CES this year, Intel MIDs speaks of a deep, but there were no real products on display and the prototype (read: a piece of plastic with a sticker for a screen) had no real indicator of the next World real. Nor was there any mention of prices. Gigabyte The M528, a MID found on the site Australian e-Tailer TegaTech (the aircraft apparently exclusive distributor), is a good indicator of what type of features and price that we can expect MIDs, then it What is in the box?

A 4.8in LCD touch, boasting a 800 x 480 resolution, and an extension 47-key (retro) QWERTY keyboard define the unit of 150mm x 80mm x 22.5mm dimensions. Inside, a 800 MHz processor Centrino Atom keeps things ticking. The M528 is one of, if not the first device to confirm that it actually uses a CPU Atom.

512 MB RAM, either a 4 GB or a solid 8 GB drive and a module do the rest HSDPA significant internal. The device operates a Linux operating system with “Merry-Go-Round iCON Interface” whatever that means. Presumably, it involves a way of MID spin on a Linux operating system, according to the EEA PC.

A 3.7V, 3060mAh battery May not seem much, but in fact it should give a life quite reasonable. Given that chips Atom attract around 1W (for a 800 MHz chip) and the rest of the system does not exceed more than a 1-2W himself, four hours of use should be possible.

The problem? TegaTech is a list Gigabyte M528 with a module for HSDPA AUS $ 1,199 (£ 580) for poms we can probably expect to pay something in the region of £ 650 on the street. At that price MIDs are not likely to become as ubiquitous as Intel no doubt hoped, but hell, I still want one. If someone is off in Australia and soon wants to bring me back a gift, do not hesitate.