Intel is proclaiming that the next big thing in consumer gadgets will be the “Internet in your pocket.”
The challenge for the giant chip maker will be to prove that it is not too late to a market that has rapidly become the hottest spot in the consumer electronics business in a post-PC era.
At a developer event Wednesday in Shanghai, the company, based in Santa Clara, California, displayed a range of wireless Internet devices that Intel believes will fill a gap between smartphones and laptops. The company is hoping to capitalize on the success that Apple has had with its iPhone, which is one of the most popular mobile Web smartphones.
Intel is calling the new computers mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, and claims that it will have a significant advantage over makers of chips for cell phones because the Intel version will be highly compatible with the company’s laptop and desktop processors for which most Web software is written today.
The first generation of Intel’s MID technology will be aimed at data, not voice communications, leaving the company out of the market for smartphones. That has not dampened the enthusiasm of Intel executives who foresee a proliferation of devices ranging from advanced ultracompact laptops to small, tablet-size devices that
will be used for browsing the Web, navigation and Internet chat, rather than voice communications.
“What enables the innovation is the ability to bring over all the existing PC applications,” Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of the company’s Ultra Mobility Group, said.
The weak link in the Intel strategy is that voice communication remains a significant factor for consumers choosing to buy handheld devices.
Intel backed out of the cell phone market two years ago when it sold its Xscale microprocessor business to the Marvell Technology Group. Intel then set out on an ambitious redesign project…