Intel is proclaiming that the next big thing in consumer gadgets will be the “Internet in your pocket.”

The challenge for the giant chip maker will be to prove that it is not too late to a market that has rapidly become the hottest spot in the consumer electronics business in a post-PC era.

At a developer event Wednesday in Shanghai, the company, based in Santa Clara, California, displayed a range of wireless World Wide Web devices that Intel believes will fill a gap amoung smartphones and laptops. The company is hoping to capitalize on the success that Apple has had with its iPhone, which is one of the most popular mobile Web smartphones.

Intel is calling the new computers mobile Net devices, or MIDs, and claims that it will have a significant advantage by makers of chips for cell phones considering the Intel version will be highly compatible with the company’s laptop and desktop processors for which most

Web software is written today.

The first generation of Intel’s MID technology will be aimed at details, not voice communications, leaving the company out of the market for smartphones. That has not dampened the enthusiasm of Intel executives who foresee a proliferation of devices ranging from advanced ultracompact laptops to small, tablet-size devices that
will be used for browsing the Web, navigation and World Wide Web chat, rather than voice communications.

“What enables the innovation is the ability to bring by all the existing PC applications,” Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of the company’s Ultra Mobility Group, said.

The weak link in the Intel strategy is that voice communication remains a significant factor for consumers choosing to buy handheld devices.

Intel backed out of the cell phone market two years ago when it sold its Xscale microprocessor business to the Marvell Technology Group. Intel thereupon set out on an ambitious redesign project…

Orginal post by Top Tech News