Connectivity

Intel Links Handheld Devices to the Living-Room Plasma Screen

There are a lot of troubles ahead, but Intel is determined to go over them

By Bogdan Botezatu, Hardware Editor

1st of April 2008, 23:56 GMT

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A plasma screen will integrate just fine with a handheld device

CPU manufacturer Intel is reportedly working on a new technology that will allow handheld and mobile devices to connect to any high-definition screen using a wireless connection. The chip manufacturer is lately more

and more concerned with the handheld and the so-called Mobile Internet Devices, alleged to be powered by the company's upcoming Atom chip.

Miniaturization has always been one of the key elements in designing mobile gadgets and handheld devices. They had to be small enough to fit into a pocket, but at the same time, the new possibilities require a display large enough to render multimedia clips or take high-resolution photos.

According to Vic Lortz, researcher and senior architect at Intel's Communications Technology Lab, Intel is working on a new technology that will allow its upcoming handheld devices to wirelessly communicate with big-screen digital TVs and use their displays as the primary interface with the human whenever this is possible.

"Imagine if digital TVs included a wireless display feature (either integrated or through an external adapter) so that a MID could easily use that large display instead of or in addition to the integrated screen of the MID," he wrote on the company blog.

Loritz also says that the new technology can be both affordable and easy to use, in order not to become a hassle for the average Internet consumer.

"Intel is working on this and other similar problems... As we identify the necessary set of technologies and standards to support, we will integrate them into our next-generation mobile devices (both laptops and MIDs)."

The idea sounds extremely appealing, but there are more technical aspects that Intel should consider. First of all, MIDs are smaller and less powerful than the average ultra-mobile PCs that are available on the market, and the user would expect more from a MID than a PDA can offer.

More than that, a wireless adapter will waste important amounts of battery power, which would significantly reduce its autonomy. What's the purpose in having a big screen attached to a mobile Internet device that has ran out of juice?

TAGS:

Intel | MID | handheld device | wireless

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