Future Niche Device: Samsung Mondi (mobile internet device)

Hmm… A large-ish touch screen (4.3 inches) MID (mobile internet device) with a physical QWERTY keyboard,GPS, multimedia payer and a WiMax wide area wireless network radio…

Hands-On With the Samsung Mondi

PC World’s Ginny Mies got to play with it and reported her impressions in the article linked above. Mies’ overall impression is positive with valid criticisms described in the article. The article says that it will cost more than $300 unsubidized and more than $400 unsubsidized by a cell company.

This all sounds promising except for one big problem: Where are you going to get decent WiMax coverage and what will it cost? Sprint’s Xohm, for example, has different prices for wireless service at home, on the move, or a mix of the two. The prices are appear reasonable ($45/month for the on the go plan) so far and I haven’t read about data caps like the 5GB per month typical for 3G service from cell phone carriers. Clearwire charges $60 per month for a residential plan that requires a PC Card modem from them (I don’t have any notebooks that have PC Card slots). I suppose at $400, it might be an interesting tool even with just WiFi access. But, I think this will be a niche product like the Nokia N800/N810 internet tablet series.

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