(2008-02-11) Intel Mobile Push

Intel is making a big push on the Mobile space, with a new Silverthorne processor for MID-class devices, and WiMAX. But others, like Yankee Group's Josh Martin, are skeptical about Intel's ability to succeed where so many others have failed - even if it's using a new processor and a new acronym. "The challenge for these devices is that at the end of the day they're still too small to be productive, too big to be ultraportable," Martin says of MIDs. "Ultimately, the Smart Phone inevitably overtakes that market," he says, because people would rather have an all-purpose device that does everything adequately than fill out their gadget portfolios with more specialized devices to meet specific needs. With WiMAX (or something riding on the Analog Tv Spectrum), VoIP might turn this Mobile into a Smart Phone.