October 29, 2008, 9:48 AM — When it comes to naming categories of new mobile computing devices, even the experts can get confused.
There is the mobile Internet device, or MIDs, and there is the netbook, which some say is the latest name for the ultramobile PC (UMPC).
Both MIDs and netbooks are bigger than smart phones but smaller than laptops, which a lot of vendors insist on calling notebooks. They are all mobile computers, but they have significant differences. In the end, the category names might not be terribly useful.
"This is a very interesting area because there are no defined boundaries to these devices," said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates in Northboro, Mass. "Everybody makes up their own names for a category. You change a name to make it sell."
Gold said Intel Corp.'s general description for an MID is a computer with a screen that measures 7 inches or smaller, while a netbook's screen runs from 7 inches to 10 inches.
Intel makes the Atom processor that's used in MIDs and netbooks, but Gold said he fully expects the Atom to be used in much bigger machines at some point. "These are all Intel definitions and not industry standards," Gold said.
Intel showed several Atom-based MIDs and netbooks at Mobile Internet World last week in Boston, and how they could be used with WiMax wireless networks. Some include embedded WiMax Link 5100 series modules from Intel, and others has WiMax USB dongles. (See video, below.)
At the Consumer Electronics Show last January, Intel showed the MID as an example of a device that would function well over mobile WiMax.
Despite the general screen size differences between MIDs and netbooks, Gold said screen size isn't the only distinction. The differences might depend on the device's operating system, its weight or functions.
It's a mini-PC; No, it's a net book
For example, Gold said the Eee PC from AsusTek Computer Inc. in Taiwan should really be called a mini-PC, because some models run Windows XP as the operating system. The new <">Eee PC S101, announced Oct. 21, runs XP and is 0.7 inches thick, weighs 2 pounds and will sell for $699 on Nov. 1, according to a company statement. It also has a 10.2-inch, laptop-sized screen.
Officials at Asus said the Eee PC is properly called a netbook because it falls into a category of "simple, light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient" mobile devices that allow users on the go to stay connected to the Internet and perform online activities such as streaming videos, e-mailing, Web surfing and instant messaging.
"Netbooks may look like laptops, but they don't have the full capabilities of a computer," Kevin Huang, senior marketing director at Asus, said in a statement. "Instead a netbook specializes in mobility and the Web, so it's great for travel or as a supplement to your main PC."
Asus spokeswoman Debby Lee said netbooks generally tend not to have a DVD burner, nor do they have a powerful graphics card when compared with a laptop. Before the Eee PCs hit the U.S. market a year ago, the term netbook was not widely used, Lee noted. Before that term came about, Asus called the Eee PC a "mobile Internet gadget," a label she called preferable to "mobile Internet device," which is generally regarded as a smaller device.
What about UMPC?
She said the term mobile Internet gadget was closer to what the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) was supposed to be.
If all of the category names sound confusing, Lee said buyers don't seem terribly confused by them. "They find what they want," she said.
As for UMPC, Gold said the term seems to be falling out of favor and is being replaced by netbook. He may not be entirely right, however, because the term was used last spring by bloggers and as recently as this month.
Among the smaller new mobile devices, the Nokia N810 is sometimes called an MID, although Nokia Corp. calls it an "Internet tablet." A Nokia N810 WiMax model was demonstrated at a recent Xohm WiMax event in Baltimore, showing it could easily receive WiMax signals at more than 3 Mbit/sec., while allowing text communications with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
According to the Nokia Web site the device, which is on backorder with a price tag of $493, has a 4.13-inch touch screen and is 2.8 x 5 x .63 inches and weight just over 8 ounces, noticeably larger than most smart phones. It runs on the Linux operating system.
Gold said the reason the N810 isn't called a smart phone is that it has no native phone capability, although Nokia describes it as fully capable for voice over IP, which could give users voice capability. The device also can be connected to cellular data networks through a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone.
Ultimately, Gold said category names for devices are rather "nebulous" and not all that valuable to consumers and business buyers of devices. There are clear differences in size, shape and functionality of the devices when evaluated close up, and the category names don't provide much insight.
"My advice is simple for mobile devices," he concluded. "Forget what you call it and buy it for what it does."
MIDs and netbooks Intel showed off Mobile Internet Devices from Compal Electronics Co. and netbooks from several manufacturers at Mobile Internet World in Boston, all using Atom chips and designed for WiMax and Wi-Fi access.
