Willcom reveals details about its mysterious Mobile Internet Device

At CES 2008, Intel booth was a center stage for the debut of Internet-optimized terminals, which Intel marketing people called Mobile Internet Devices (MID). There was one device or a mockup, to be precise, with Willcom brand name on it and no information about its specs among the showcased MIDs in Intel’s booth.

Finally, Willcom broke the silence and revealed some specs about its MID scheduled for launch in June this year. Contrarily to many MIDs it won’t run on Linux but will stick to Windows Vista instead. Sharp will be the manufacturer. On the CPU side, the terminal will spot Intel Atom processor based on Intel’s Silverthorne platform. The device will be used for voice and data communications. More information about its specs is promised to be released in April.

The introduction of the MID is a part of Willcom’s strategy to move toward the deployment of the next-generation PHS network that should enable downloads at 20Mbps. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications granted a license for the 2.5GHz band to Willcom in December 2007. Because the next-generation PHS will rely on OFDM and MIMO technologies it shares a lot in common with WiMax. However, it is hard to secure vendor’s dedication to manufacture the gear tailored for Willcom because of the proprietary nature of the PHS technology. At least, the gear comes at higher price, which puts Willcom in disadvantage. Other countries using PHS include China and Thailand.

Source: Willcom press release