Fujitsu and Panasonic unveiled a couple of prototype computers based on Intel's Mobile Internet Device platform in Tokyo on Wednesday. The two machines were unveiled at a news conference timed to coincide with a similar event taking place at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai.
MID is the name that Intel has given to handheld devices based on Centrino Atom that are expected to be produced in a range of form factors, with many using touch screens or slide-out keyboards.
Both the Fujitsu and Panasonic devices have keyboards and the Panasonic model is a Toughbook version, built to withstand harsh handling and conditions.
Also on show were a couple of other MIDs, one from Clarion that will feature a personal navigation function, and one from Toshiba, that were previously shown at CES in Las Vegas in January.
Kaz Yoshida, Intel Japan
"The target customers we are aiming for is those business users and consumer users that want to take the full Internet experience outside of your home. There are ways to do that. Today the traditional way is to use the notebook but the size is quite big. The smallest notebook is probably about 8-inches is small relative to 17-inches but it's not small enough to carry with you like a cell phone. But the idea is you have this device to carry around, something you can wear. So the form-factor is small, smaller than the traditional standard PC."
The precise definition of an MID and how it differs to an Ultra Mobile PC, a platform launched by Intel last year, is something that seems to be in flux.
UMPCs, such as Samsung's Q1, are a combination of an Intel chip and the Windows OS.
When Intel announced MIDs last year it talked about the devices running Linux and having slightly smaller screens that UMPCs.
But on Wednesday the new Panasonic and Fujitsu MIDs were running Windows and as for screen size, well this is Fujitsu's new MID and this is the UMPC it launched last year. The differences appear to be only on the inside. Few additional technical details were available about the MIDs.
Intel also talked about its upcoming Moorestown chipset, that will replace the current Menlow platform in MIDs from next year. A couple of weeks ago some design prototypes were shown in the U.S. and appear to be much smaller than the MIDs shown this week.
On the software side Japan's TurboLinux also offered a look at its upcoming desktop OS, codenamed Magny Cours, that should be available in the middle of this year. The OS has a slicker feel to it than current platforms -- something that TurboLinux thinks potential MID customers will be looking for.
Launch dates for all the products on display were not disclosed.
In Tokyo this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service.
