Mobile Internet devices are small portable devices that provides us quick and efficient internet experience at any place. More so, it can be used to send/receive e-mails, enjoy music and watch video, surf web etc. and that too without fixing to one place or a desk PC. Companies are using technology such as Intel Centrino Atom processor technology to deliver such applications to the consumers.

To define Mobile Internet devices in simpler words, we can say that these are 5 to 7-inch display devices that are bigger than a cell phone but smaller than a laptop. These are novel devices introduced in the market to fulfill the demanding needs of your highly mobile lifestyle.

These are tiny, sleek and light weight devices with some storage capacity that can be carried anywhere. If internet is the only requirement of a user, then it is not necessary to carry a full fledged computer with you during travel.

Today, internet is becomes a necessity for every business man and the small device named as Mobile Internet Device solves this requisite by connecting you through internet even while travelling. No doubt. Internet can be accessed through a mobile phone too, but a cell show the display on a very small screen and it would be difficult to surf web and read text from a small screen.

Many electronic companies are introducing their MIDs in the market. Recently, Intel has unveiled a Mobile Internet Device.

The company targeted to trap global market of 180 million units annually by 2010. Intel uses Linux as the operating system in its MID. Intel has also signed an official deal with Wind River Systems, Inc., the global leader in Device Software Optimization (DSO) to accelerate the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market.

According to the market reviewers, Linux is the top-selling OS in the mobile Internet device. Linux is well suited to meet the needs of the MID segment because of its small footprint, fast responsiveness, easy customizability and low cost characteristics.

The open source product Linux, in the form of Moblin, LiMo and Maemo is generally used for smartphones and MIDs. Secondly, Linux is compatible with both x86 (standard PC) CPUs and on embedded, low power consumption ARM CPUs. Linux tablets provide a lower cost, higher performance experience for Internet tasks. This is especially important with the growing trend toward Internet-provided applications such as web mail, online office suites like Google Documents, and on-demand entertainment like Rhapsody and YouTube.

The MID market is relatively small yet and only 305,000 MID units are expected to be shipped in 2008 and it is estimated to grow to large extent in the coming years.

MIDs are gaining popularity with time because of the following advantages:-

* No operating system licensing costs
* Wide community-based software and support
* No need to buy any additional hardware device.