CES: What is a MID?

If you’re staying up to date with technology or trying to anyway, you’re probably aware the Internet Telephony is becoming bigger and bigger with more people signing up to Voice Over IP plans for their home. Considering that wireless access will get bigger and bigger over the next few years in and around cities, Mobile Internet Devices will allow you to use the wireless access to make phone calls. So there goes your mobile phone and since the MID is a computer, you can probably kiss your laptop goodbye for making your way through the course of a day.

If you happened to grab a copy of MX a couple of days ago (if your city has it), you might have seen the Skype article citing something called an MID. I was actually talking to my Dad about this earlier today and we agreed that most people probably have no idea what it is.

So being that CES is on, we at the Cyber Shack figured we’d help you understand what a MID is by showing you them as we go through what they are.

Seriously, these TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms) can be really irritating.

So… a MID. What is it?

Well, put simply it’s a Mobile Internet Device. If you’re staying up to date with technology or trying to anyway, you’re probably aware the Internet Telephony is becoming bigger and bigger with more people signing up to Voice Over IP plans for their home. Considering that wireless access will get bigger and bigger over the next few years in and around cities, Mobile Internet Devices will allow you to use the wireless access to make phone calls. So there goes your mobile phone and since the MID is a computer, you can probably kiss your laptop goodbye for making your way through the course of a day.

You’re going to start seeing a lot of Mobile Internet Devices, too. CES is certainly the grounds to start introducing them so we’re going to look at some which will hit the market later this year and going into the next. For more information on a MID, here’s the Wiki entry.

Let’s check out some of these Mobile Internet Devices set to rock your world.

First up, we’ll look at some running the Linux operating system.

Devices like the Aigo MID may look a lot like the iPhone but instead of housing a cellular connection, you’ll be able to connect to wireless network and communicate using a touchscreen computer. Web browsing facilities like Firefox are at your fingertips as is Thunderbird for email and just about anything Linux can run.

Pushing the Linux-run field a bit further, Intel are really reaching for the future with this beautiful examples of what you might be using a year or two from now. Running on the new Silverthorne chip, this is about as stylish and science-fiction as it gets.

Now some people might not be into the Linux scene, so if you’re not some of these Mobile Internet Devices will actually run Windows.

Included in this batch are computer giants Asus who have the R50A, a mobile internet device that runs a mini version of Windows Vista with a 4.8 inch screen, built-in GPS, webcam, microphone, a 3G and 3.5G connection, and even a TV tuner. If this plays as nicely as the specs sound, I’ll want one too. It’s like carrying around your desktop… but not.

Taking the Windows-run MID to a different place is Digifriends who are going to allow you to purchase peripherals that you can attach to the MID do more. Modules like a hard drive, keyboard, and a gamepad will snap on to the device expanding just what it can do.

So there’s your MID explanation. Now whenever you see the term MID in relation to technology, you’ll have a clue that the three-letter acronym is on about and how it just might replace your mobile phone.

Source: Engadget