Intel pushes with Atom and MID for “Internet in your pocket”

Intel MID devices in CES 2008 were only mockups to give us an idea of size. In three months, Intel has progressed dramatically. The device segment between mobile phones/smartphones and laptops is the next cash heaven for device and chip manufacturers and Intel wants to be strong in this market as soon as possible. Atom processors and the MID concept are the names around which Intel wants to build a strong presence.

Today Intel announced some Atom spec for the first time. It is the smallest CPU in the company’s history with a power consumption a scale of magnitude lower than the 35W typical of today’s best laptop processors. Of course that fact does not guarantee anything, as for the time being Atom handles data but no voice. And since consumers want voice and data in one small mobile package, it is probably a matter of time before this is offered as well. For this reason, analysts estimate that Atom chips will be in a truly competitive position by 2009 or 2010.

Sony HDR-SR12 and HDR-SR11 “are great camcorders” – Review by CamcorderInfo

So far 2008 is a good year for HD camcorders. The Canon HF10 was the first to break the deadlock and offer great performance for the AVCHD standard. Now Sony seems to join the top end of consumer HD camcorders with its new HDR-SR12 and HDR-SR11 models. The only difference between the two is the storage size, with HDR-SR12 offering 120 GB of hard-disc space and HDR-SR11 exactly half of that.