

From Mobile Crunch:

When the service goes live later this month you’ll be able to purchase a Novatel Ovation MC760 USB dongle for $150 sans contract. Pay-as-you-go VM Top-Up cards can be purchased in the following increments: 100MB, 250MB, 500MB and 1GB. Here’s where it gets a little confusing; 100MB will cost you $10, but you have to use that within 10 days. For $20 you get 250MB, 500MB for $40 and 1GB for $60, which have to be used within 30 days.

Maybe AT&T will reconsider a more flexible GoPhone option now.

Virgin Mobile USA offers Broadband2Go service with no contract.

Jkk seems to be getting his hands on all of the cool stuff at Computex. Another short video showing a very solid looking Moorestown based MID. It seems to have a very sizable screen which covers much of the real estate on the front of the unit. It looks thin and well designed. Though the unit that jkk got to check out was just a prototype, I have to say that it is looking quite nice. I can’t wait for Moorestown devices to hit the market; we’ll be seeing great devices like this providing a wonderful FIE to users… as long as they nail the software, and I’m hoping that screen is capacitive!

Following the much-blogged, much twittered news of Verizon launching their MiFi product last week, it’s now Sprint’s turn. There doesn’t seem to be a day plan, only a $60 5GB plan and a bundle which includes a phone. Availability is ‘June’. More details here.

It’s no secret that Telefonica have already announced the Mifi 2352 HSPA version in Spain (under the Movistar brand) and I’m hearing ‘days’ rather than ‘weeks’ for availability which means I’ll probably be able to get hold of an unlocked version for testing. Can’t wait!

“Among the key attributes of MiFi 2352 is an on-board Linux based operating system capable of delivering mobile software applications and media. These advanced capabilities add to the intelligence of MiFi and will enable future support for applications such as automatic VPN connectivity and automatic email synch. The combination of internal (ROM) storage, up to 16 GB of expandable memory via MicroSD and on-board GPS capabilities make MiFi 2352 a flexible and robust platform capable of supporting a variety of location-based applications and enabling the storage of personal content such as music, video and pictures.” [Source]

The MiFi is clearly going to be a very popular product this year so excuse me if I don’t report on every carrier deal across the world!

The iPhone and Android devices were the obvious leaders at the well-organised and very informative Mobile Dev Camp in Amsterdam this week but it was very interesting to throw the MIDs and UMPCs in to get feedback from ‘mobile’ software developers. When developers talk ‘mobile’ they are invariably talking about mobile phones but when I put the 4-segment diagram up on the board (right), there were a lot of questions and lot of interaction.  For most, it brought home the fact that ‘mobile’ goes way beyond the phone.

I also presented the MIDs and UMPCs for them to get some hands on and to explain the major differences and it was interesting to see which devices people were interested in. At the end of the day, as with the demo work I did with MIDMoves in SXSW, the UMID MBook won the most praise. As people gravitated towards it, I asked ‘Why.’

The two most important elements of the hardware that made it a winner amongst the UMPCs and MID devices, based on the feedback and questions I got were:

• Keyboard
• Pocket-size

Battery life was a secondary question, as was price. People assumed it had Wifi and BT of course but were more interested when I talked about 3G. Its interesting to note that the keyboard piqued so much interest touch at a time when on-screen keyboards are considered acceptable by many.

So if that’s a hardware template that interests mobile software developers, what operating systems and APIs interest them? Clearly, Windows XP is not in the top 5 of mobile device operating systems (sidenote, it seems that most mobile software developers don’t really consider anything outside their own ‘top three’) so I asked developers what the most important elements of software are.

• Developers want a platform (or are stimulated by a platform) that allows them to utilise existing or easily-available skillsets – Java for Android, Objective C for iPhone for example.
• Developers will balance the cost of development (ease of API, cost of developers, stability of poatform) with perceived customer base / earning potential.
• Developers are creative people that don’t enjoy being bound by rules so an API that allows or even stimulates creativeness by exposing hardware and features is a big advantage. New hardware with new or advanced features, stimulates developers.

Clearly it’s not only developers that make the decision as the process of creating and selling software needs to be a controlled business process but it does appear to me that in the mobile world where a team of two can create a compelling app or service in a very short time, the developer has a big say in what platform(s) is used.

A healthy development community is critical to any platform and as the rules of mobile software development change, as time-to-market and cost-to-market reduce, there’s one thing that’s clearer to me than it ever was. A desktop operating system may allow one to use a device without any restrictions on software but the NEW mobile-focused software, the social networking and location-based services, the easy-to-use photo publishing services, the mobile gaming software, the internet-connected personal information management software, the live video and image publishing services and whatever comes next in the mobile world, will appear on these developer-friendly platforms first. That’s where the buzz is and so if MID manufacturers want to seed their new devices in the new world of mobile apps, they will need to be using a mobile and dev-friendly operating system.

My research into the world of mobile software development and mobile operating systems is teaching me a lot about different ways MIDs could position themselves but there’s a lot more to learn. Feedback from you mobile devs out there is more than welcome.

Looking like a set-play organised by Clearwire to promote WiMax is the official Samsung announcement of the Samsung Mondi Mobile Internet Device. The Mondi is the SWD-M100 mobile Internet device that we’ve reported on a few times. Despite the fact that it might be commissioned to promote WiMax, it’s looking very interesting indeed.

Specifications:

• CPU type - Unknown
• OS - Windows Mobile 6.1
• Display Size - 4.3″ 800 X 480 (resolution not confirmed)
• Flash - 4048 MB
• Keyboard - Slider
• Size (w/h/d mm) - 120/75/16 mm (estimated)
• Physical Interfaces: Headset i/f (Mic+Line), Micro USB, Micro SD slot, HDMI
• Wireless Interfaces: 802.11b/g, BT2.0 (some blogs are reporting V2.1), Wi-Max

Additional Specs and Accessories:

• WebCam 3.0mp (rear, no flash)
• Microphone
• WebCam (front)
• Stand
• Stylus
• Ambient light sensor
• GPS
• Accelerometer
• Opera Mobile 9.5
• Touch Wiz UI

There’s no info on the weight, cpu, battery and of course, price at the moment.

Read the full story

The SWD-M100 Mondi [product page] is the WiMax device that was spotted at MWC in Feb. There in Barcelona it was seen running Windows Mobile 6.1 which didn’t really get too many people excited. It looks like we might find out more soon though. Phone Scoop have found a new image on a Samsung RSS feed.

The device is potentially very interesting. If it uses a fast, Cortex-core  processor, Windows Mobile 6.5 and the new Opera Mobile 9.7 browser then it will meet a lot of wish-lists, spot-on. Until we get further info though, we’re still left with the same specs as we had before:

• 4.3 inch touchscreen
• Wimax, Wifi and Bluetooth
• Dual cams ( 3M + 0.3M pixels )
• Micro SD
• TV out
• Windows Mobile 6.1 with Opera web browser

Fingers crossed that it comes in HSDPA flavour.

Update: Samsung Mondi is now in the database with links, videos and specifications.

via Samsung’s First Wimax Device Spotted (Phone Scoop).

Via JKKMobile.

The first beta of Mozilla’s mobile focused browser was recently released, and provided that it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, I thought I’d give it a try on my Sony VAIO UX180 [Portal page]. I flipped the unit into portrait mode and recorded a quick demo of the action. I’m pretty impressed so far and I like the interface. They still have some work to do and it will be really interesting to see how good of a web experience you can have on a Linux powered device (like the N810 [Portal page]) with lots of familiar Firefox addons running in conjunction with Fennec. Check out the video below:

I just wanted to round-up a couple of Opera-related news items that have come through the wires over the last few days. The first is an announcement about a ‘Opera Turbo’ and the second is an announcement that Opera are joining LiMo.

The Opera Turbo announcement is one I’ve been waiting for ever since the 9.6 SDK announcement way back at IBC in September. It’s OBML support, now renamed and re-marketed as Opera Turbo. At least I think it is! OBML is the process/protocol that Opera Mini uses and all the diagrams and descriptions point to the same methodology although the OBML acronym isn’t actually mentioned anywhere in the documentation.

What it means is that you could have one program for both WLAN and WWAN-based usage. If you find yourself in a 2.5G area or your data is being charged on a per-byte basic you can just switch to turbo mode and carry on with your familiar browser using a compressed, proxied service. The best of both worlds!

More details on Turbo in this white paper. (PDF) Press Release

The second announcement came today and informs us all that Opera has joined LiMo the Linux-based mobile software foundation (who also made announcements today.)

Opera Software today announced that it has joined the swelling ranks of mobile Linux leaders in the LiMo Foundation. Opera has a long history in developing its browser for the Linux platform and by joining this mobile Linux community the company hopes to contribute to the advancement of open and accessible mobile phone technology.

Opera’s ‘One Web’ vision revolves around the hope for a single, pervasive Internet, available to anyone, anywhere. By working closely with LiMo, Opera can ensure absolute compatibility with this platform, enabling easier development and faster time-to-market. Together, Opera and LiMo plan to nurture richer services, better user experiences and more affordable devices in the mobile industry by adhering to open standards-based development.

Joining LiMo might not exclude them from joining other organisations but it certainly sends a strong message out to Moblin and OHA.

Press release.

I’ve been thinking about this subject for a while but this post by Robert Scoble has prompted me to get everything written down and finalised. My thoughts about the ideal microblogging device started during the MBC09 conference that I attended as part of the first MIDMoves tour where people were all using either smartphones or PCs to microblog. I couldn’t help thinking there was a better way and of course, as I’m familiar with the area of pocketable productivity, couldn’t help thinking that the latest MIDs would be good so i’ve decided to spec out my ideal microblogging tool. It turns out that it sits right at the intersection point between MIDs and the new generation of high-end smartphones. Where ARM meets Intel!

First of all, what is microblogging? Wikipedia has a definition but to me, it’s being able to post a thought, image or sound to a publishing platform in the quickest and easiest possible way AND at the same time being able to track that publishing platform for posts that interest or are directed at you in some way. Tracking posts means being able to view 100% of the web in a quick and quality way because most microblogging posts are just leaders into rich web content

Twitter, Friendfeed, Seesmic, Flickr, Jaiku and many others fall into the platform category and in some respects, social networking platforms like Facebook also allow you to do the same. In general, most of the services offer a programming interface that allows direct posting and status updates from the platform and because of this, many third party tools have surfaced. Twhirl and Tweetdeck are the two that Robert Scoble addresses in his post but these are for desktop operating systems. The nature of microblogging means that you’re not always at your desk when that microblogging moment happens and i’d argue that most microblogging moments come when away from the desk making mobile devices extremely important.

Smartphones are a good choice for microblogging Apple, Nokia, Microsoft, and RIM mobile platforms all have microblogging client options available for them but so far, I haven’t seen a complete mobile microblogging solution. They all have major issues.

Web access.

All the clients seem to be efficient and do a good job of showing generic streams and targeted or filtered posts. I use Mauku on the Nokia Internet Tablet a lot and it’s great but just as on all smartphones, when I reach a link (I estimate over 50% of the microblog posts that interest me, have URLs attached to them), it takes forever to open and never gives me the full web experience thats required. Either javascript is not working, flash or some other component that is expected today. Screen sizes are too small and it’s slow, slow, frustratingly slow.

Battery Life.

Using a mobile phone for constant web access kills the battery life. Smartphones are efficient, yes, but having to carry a handfull of spare batteries or having to worry about turning off the microblogging client to preserve the last bar for voice is just not on.

Screen.

There are two things that annoy me about screen size. One is that I can’t scan tens of items in one go. The second is the problem of navigating a web page. After awaiting 30 seconds for a page to open you then have to scroll around and navigate ads or irrelevant content to get the important part of the page. It’s a poor show.

Keyboard.

Keyboards are getting better on smartphones, it’s true, but I haven’t yet seen a smartphone that combines a keyboard with a high capacity battery. As with MIDs, it’s a design choice. You choose between, large keyboard, large screen or large battery and never all three at the same time. With current ( < 2008) technology, it wouldn’t fit comfortably in a pocket otherwise.

Processing power and storage speed.

This is related to the ‘web access’ problem above. More processing power is required to be able to get those clients up and running quickly. More disk access speed is required for the same reason. Smooth scrolling, multi-tasking and other elements also hinge on processing power. Again, it’s part of the design tradeoff. More processing power requires a bigger battery. (Smaller screen and keyboard)

Microblogging is relatively new and none of the phones on the market appear to have included it as a design consideration (Web OS from Palm is one that might be an exception here) so the question is, if you were to design a microblogging device, what would it look like and what specs would it have? Here are my specifications:

Stylish Hardware (quality finishing, stylish appearance)

• 4.1″ 800×480 screen. It’s entry level for a good, productive web experience.
• High-end mobile processor (Benchmarks: 10-second average web page load time. YouTube SD flash playback. 5-10 active programs.)
• Video playback acceleration (Benchmark: 720p)
• 3W max design power. 1.5W average. 15W battery for all-day microblogging.
• Camera. 5mp glass optics. VGA video capture. (720p would be nice too!)
• GPS for geotagging, navigation.
• Slider keyboard with backlight
• Local 3G flavor $30 per month data cost (unlimited)
• Wifi, Bluetooth (2.1 for near-field pairing)
• Voice - SIP, Skype, GSM
• FM radio and TX (Always worth having on a mobile device.)
• Stereo speakers for kitchen-quality sound.
• 16GB + fast SD storage.
• Stylus
• Fanless and silent (of course!)
• Weight < 300gm.

Stylish Software

• finger and stylus driven UI.
• Firefox 3.
• Adobe Air.
• Full flash.
• Easy image posting s/w,
• Multi-protocol Blogging client.
• Podcatcher
• Multi-protocol IM
• Video capture software (VGA, direct to H.264 for YouTube posting)
• Navigation (turn-by-turn car and pediestrian) and geo-social software clients.
• Intelligent predictive text and on-screen keyboard option (in-car use)
• Configurable home-screen applets.
• Fast, well-featured RSS client
• SyncML for contacts and calendar.
• Email client
• PIM features
• Basic office suite (for occasional use only)
• Compatibility with a common gaming platform.
• App store
• E-Book software with link to stores and DRM authorisation.

Stylish Accessories:

• Netbook (dumb screen  + keyboard + battery with CPU booster. (second core?)) dock.
• Car Dock
• Wall mount
• Credit-card sized remote display and drive a-la windows sideshow that also houses a BT headset.
• Wrist strap display option that is used as the notifier. (Vibration, audible and visual.)

Cost:

Under $800, sim-free, unsubsidised.

What does it look like?

The Ring of FIE

FIE stands for FULL INTERNET EXPERIENCE and the ring of FIE is my definition (see original here) of the gadget middle-ground that many people ignore when considering a ‘third’ device. There’s already a range of gadgets out there in the middle ground and most of them are already migrating towards internet connectivity. The closest form-factor I can think of is the Nokia N810 although given the battery requirement, it would probably be a bit thicker than the existing N810.

Anything else?

Yes, community. That exciting feeling that you’re buying into something more than a bit of hardware. With the popularity of microblogging at a peak, now is exactly the right time to be bringing a device to market and build a community.

Differences to a smartphone.

As far as 99% of the technical specs go, it’s a smartphone. The big issue, quite literally, is the size. It’s beyond current limits for an acceptable 24/7 consumer phone. There’s no getting away from the physics of good keyboards and an 800×480 screen with a sensible 200-250 DPI. With current technology, the battery is also big and heavy.

Differences to a MID.

For some people, (Texas Instruments, ARM, Qualcomm) the device here is exactly an MID. It even fits in Intel’s definition of a MID although some of the devices we’re seeing now just aren’t quite there yet and in the current Intel platforms, voice support doesnt exist.

Why not call it a smartphone?

This will be too big to fit inside the smartphone category. It also does far more than a smartphone ever did. It makes sense to break out a new category of communicator-style devices, to ride on the microblogging wave and for people to treat this as a second, high-end device. As most high-end users carry two phones anyway, why not make one of them a MID? Breaking out a another device category is also in line with what the marketing people will do anyway.

Can I buy it?

Nope. no-one has done it yet. Nokia have been on this track for years with their Internet Tablets and I anxiously await their new device (which appears to satisfy all requirements except Voice. That might be good enough for me!) Intel are moving into this segment too with their MIDs (See Compal, UMID.) Archos are attempting to unite the smartphone with a media and internet tablet and I know from discussions that ARM’s partners are planning to launch these devices too. Qualcomm were talking about these devices months ago. I would put money on us seeing more than one device in this vein next week in Barcelona and am expecting to be able to buy a device like this before Summer 2009. We’re almost there!

It would be silly not to point out that what I’ve defined here is much the same as I defined three years ago as my ideal device (The Carrypad) but technology, the WEB and Internet-based services have moved on to make this an even more desirable device now than it was then. We’re just at the right point on the timeline of technology and web services that make this sort of device possible and potentially, extremely successful.

Could there be a clearer indicator that a mobile, Internet-connected, cloud-centric, all-day device is what everyone is expecting?

About 300 Journalists attending a press conference in January chose their top themes for CeBIT 2009 and here’s how the results came out. (2008 figures in brackets)

Platz 1     GreenIT                    29,9%      (24,4%)
Platz 2     mobiles Internet           18,2%      (18,6%)
Platz 3     Netbooks (Mini-Notebooks)  11,7%      (10,6%)
Platz 4     Energieeffizienz            9,1%      ( - )
Platz 5     Cloud Computing             7,8%      ( - ) 

Given ‘mobility’ and ‘energy efficiency’ and ‘Could computing’ all contribute towards a green theme you could probably just remove it and concentrate on the other 4 and sum it up by saying ‘mobile Internet device.’

The question is, what form of device? The Uber-smartphone? The classic Intel MID or the Netbook? Considering that smartphones are evolving into computing-capable MIDs anyway, lets just call it MIDs and Netbooks. Even simpler, lets just call it the ‘UMPC space.’

Source: Presseportal.de. Via Mobile Zeitgeist.

Yesterday’s news that Moblin V2 for MIDs is now delayed until 2010 has me thinking long and hard about what’s going to happen now. Have Intel put their MID plans to one side? Are they confident that Moblin V1 is enough for the current crop of devices? What will the OEMs think? Are they happy to refocus onto netbooks or are they simply waiting for Moorestown? Should I put UMPCPortal on ice and take a year’s holiday?

Moblin V2 is moving forward as planned and as far as I know, it will be ready for OEMs and distributors in Spring. It’s got an extremely high chance of success because most Linux distributors for netbooks have already signed up to use it. Ubuntu, Asianux, Xandros, Linpus. Novell, gOS, Mandriva, Pixart, S2C, Turoblinux have all publicly stated that they will use Moblin and even if only 10% of netbooks are going out of the door with Linux (I suspect it’s between 20 and 30% myself) then there’s a multi-million unit opportunity there. If the predictions are correct and 35 million netbooks ship next year then 3.5 million Linux desktops in one year will be one of the most successful Linux-based roll-outs yet. Given that Intel have hundreds of engineers working on it and have direct access to the people that designed the core hardware, they should be able to squeeze more from it than the average Linux distributor. There’s also a possibility to get that much needed app-store in there too. If Intel can create and manage that then there’s a revenue channel that makes everyone sit up and take notice.

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In a few hours, the MID Moves project officially gets into gear. Jenn is already on her way to California where she’ll be getting the ball rolling with her OQO 2+, Benq S6 and Willcom D4. Then, on Tuesday, i’ll be feeding in along with Nicole and Ewan.

As a little side project I’d thought I would close down not only my home PC and netbook but also my broadband Internet connection. Using the XP-based MIDs (some confusion there I know - Intel tends to put UMPCs under the MID banner) I don’t think there will be a problem at all. If that 1.86Ghz OQO 2+ turns up (fingers crossed for tomorrow) then I’ve got that wonderful docking station to use. I’ll just connect to a monitor, drop a 3G card in and use the device as my desktop for a week. I really don’t expect to report any issues at all with this set up although I’m sure I’ll notice the drop from the 32mb/s on my broadband down to around 1mb/s that I get here at home!

I’ll be testing in Germany on T-Mobile’s day flat service (on a contract) the same on a pre-paid T-Mobile card, day-flat ‘Web Session’ on a Vodafone pre-pay, Vodafone on a 200MB per month contract and the 2.50-per-day ‘flat’ service from Fonic.

Stay tuned here and on MID Moves for updates during the week. Feel free to ask questions too.

I think I’ve said this before and maybe I shouldn’t say it again; I’m a sucker for a kit-list. I always enjoy reading what about other people are taking on their tech travels and I can never resist showing off my own kit either. It’s definitely the boy scout in me. Here’s a selection of kit lists from people getting their bags ready for CES 2009 this week.

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About 8 months ago I had an idea for a promotional project. I called it the ‘MID Summer Tour’ and pitched it to Intel. They were very interested but unfortunately, my timing was terrible. I should have known that projects like this can take an extremely long time to set up so instead of a summer tour, we’ve re-worked the idea and have come up with the MIDMoves project. A mobile Internet device project, website and tour that will take place during Jan 09. We’re going mo-blogging crazy with Intel MIDs!

Over the next 4-weeks, 4 people will be preparing themselves for a 4-day tour with Intel’s MIDs. We’re going to prepare by talking about the latest location-aware services, look at how we can integrate services like Friendfeed, Twitter, Flickr, how we plan to stay connected using 3G and WiFi services and how we will communicate back to the website. Then, soon after CES, we’ll have 8 Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices distributed across the team and starting on the 19th Jan we go mobile! We’ll be leaving our comfy offices and getting ‘out there’ to test the devices, the scenarios, the mobile communications software and the public. We’ll be creating a near-live, media-rich, mobile-communications road-tour right on the MIDMoves website.

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