Intel’s IDF in Beijing is nearly over. Yes, it started while most of us slept and because it’s only a one day event, there’s not many announcements. Media coverage on Intel’s website is low-key but I’ve found the press release and press kits and summarise below.

Overview.

The Intel press release includes some items worth mentioning (my emphsasis added:)

Mobility Keynote
During his keynote, titled “Mobility’s Next Wave of Growth,” Chandrasekher demonstrated the first live demo of Intel’s next-generation Atom-based MID platform, codenamed “Moorestown.” Chandrasekher provided a sneak peek into the low-power innovation of the platform by showcasing a greater than 10x idle power reduction compared to today’s Atom-based platform in a side-by-side demo. This dramatic reduction is made possible through a combination of new power management techniques, a new partition optimized for the MID segments and Intel’s Hi-k 45nm manufacturing process.

Due by 2010, the Moorestown platform is comprised of a System on Chip (codenamed “Lincroft”) that integrates a 45nm Intel® Atomâ„¢ processor core, graphics, video and memory controller, and a companion input/output (I/O) hub (codenamed “Langwell”). The platform will be accompanied by a new Moblin software version that is optimized to enable the rich, interactive, PC-like Internet experience along with cellular voice capabilities.

Intel also announced two new Atom processors for MIDs: the Z550 and Z515. The Z550 extends the performance of the MID product line to 2GHz with Intel Hyperthreading technology support, setting a new standard for the highest performance processor in the under-3-watt power envelope. The Z515 incorporates the new Intel® Burst Performance Technology (Intel BPT), which enables the processor to run at 1.2GHz when performance is needed in existing small and sleek MID form factors.

These new Atom processors further extend customer choices to enable the best Internet experience in pocketable MIDs. Chandrasekher also announced several new MID designs for the China market.

The 2Ghz Atom processor doesnt surprise me. These step improvements will continue to happen. The Z515 is interesting though. There’s already a 1.1Ghz part and an 800Mhz part, this two-speed 800Mhz/1200Mhz part should allow for some nice ‘turbo’ features but i’m not sure how different this is from speed-stepping on the 1.3Ghz version. More information on the Z515 is available from an Intel fact sheet [PDF].

Intel Atom processor Z515 delivers performance on demand by incorporating the new Intel® Burst Performance Technology (Intel BPT) which enables the processor to run at 1.2GHz when higher performance is needed in existing small form factors. Intel Atom Z515, in conjunction with Intel US15W SCH, supports 533MHz DDR2, 2GB max memory addressing, and HT. This processor also supports Intel UL11L SCH. Intel Atom Z515 delivers high performance while consuming 160mW average power and 80mW idle power.

New MIDs.

Obviously i’ll be looking deeper into this part of the fact-sheet. New devices from Aigo, Compal and Fujitsu will be interesting to watch.

Intel Atom Processor-based MIDs Continue Momentum — Chandrasekher announced a number of new designs targeting the China market including Aigo*, BYD*, CZC*, Dragon*, Eking*, ESL*, Gemsta*, NFS*, and Techfaith*. Additionally, Intel indicated that its customers are expressing strong interest in the two new Z Series SKUs. As examples, Aigo*, BYD*, Compal*, CZC* and Fujitsu* have already committed to building products based on these SKUs.

Windows 7 support.

Support for Windows* 7 and Moblin v2.0 on Intel Atom Processor based MIDs and Netbooks — Intel Atom processor-based MIDs and Netbooks will support Windows* 7 Starter and Basic editions in the second half of this year in addition to support for Windows* XP Home and Windows* Vista Basic. For Linux, Chandrasekher mentioned that both MIDs and netbooks will be moving to Moblin v2.0 from Moblin v1 today.

Does this imply that Windows 7 / Atom support will be restricted to Starter (three concurrent programs) and Home Basic (emerging markets) versions initially?

There are some more notes in the ‘factsheet’ here (PDF) and it looks like information is being updated on the ‘Press Kit’ page. I’ll continue to monitor for more information and report back anything interesting.

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.

Update 01/04/09 : Officially launched as the Samsung Mondi

A surprise from Samsung at their Mobile World Congress WiMax display. The SWD-M100 MID running Windows Mobile indicating that they’ve chosen an ARM processor for the system. The fact that Opera is also highlighted tells us that this one is more than a prototype. I suspect it’s not a voice device based on the ‘MID’ tagging but there’s no technical reason that it can’t support voice.

• 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

The info comes from a brief post at Ubergizmo. (More images available there.)

If this little baby has a decent processor in it (Remember Samsung make their own processors and are licensees for ARM11, Cortex A8 and A9 architectures – the Cortex A8 makes a lot of sense here.) then we could be looking at one of the most powerful windows mobile devices ever and, finally, a viable mobile internet solution with the Opera 9.5 browser.

Via JKKMobile

Having spend some time around the OQO 2, a short amount of time with the Compal MID (Specs) as well as first steps with the Clarion Mid (Specs + see the longer HD video) I am still the newbie in the bunch of us four. Meaning: It is still not 100% clear to me when a mid is a mid. Is it when there are different components on it and you would not call it a smart phone or a net book? Is it a MID when it has an Atom processor on it? And does it really matter?

You could say "Nicole you could have researched this a little bit!" and you are right. But it is only so few times when I don’t have any prior knowledge of the involved technology that I wanted to go the route of a ‘normal user’. And the normal user does exactly what we did during MBC09 conference: look at other people’s gadgets and then make a decision based upon touch, weight, maybe if it has a keyboard or not etc. But not "if it is a MID / smartphone / net book". Have a look at the video Heike Scholz from Mobile Zeitgeist made available and try to spot the Mids:

[The nice voice in the background with the slight accent btw is Steve in German. ;)]

So after playing around with the OQO my current definition of a MID is this:

Better than a smartphone, because of a real operating system, sometimes with a camera or GPS, sometimes with a keyboard, bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a net book and it has probably an "Intel Atom inside" sticker on it.

No, it is not convincing to me either. ;) What I came to realize thought where other things:

• I never knew it, but I really want a smaller device with more power when on the road, not necessary with a keyboard but with a real Windows on it to have an easier and more productive time. Even if I only travel occasionally, I am not 100% connected all the time.
• I also want a cheaper ‘notebook’. In 2005 I paid 2.200 € to have my Lenovo tablet. I never really used the tablet functionality (except for gaming where you can cheat with a stylus over somebody using a mouse). It is too big and too heavy at 3 pounds to carry around, I still need an extra phone and a microblogging device and I rather have something smaller and cheaper with me. Today’s gadgets would allow me for half the price to have 2-3 gadgets whcih are way more powerful and would suit different needs and situations. Like a real phone, an additional small "twitter a bit and check mails" device which can be switched on with the press of a button and a small netbook to replace the tablet.
• Devices have to be connected. Not with the cloud up on the internets but my cloud: my apps, my productive setup, my ecosystem of tools. The world has to revolve around me, and my gadgets have to fit into this right away another reason why it may be nice for many to have linux on these mids but I need windows. We can talk about if it needs to be XP / Vista or WIndows 7, but I need windows (see also (You had me at Windows …").
• Mids and other small devices have different modes of being operated. On the road, at home, with or without net connection, on battery or connected to power … We all have different needs and ideas about what works or not, which will make it more different for manufactures to produce for a smaller base.
• I happen to be using english quite a lot and much of my work is done in the english sphere- otherwise these gadgets would be useless to me in their current form. Why? Try öäüß. Or áàéèóò and co for others. German does have the advantage that you can write ae instead of ä and ss instead of ß but still it is not the same.
• I have to set up different models in my mind and find the right gadget combination for each job. Plan first, set up, execute. Which can mean that I will need to buy some new gadgets. *cough*

The following ‘plans and setups’ should work better for me with a Mid than with a smart phone or netbook:

• setting up the system with a direct remote desktop system like Windows Live Mesh
• using data backups with File syncing tools like Dropbox and for example a spreadsheet
• be the quick ‘download your fotographs from the device, sort them and upload the relevant ones’
• be a small podcasting station with an USB microphone
• run your emails with something like Google Gears and Gmail
• be a secondary device when doing live blogging from an event
• using iTunes on a mid for podcasts so that when you are on the road travelling, you can use your one Ipod and still stay up to date with your podcasts

Any more suggestions from you? :)

Assuming Aigo increase the SSD size, would it actually be usable on the 800Mhz Atom? I doubt it.  I wonder if Compal are planning to drop the 1.3ghz CPU in.

Aigo MID To Be Running Windows 7 This Year on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

Gizmodo have just completed a browsing speed and accuracy test with three high-end windows mobile devices using Pocket IE and Opera 9.5. The results should hardly be a surprise. There isn’t a single reasonable result among them with page load times well over a minute in many cases and very few of the devices rendering the pages well.

In the test, Gizmodo used the Sony Xperia, HTC Fuze, Samsung Omnia and Samsung Epix. Some of the newest WM-based phones you can buy.

Opera 9.5 appears to have turned in a better level of quality and speed than Pocket IE but there’s still a bunch of ‘fails’ in there which would turn off anyone thinking of relying on the given combo.

We’ve done similar tests here in the past which have proven that, on average, with some of the best ARM-based devices you can find and under good conditions, average page load times are twice as long when compared to on low-end ultra mobile PCs. We’ve even done some extensive Opera Mobile 9.5 testing and can confirm that while it does render well, it needs a lot more horsepower underneath it than the average smartphone can provide. Nothing in the smartphone world, including the iPhone, comes close to the speed and accuracy of even the lowest-level ultra mobile PC or Intel-based MID so once again I hear myself saying; If you or your business relies on fast, accurate access to Web-based resources through a browser, don’t risk problems or waste time by using a sub-standard solution. Don’t try and push everything onto one device. Buy a dedicated device. If not for the speed and quality, do it to preserve battery life for your important voice calls!

Take a read of the article and the HUGE bashing that WM gets from author, Matt Buchanan. Its a fun read!

Source: Gizmodo Via Friendfeed

Its nice to see that we might not have to wait too long for a better browser as part of Windows Mobile but is this going to be another case of ‘nice software, shame about the hardware?’ I say that because it was the conclusion I came to with Opera 9.5 a while back. The accuracy, UI and features were vastly improved but the bottle-kneck is the processor. There’s really no way around it. To convert todays very complex html, script and media that arrives through your Internet connection into a useable screen of information takes a lot of transistor switching. ARM9 and ARM11-based devices just don’t have that power. ARM Cortex and Atom do.

Show me a ‘Pocket PC’ a-la HTC Universal (left) with a 4.5″ 800×480 screen, 3G and Wifi, WM6, 5-hour online battery life, running on a a Cortex A8 core and we can talk. The Archos 5 does a fairly speedy job. The Open Pandora device too so we know there’s no hardware limitations. It’s just a case of putting the right software with the right hardware!

Source: Download Squad

Smaller memory footprint, faster boot, better UI and longer battery life. Windows 7 is not only going to be interesting for the laptop and desktop, it’s shaping up well for Netbooks and UMPCs too. Vista always offered better touch and natural input mechanisms but it was a struggle to run it on Ghz-class devices. The reports coming back from Windows 7 pre-beta testers point towards a much more usable system on these devices.

I’ve put a few links to some early reports below but the one I wanted to concentrate on and the one that raised my eyebrows even higher than last weekends ‘TWiT podcast was a post from Ian Dixon at TheDigitalLifeStyle.com. Ian’s website focuses on media centre and related topics but he’s had a Q1P for a while and when he got hold of Windows 7, he went ahead and installed Windows 7 on the Q1P with some really positive results…

[Audio recording below…]

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