Although today’s handheld computer phones such as iPhones, Nokia smartphones, Windows Mobile smartphones and others are already “mobile Internet devices”, Intel is hard at work on the “next generation” of MIDs and has done a deal with Ericsson to ensure an HSPA/WCMA/EDGE/GSM module is part of the mix.

Remember when Intel was working with Nokia to bring a 3.5G module to Centrino notebook computers, a deal that was announced with great fanfare and then undone?

This was presumably due to Intel’s desire to promote the WiMAX standard over 3.5G at the time, even though consumers were quite excited by the prospect.

Still, that's all old news now as Ericsson and Intel announced the birth of a new 3.5G deal, this time aimed at Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) instead of notebooks, where 3.5G modules are already in wide use despite Intel's attempt to lower their significance at the time. 

Given that WiMAX still hasn’t taken over the world, despite an ongoing US rollout and trials worldwide, while 3.5G networks grow larger and stronger by the day, doing a deal to ensure 3.5G HSPA (high speed packet access) technology is available in Intel’s MIDs (mobile Internet devices) was inevitable.

Ericsson says it is “extending its 3G mobile broadband technology from notebooks to a range of pocketable devices with various purposes”, explaining that “pocketable MIDs can deliver a truly mobile internet experience, and are expected to facilitate a range of uses including entertainment and media, connected GPS navigation, online gaming, social networking, data communication, and productivity.”

They also add that “with ubiquitous broadband connectivity, mobile users will be able to enjoy these experiences any time, anywhere.”

Of course, this described today’s iPhones, Nokia N95’s and N96’s, and any number of other smartphone devices, most of which having little, if anything, to do with Intel, at least in the public eye.

So, given that Intel makes processors and chipsets which live in most of the world’s computers, it’s no surprise that Intel also wants to be part of this business too.

Intel tried previously with ARM mobile processors used in Pocket PC devices, but sold that business to Maxwell Technologies a few years ago.

So, Intel is trying again, this time using Intel Atom based chip technology as part of a platform called “Moorestown”, due for public release in 2009/2010, by which time Intel will have to contend with either the iPhone 3.0 or even the 2010 iPhone 4.0.

Intel says that Moorestown is its “next-generation MID platform” which will include HSPA as one of its wireless technologies, and while the Ericsson press release doesn’t mention it, surely Intel will ensure Wi-Fi and WiMAX is part of the mix. Bluetooth too.

What is Ericsson saying locally and internationally about the agreement to get its HSPA technologies mid-way into Intel’s MIDs? Please read on to page 2.

Source:itwire