A mobile Internet device (MID) is a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

capable

mobile device A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...

providing

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

access. They are designed to provide entertainment, information and

location-based service Location-based service (LBS) is a general term denoting software service (economics), services which use geographic data and information to provide services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor ...

s for personal or business use. They allow 2-way communication and real-time sharing. They have been described as filling a niche between smartphones and

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s. As all the features of MID started becoming available on smartphones and tablets, the term is now mostly used to refer to both low-end as well as high-end tablets.

Archos Internet tablets

The form factor of mobile Internet tablets from Archos is very similar to the Lenovo image on the right. The class has included multiple operating systems: Windows CE, Windows 7 and Android. The Android tablet uses an ARM Cortex CPU and a

touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

Intel Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform

2008Computex Best Choice Gigabyte MID M528

Intel announced a prototype MID at the Intel Developer Forum in Spring 2007 in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. A MID development kit by Sophia Systems using Intel Centrino Atom was announced in April 2008. Intel MID platforms are based on an Intel processor and chipset which consume less power than most of the x86 derivatives. A few platforms have been announced as listed below:

McCaslin platform (2007)

Intel's first generation MID platform (codenamed McCaslin) contains a 90 nm Intel A100/A110 processor (codenamed Stealey) which runs at 600–800 MHz.

Menlow platform (2008)

On 2 March 2008, Intel introduced the

Intel Atom Intel Atom is a line of IA-32 and x86-64 instruction set ultra-low-voltage processors by Intel Corporation designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the Intel Core series. Atom is m ...

processor brand for a new family of low-power processor platforms. The components have thin, small designs and work together to "enable the best mobile computing and Internet experience" on mobile and low-power devices. Intel's second generation MID platform (codenamed Menlow) contains a 45 nm Intel Atom processor (codenamed Silverthorne) which can run up to 2.0 GHz and a System Controller Hub (codenamed Poulsbo) which includes Intel HD Audio (codenamed Azalia). This platform was initially branded as Centrino Atom but such practice was discontinued in Q3 2008.

Moorestown platform (2010)

Intel's third generation MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Moorestown) contains a 45 nm

processor (codenamed Lincroft ) and a separate 65 nm Platform Controller Hub (codenamed Langwell). Since the memory controller and graphics controller are all now integrated into the processor, the northbridge has been removed and the processor communicates directly with the southbridge via the DMI bus interface.

Medfield platform (2012)

Intel's fourth generation MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Medfield) contains their first complete Intel Atom SoC (codenamed Penwell), produced on 32 nm.

Clover Trail+ platform (2012)

Intel's MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Clover Trail+) based on its Clover Trail tablet platform. It contains a 32 nm Intel Atom SoC (codenamed Cloverview).

Merrifield platform (2013)

Intel's fifth generation MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Merrifield ) contains a 22 nm Intel Atom SoC (codenamed Tangier).

Moorefield platform (2014)

Intel's sixth generation MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Moorefield) contains
22
nbsp;nm Intel Atom SoC (codenamed Anniedale).

Morganfield platform

Intel's seventh generation MID/smartphone platform (codenamed Morganfield) contains a 14 nm Intel Atom SoC (codenamed Broxton).

Operating system

Intel announced collaboration with

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical (company), Canonical and a community of contributors under a Meritocracy, meritocratic gover ...

to create Ubuntu for mobile internet devices distribution, known as Ubuntu Mobile. Ubuntu's website said the new distribution "will provide a rich Internet experience for users of Intel’s 2008 Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform." Ubuntu Mobile ended active development in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobile Internet Device Mobile computers Classes of computers Mobile web