Big news came from out of left field today when Nokia and Intel announced that they are partnering up. This partnership is expected to turn Nokia into one of Intel's largest chip customers, as well as allow Nokia to finally break into the mobile industry.

When I first heard this news, I was ecstatic. 'Oh joy!' I cried, 'Smartphones with Atom processors! Finally!'

Unfortunately my excitement may have been premature. Nokia and Intel have stated that one of their goals is to develop a new mobile “platform”. Both companies want to go beyond smartphones, notebooks, and netbooks...which to me means only one thing. Nokia and Intel are working on an MID together.

I haven't had much interest in the MID market up to this point. To be honest, they seem like pretty superfluous devices. They're a little better than a smartphone at browsing, and a little more portable than a netbook. That sounds nice until you realize that most MIDs are way too big to fit in a pocket, have half the functionality of a netbook, and cost about as much as a new MacBook.

That's not to say I'm entirely disinterested in whatever Nokia/Intel has cooking. If they come out with an affordable MID loaded up with Moblin and sporting a WiiMax chip they could very well have something hot on their hands. Right now, though, it's far too early to call.