Hybrid Synergy Drive and Hybrid electric vehicle

Toyota is one of the largest companies to push hybrid vehicles in the market and the first to commercially mass-produce and sell such vehicles, an example being the Toyota Prius. The company eventually began providing this option on the main smaller cars such as Camry and later with the Lexus divisions, producing some hybrid luxury vehicles. It labeled such technology in Toyota cars as "Hybrid Synergy Drive" and in Lexus versions as "Lexus Hybrid Drive."

The Prius has become the top selling hybrid car in America. Toyota, as a brand, now has three hybrid vehicles in its lineup: the Prius, Highlander, and Camry. The popular minivan Toyota Sienna is scheduled to join the hybrid lineup by 2010, and by 2030 Toyota plans to offer its entire lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs with a Hybrid Synergy Drive option.
The Hybrid Synergy drive is the most widely rolled-out environment-friendly system in the automotive industry to date. More than 1,000,000 units have been sold. Toyota's CEO has committed to eventually making every car of the company a hybrid vehicle. .
Lexus LS 600h hybrid sedan.
Lexus also has their own hybrid lineup, consisting of the GS 450h, RX 400h, and launched in 2007, the LS 600h/LS 600h L.
Toyota has said it plans to make a hybrid-electric system available on every vehicle it sells worldwide sometime in the 2010s.
Toyota and Honda have already said they've halved the incremental cost of electric hybrids and see cost parity in the future (even without incentives).

After General Motors announced it would produce the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, Toyota announced that it, too, would make one. Toyota is currently testing its "Toyota Plug-in HV" in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Like GM's Volt, it uses a lithium-ion battery pack. The PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) could have a lower environmental impact than existing hybrids.
On June 5, 2008, A123Systems announced that its Hymotion plug-in hybrid conversion kits for the Prius would be installed by six dealers, including four Toyota dealerships: Westboro Toyota in Boston, Fitzgerald Toyota in Washington D.C., Toyota of Hollywood in Los Angeles, and the Minneapolis-based Denny Hecker Automotive Group, which sells multiple brands.
Toyota is speeding up the development of vehicles that run only on electricity with the aim of mass-producing them in the early part of next decade. Road tests for the current prototype, called "e-com", had ended in 2006.[43]

Toyota Prius

Toyota might create a separate brand for Prius hybrids and is considering adding larger and smaller Prius models. Such Prius brand would be similar to Scion. Toyota is not planning separate dealerships for Prius.

Design and technology

The Prius is a combined hybrid (sometimes referred to as series-parallel), a vehicle that can be propelled by gasoline (petrol) and/or electric power. Components of the system include:

1. Regenerative braking, using motor-generators, which converts kinetic energy of motion into electrical energy that is stored in the traction battery and reduces wear on the brake pads;
2. A 1NZ-FXE internal combustion engine (ICE) using Atkinson cycle which is 12-14% more efficient than the more powerful Otto cycle. The gasoline engine normally shuts off during traffic stops and the accessories (including the air conditioning) are powered by the battery pack. The engine is used both to propel the vehicle and to recharge the batteries. Because of the availability of extra power from the electric motors for rapid acceleration the engine is sized smaller than usual for increased fuel efficiency and lowered emissions with acceptable acceleration; The penalty of the Atkinson cycle is low specific power, so the battery and generator is needed to give extra power when accelerating, whilst allowing the vehicle to cruise on the low powered engine, [49]
3. Two electric motor/generators: MG1 and MG2. MG1, reversible and up to 10,000 rpm, starts the engine and provides counter torque for the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). MG2 provides 50 kW (67 hp) between 1,200 to 1,540 rpm and 400 N·m (295 lb·ft) torque between 0 to 1,200 rpm, contributing to performance and economy. These motor-generators are used as generators when used for regenerative braking, and as motors are capable of starting the vehicle (and gas engine if needed) and low speed (<~30 mph (48 km/h), 41 mph (66 km/h) in NHW20) travel;
4. A Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) unit that combines a planetary gearset that behaves like a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) called the Power Split Device[50] to increase efficiency. The computer controlled HSD transaxle adjusts and blends the amount of power from the gasoline engine and electric motor-generator(s) as needed by the front drive wheels and rechargeable batteries;
5. A sealed 38-module nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack providing 273.6 volts, 6.5 A·h capacity and weighing 53.3 kg (118 lb)[51] is supplied by Japan's Panasonic. They are normally charged to 40–60% of maximum capacity to prolong battery life as well as provide a reserve for regenerative braking;
6. Wind resistance is reduced by a drag coefficient of 0.26 (0.29 for 2000 model) with a Kammback design to reduce air resistance. Lower rolling-resistance tires are used to reduce road friction;
7. A vacuum flask for storing hot coolant when the vehicle is powered off for reuse so as to reduce warm-up time (US market);
8. An EV mode (or stealth mode) that allows drivers to operate on electric power only under low-power conditions for a limited duration of time (Europe and Asian markets, aftermarket in the US). Advocates for the blind warn that the Prius is silent, and that it could be hazardous to blind pedestrians and others accustomed to engine noise to warn of a nearby vehicle;
9. Vehicle weight is reduced by the use of a flexible resin gasoline tank and by the use of aluminum instead of steel for the engine bay hood and hatchback.
10. Starting with the 2010 model year (3rd generation), the gasoline engine uses an electric water pump, permitting an engine design with no serpentine belts, improving efficiency.

THS inverter unit (from NHW11)

The computer program used in the Prius shuts off the engine when the car is stopped, is reversing, or is descending hills, thereby dramatically decreasing fuel consumption in city driving . The HSD's on-board computer program determines when and how to use the engine, motor, or both to power the car and recharge the battery so as to maximize efficiency. Typically, a gasoline engine runs inefficiently at half-throttle, creating a choking condition called pumping loss, a major reason for the inefficiency of gasoline engines compared to diesels. The Prius minimizes pumping loss by using a high torque range as much as possible with the throttle fully open. Drive-by-wire throttle control technology and Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (a torque combiner, electric drive, and computer control) are essential to this engine control. In addition to the immediate benefit of reducing fuel consumption and emissions, stopping the gasoline engine also improves the performance of the catalytic converter, as the exhaust gases from an idling engine tend to cool the catalyst below its optimal temperature.
Energy monitor on the 2005 Prius multi-function display (MFD), showing energy flow to/from the engine, battery, and from the regenerative braking, as well as battery charge level.

Hybrid Synergy Drive

Typical gasoline- or diesel-engined vehicles consume fuel when the vehicle is stopped, as is common in city driving. The Prius typically shuts down the gasoline engine and runs solely off the battery pack at low speeds and when stopped. A non-hybrid car also gets worse fuel consumption in city driving because its engine is continually used to accelerate the car to driving speed and then this energy is lost to friction brakes during stop-and-go driving. The Prius recaptures some of this energy by using regenerative braking to charge its battery pack while slowing down with its motor-generators in generator mode. For acceptable acceleration the IC engine on a "standard" car typically is much larger than needed for constant-speed travel, and is a relatively high power to rate weight ratio Otto cycle engine. By using both an Atkinson cycle gasoline engine, which whilst more efficient, has a much poorer power to weight ratio and an electric motors for acceleration the Prius engine can nevertheless be a smaller size and still provide acceptable acceleration [53]. This means such a hybrid are can have high fuel efficiency when cruising on the Atkinson cycle engine, and in city driving, though factors including driving style, air conditioning use, and short trips may offset some of this advantage. The frequent starting and stopping of the Prius engine does not cause noticeable additional wear and tear or emission problems because the electric drive motors have enough power to quickly spin the engine to optimal speed (around 1,000 rpm) before fuel is admitted.
Energy screen on the 2003 Prius

For any car, aerodynamic losses, which vary roughly as the velocity squared due to air drag are much greater on the highway than in low speed city driving. The Prius hybrid has less of an advantage in higher speed open road driving, typical of intercity driving. Nevertheless, the Prius still obtains improved fuel consumption under these circumstances since it can use a smaller and more efficient engine than would otherwise be required. The electric motor(s), powered by the battery pack, can provide the extra peak power needed for acceleration, passing and limited hill climbing. The lower weight, cross sectional area and lowest drag coefficient of a production car in the U.S. market make the Prius a very efficient highway traveler, getting 45 miles per US gallon (5.2 L/100 km; 54 mpg-imp) on the highway according to the U.S. EPA.

The environmental impact of the car's batteries has been questioned. To encourage battery recycling, dealers are paid a $200 fee for return of the car's batteries.[56] Toyota has laboratory reports that some Prius battery packs have lasted the equivalent of 180,000 miles (290,000 km). As the cars start to age, early reports have shown that in at least some cases the batteries can last in excess of 250,000 miles (400,000 km). Individual battery longevity will vary depending upon the treatment and use history of the battery pack. A degraded battery pack will reduce performance and fuel economy, but not leave the car inoperable.

[edit] Fuel consumption, CO2 emission, and airborne emissions
Monitor on a 2005 Toyota Prius MFD, displaying accumulative fuel economy for 59 miles (95 km) since last gas fill-up.

Fuel consumption, or fuel-efficiency in cars is generally measured as distance travelled per unit volume of fuel, as in miles per gallon (mpg), or as the volume of fuel required to cover a given distance, as in litres per 100 kilometres (L/100 km). Diesel fuel does have about an 11% higher energy density than gasoline (petrol), so that needs to be taken into account in pure energy-efficiency calculations and comparisons. Fuel-price-efficiency calculations will vary between various parts of the world, with diesel fuel pump prices being higher than gasoline prices in some countries, whilst in others it is less expensive than gasoline.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) test results must be posted on new vehicle windows, and are the only fuel consumption figures that can be advertised. EPA testing procedures for all vehicles were revised in 2007 in an attempt to better match what the average driver would achieve.[59] The following data is taken from these figures:

2008 Prius:

* 48 miles per US gallon (4.9 L/100 km; 58 mpg-imp) for city driving
* 45 miles per US gallon (5.2 L/100 km; 54 mpg-imp) for highway driving
* 46 miles per US gallon (5.1 L/100 km; 55 mpg-imp) combined

2001 Prius:

* 42 miles per US gallon (5.6 L/100 km; 50 mpg-imp) city driving
* 41 miles per US gallon (5.7 L/100 km; 49 mpg-imp) highway driving

The Prius is the most efficient car available in the U.S. in 2008, based on the official rating.

The official fuel consumption data, provided by the Department for Transport, rates the Prius as: 56.5 miles per imperial gallon (5.00 L/100 km; 47.0 mpg-US) urban, 67.3 miles per imperial gallon (4.20 L/100 km; 56.0 mpg-US) extra urban and 65.7 miles per imperial gallon (4.30 L/100 km; 54.7 mpg-US) combined. Eleven diesel-powered cars, some of them smaller, have a better fuel-efficiency (by fuel volume) than the Prius for combined use.
According to the Department for Transport, the Prius is tied with the MINI Cooper D as the third least CO2-emitting vehicles at 104 g/km, behind the tied Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDI and SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDI at 99 g/km - it is the least CO2-emitting petrol-powered car, the Polo and the Ibiza being diesel (being these city cars).
Independent test data and comparisons with other vehicles

Several organizations have tested the fuel economy of the Prius and compared it directly with other cars.

Consumer tests have shown that petrol-electric hybrid cars in general are a little more fuel-efficient (by fuel volume) than top of the range manual transmission diesels.[64] However, diesel fuel has a significantly higher energy density than the gasoline used by the Prius, and in some countries diesel is less expensive than gasoline, so overall diesel with manual transmission may be competitive with hybrid technology in some cases.

* January 2009: Edmunds.com compared the 2009 Prius to the all new 2010 Honda Insight. The Prius returned 54.4 MPG compared to the Insight's 51.5 MPG.

* September 2008: A Popular Mechanics comparison shows that the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDi diesel has slightly better highway fuel economy than the 2008 Prius with 45.4 MPG compared to 44.8 MPG. The Prius beats the Jetta in city fuel economy, however: 44.7 MPG compared to 32 MPG.

* August 2008: Edmunds.com test of Prius and Honda Fit, resulted in the Prius averaging 42 miles per US gallon (5.6 L/100 km; 50 mpg-imp). While the non-hybrid Fit averaged 28 miles per US gallon (8.4 L/100 km; 34 mpg-imp). The Honda Fit was priced $8,425 less in this test. Considering all vehicle factors, Edmunds.com awarded the overall win in this comparison by a narrow margin to the Honda Fit.

* June 2008: The Prius is the most fuel efficient car that Consumer Reports has tested[68] since the discontinuation of the 3-door Honda Insight. Consumer Reports gave a real-world fuel consumption rating of 44 miles per US gallon (5.3 L/100 km; 53 mpg-imp) for the Prius.

* May 2008: The Prius was the overall winner of the Edmunds.com "Gas-Sipper Smackdown" fuel economy test, winning three of the five tests. The 2005 VW Jetta TDI won the remaining two tests, but due to the higher cost of diesel the Jetta ranked third in fuel costs behind both the Prius and Smart Fortwo. The other car tested was the North American Ford Focus.

* March 2008: The UK's Sunday Times did a comparison of the Prius with another car in long distance town and country driving. The results showed that the other car, a BMW 520d SE with a 177 bhp (132 kW) diesel engine and regenerative braking, averaged 50.3 miles per imperial gallon (5.62 L/100 km; 41.9 mpg-US) whilst the Prius averaged 48.1 miles per imperial gallon (5.87 L/100 km; 40.1 mpg-US) over exactly the same route. The comparison was performed on a journey of 545 miles (877 km) from London to Geneva, including 100 miles (160 km) of urban driving, about 200 miles (320 km) of driving on rural roads, and about 200 miles (320 km) of motorway driving at speeds of up to 78 miles per hour (126 km/h) on one French autoroute.

* August 2007: UK's Auto Express magazine performed independent fuel efficiency tests, on public roads, on a number of hatchbacks, and in August 2007 published their list of the ten most efficient. The Prius achieved 10th place in the list, returning 41.5 miles per imperial gallon (6.81 L/100 km; 34.6 mpg-US). A Citroën C4 Coupé 1.6 HDi got 1st place with 49.6 miles per imperial gallon (5.70 L/100 km; 41.3 mpg-US).

* December 2005: Edmunds.com test of the Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid resulted in the Prius outperforming its competitor by an additional 4.5 mpg–U.S. (0.50 L/100 km / 5.4 mpg–imp) at 48.3 miles per US gallon (4.87 L/100 km; 58.0 mpg-imp).

* February 2005: In a Popular Mechanics magazine diesel versus hybrid comparison, the Prius outperformed the Volkswagen Jetta GL TDI diesel in both city and highway fuel economy.

* September 2004: Car and Driver tested the Prius along with the Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Echo, and Volkswagen Jetta TDI over three separate routes. The Prius yielded the best mileage on the highway and town routes, while tying the Echo for top spot on the suburban route.

* Motor Trend conducted a test comparing the Prius with a Honda Civic Hybrid. The Prius had the better fuel economy with 43.8 miles per US gallon (5.37 L/100 km; 52.6 mpg-imp) compared to 39.9 miles per US gallon (5.90 L/100 km; 47.9 mpg-imp) for the Civic.

Air Pollution

While CO2 emission is theorized to cause climate change, it does not pose a threat to health or create smog. In the United States the EPA measures a vehicle's air-borne pollution based on hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and formaldehyde before assigning them a score. In most states the NHW20 Prius is rated Tier II Bin 3. CARB also does its own emission scoring, the NHW20 Prius meets AT-PZEV certification in California and states that adopted CARB emission rules.

CO2 advertising claims

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority, an independent body charged with policing the rules of the advertising industry, ruled that a television advert for the Toyota Prius should not be broadcast again in the same form, having breached rules concerning misleading advertising. The advert claimed the Prius "emits up to one tonne less CO2 per year," while on-screen text included: "1 tonne of CO2 less than an equivalent family vehicle with a diesel engine. Average calculated on 20,000 km a year." Points of contention were the vehicles chosen for comparison, whether "up to one tonne less" adequately communicated that reductions could be lower, and whether the distance used was appropriate: 20,000 km per year is around a U.S. car's average annual driving distance, while a UK car's is 13,440 km.

An earlier complaint to the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority, decision 03/360 2003 was also upheld. It was ruled that Toyota was in breach of the New Zealand advertising standards code of ethics, by claiming "up to 89% fewer smog forming emissions”. The figure was based on comparison with Euro 3 standards, which most new cars also met comfortably at the time.[citation needed]

Lifetime energy usage

The British Government and British media have requested Toyota release detailed figures for the energy use and CO2 emissions resulting from the building and disposal of the Prius. The UK Government Car Service runs 130 Priuses. Toyota has not supplied the detailed data they requested to support claims that the lifetime energy usage of the Prius (including the increased environmental cost of manufacture and disposal of the nickel-metal hydride battery) are outweighed by lower lifetime fuel consumption.[83] Toyota states that lifetime CO2 saving is 43 percent.

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Microwind turbines a tough sell in Mass.

BOSTON--Despite the growing enthusiasm for home wind turbines, an analysis of microwind turbines in Massachusetts found that they fell short of performance expectations.
The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust commissioned a study last year to review electricity output from 21 small wind turbines in the state and the results were surprising: the data showed that the estimated production was about three times higher than the turbines' actual production.
The analysis is not the final word on small wind generators, but is significant because few states have done similar reviews, say the study's authors.

The Swift wind turbine from Cascade Engineering, one of many new small wind turbines now available or being developed.
(Credit: Cascade Engineering)
The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust was "taken aback" at the discrepancy in expected versus actual performance and made changes to its "small wind" rebate program earlier this month to address the issue, said James Christo, a program director from the quasi-public state agency. Christo spoke on a panel on small wind--defined as less than 10-kilowatt capacity machines--at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Building Energy Conference here last week.
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20090316/Bright-Sky-Pic_full_270x336.jpg
"We're certainly disappointed by the performance we've seen to date but we believe there is potential for microwind," Christo said. "People just need to take a more critical look and be cautious."
With the growing interest in clean energy, dozens of different small wind turbine types have emerged from sources as varied as designer Philippe Starck to Aerovironment, a company with roots in military aircraft.
The problem is not that the technology doesn't work. Aerovironment's roof-mounted turbines installed at Boston's Logan airport and other spots, for example, have performed well. The challenge is finding--and choosing--sites with sufficiently strong wind, particularly in cities.
"One of the challenges as an installer is that everyone has a windy site," said Mark Durrenberger, the president of New England Breeze who also spoke at last week's "small wind" panel. "But what you feel on the ground has nothing to do with what you have 100 feet up."
Higher is better
Most small wind turbines are scaled-down versions of giant utility-scale turbines, which look like a fan with three blades. Southwest Windpower's Skystream, for example, is rated at 1.8 kilowatts with at least 10 mile-per-hour winds, which should offset a large portion of a home's electricity consumption.
But there are many other types, including vertical axis wind turbines, such as Mariah Power's Windspire, where a structure spins on a pole to generate electricity.
Photos: Small wind turbines take shape
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/20090316/Mariah_Power_88x66.jpg

Having already installed a few turbines in Massachusetts, Durrenberger offered a few simple rules of thumb on small wind turbines. He doesn't recommend roof-mounted models because of the vibration they cause in a home. "It will be like having a sub-woofer in your basement," he said.
When it comes to optimizing for capturing wind energy, higher is usually better. His company will not install a turbine unless it's 30 to 40 feet above any other obstructions, such as buildings and trees.
Good sites are places with smooth terrain like a field with minimal obstructions, according to the Cadmus Group, a consulting firm that performed the analysis for the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. (Click for a PDF with slides of the study). Massachusetts as a whole has only an average wind resource.
Data problem
The Massachusetts state analysis tried to pinpoint the reason for the underperforming turbines and found that installers often worked without sufficiently good information.
Area wind maps for the region tended to overestimate on average by 10 percent how good the wind was for certain locations, according to Shawn Shaw, an analyst at the Cadmus Group who worked on the study.
Another problem is the rated capacity--how much electricity a turbine can produce--that manufacturers publish aren't always reliable for extrapolating expected performance, Shaw found. Industry associations are trying to come up with standard ways of reporting capacity which will help, he added.
"You want to be internally honest about your (wind resource) assessments," Shaw said. "The economics are going to probably be the best driver in Massachusetts."
A state like Massachusetts has a good wind resource near the coast, but its hilly and woody terrain means that finding a good site requires some investigation.
Installers and customers should be aware, for example, that nearby obstructions can have a significant impact. A 100-foot wind tower placed next to a 50-foot tree is effectively the same as a putting turbine on top of a 50-foot tower, which means it will get a lot less wind, Shaw said.
The results from the Massachusetts study echoes a similar survey done in the U.K. over the past two years, called the Warwick Trials.
That study focused specifically on urban microwind turbines, some of which were roof-mounted. Overall, it found that the performance of these systems fell below expectations as well and that a number suffered technical glitches.
"The truth of the matter is that (urban wind) hasn't been studied very much, at least in the U.S.," said Shaw. "There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty."
To test urban wind turbines, Christo said the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust is sponsoring a "science experiment" to put up five turbines from different manufacturers at the Museum of Science, a project expected to go up this spring.
NIMBY and urban wind
Massachusetts on average is far from having the best wind resources in the U.S.--it ranks right in the middle of pack compared to other states.
Following this review, the state revamped its wind power program with the hopes of getting only the best projects developed, said Christo. To get a rebate, installers are now required to do a more stringent wind study and use a specially designed software tool to assess the wind resources in a projected site.
At the federal level, the tax credit for small wind turbines was increased this year, giving investors a 30 percent credit on the installation cost.
Performance issues aside, Durrenberger said that inconsistent zoning and not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) sentiment are also serious barriers to erecting a turbine.
Some cities, such as San Francisco and Seattle, have passed bylaws to specifically enable microwind generators. But the rules vary from town to town or are ambiguous.
In an unscientific survey of the 351 towns in Massachusetts, Durrenberger found that 60 percent had no rules for or against wind turbines. Twenty percent specifically allow them and 20 percent have rules, such as height restrictions, that either disallow them or make it difficult to get permitting.
"I promise you, if you want to put one of these things up, you will hear from your neighbors...so contact them before the building inspector does," he said. But "despite NIMBY and the folks in Nantucket (opposing the offshore wind project Cape Wind), there is still a lot of support for wind so you could change your town's bylaws."

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I suppose if I were just in search of controversy, I'd write a post to proclaim the death of the MID (mobile Internet device) category. My obituary for the Netbook earlier this week generated a ton of traffic; I suppose I could do that again. Certainly, the concept of a MID--a device midway in size and capability between smartphones and the smallest notebooks--is under tremendous pressure from both sides.
Customers have learned that with a well-engineered browser, the small displays on phones such as Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's G1 "Google phone" are sufficient for most Internet applications (Web browsing, e-mail, chat, etc.). And as I described yesterday, small notebooks are quickly lifting themselves out of the "Netbook" ghetto, gaining performance and cutting power consumption to become reasonable alternatives for those times when a smartphone just isn't enough.

The mobile Internet device: In search of itself

The tokidoki edition Fujitsu LifeBook U820 mini notebook.
(Credit: Fujitsu Computer Systems)
But I think there's still a legitimate niche for MIDs and other miniature mobile PCs. As I've mentioned here before, I used to carry around a 1.5-pound computing gizmo along with a conventional laptop. It was an Apple Newton MessagePad 2100--officially a PDA, not a MID--but it was as close to a MID as the technology of the time allowed. It came with a Web browser, and for a while I had mine equipped with a Metricom Ricochet wireless modem, so I could access the Web and e-mail on the go.
It often seems to me that I would like to go back to that kind of device, rather than trying to make my iPhone and my laptop do the same jobs. In fact, I think my note-taking capability has actually declined with each new handheld platform I've adopted--the Newton was better than the Palm Treo, and the Treo was better than the iPhone. Today, when I attend conferences or want to scribble down some idea that can't be represented in a paragraph or two, I grab a Moleskine notebook (the pocket Sketchbook version).
My own experience is merely anecdotal evidence, however, and I know better than to rely on that. So what are the real markets for the MID?
Coincidentally, I think it works out to three E's: education, entertainment, and executive applications. All three areas lead to situations where a person might want access to more computing and communications resources than a smartphone can provide but won't necessarily want to carry around a notebook--or try to use one while standing--to get that.
The educational market for these small machines has yet to develop because current MIDs don't yet offer the right combination of small size, all-day battery life, and low price, but I believe they'll get there within the next year or so. People often talk about e-book readers as being the right answer for educational computing, but e-books are more about static content, and education is ideally an interactive process.
The entertainment focus was clearest with UMPCs (another dead category, though I'm hardly the first to point that out). UMPCs were marketed as "lifestyle" gizmos, as if many people were ever going to make a relatively bulky 7-inch display tablet PC with two-hour battery life part of their lifestyle. But in a smaller form factor--say a 5-inch display, a total weight under a pound, and battery life of at least five or six hours--a MID can fit this bill. As long as it's small enough (and rugged enough) to carry around in a purse or jacket pocket, and cheap enough to be written off to the entertainment budget like a Netflix subscription or a new TV, a MID could indeed become a lifestyle product.

The Viliv S5 Entertainment MID provides full PC compatibility in a PDA-size package.
(Credit: Yukyung Technologies)
I saw a gizmo at CES that fit this definition pretty well, the Viliv S5 from Korean consumer-electronics maker Yukyung Technologies. Yukyung is one of many companies making portable video players, but its new offerings are quite distinctive.
The S5 is like a right-sized UMPC, with a 4.8-inch touch-screen display (800x480 or 1024x600 pixels, depending on model). It can play HD video, and it comes with Windows XP on a real hard disk, so there's no problem installing other software.
The S5's Intel Atom processor provides very good battery life: the company specifies six hours of movie playback. The device is about 6 x 3.3 x 1 inches in size--a lot smaller than my old Newton--and weighs less than 14 ounces.
There are also two 7-inch screen Viliv machines, the X70 slate-style tablet and the S7 convertible tablet. Both, amazingly, are still smaller than my old Newton.
Executives have always been the focus of some high-end handheld PC developers such as OQO, Sony, and Fujitsu.
Fujitsu didn't have any major updates to announce at CES for its LifeBook U820 series, though it was showing a model with case art from tokidoki, an Italian (but Japanese-inspired) lifestyle brand, and I got a chance to talk with a couple of PR people from Fujitsu about the U820 and other Fujitsu products.
The U820 is basically a complete convertible tablet PC squeezed into a 1.3-pound package: a 5.6-inch touch-screen LCD with 1,280x800-pixel resolution, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB or 120GB hard disk, Windows Vista Home Premium, and so on. It offers pretty much every kind of communication technology a person could ask for: Bluetooth, a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, optional AT&T wireless broadband, and even a GPS receiver.
From my perspective, the U820 is actually smaller than it needs to be, which is most apparent in the micro-sized keyboard, but it's an impressive technical accomplishment nonetheless.
For many people, the new Sony Vaio P-series (a CNET Best of CES award winner this year) may prove to be more practical, with its 87 percent-pitch keyboard and 8-inch widescreen LCD. But the Sony is beyond all but the largest pockets. Sony has made smaller machines in the past, such as the Vaio UX series, but these have been discontinued.

The OQO model 2+ brings better performance at a lower price than earlier OQO models.
(Credit: OQO, Inc.)
OQO also made a big splash at the show with its new model 2+, an unprepossessing name for a product even more technically impressive than Fujitsu's. The new OQO machine has almost all the features of the U820, but in a considerably smaller, lighter package. There are some differences; the model 2+ has a lower screen resolution (800x480) but is available with a faster CPU and more RAM. Also, the OQO is available with an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display that really looks fantastic, with high contrast and deep saturated colors.
The model 2+ is in the same enclosure as the older OQO model 2, hence the trivial name tweak, but there's another big difference from that older product: the 2+ has a starting price of just $999, $500 less than the starting price of the 2. And the base model of the 2+ is a much better system than the high-end model 2 configuration was.
Just as there were some ARM-based Netbooks at CES, there were also some ARM-based MIDs on display. With no clear advantages over smartphones except for display size, I don't think these products will attract customers. But that problem is CPU-specific; it doesn't apply to the more powerful x86-based products.
So okay, there's some good MID hardware out there. Unfortunately, that isn't enough. What MIDs need are lower prices, more rugged designs, and some MID-optimized software. The fact that Windows runs on these small displays doesn't mean that style of user interface is right for them. I know people at Microsoft who are working on this aspect of the problem; I hope they get the chance to bring their solutions to market, ideally in the Windows 7 time frame.
All in all, there's a lot of interesting activity in these smaller form factors. I think these tiny machines face a long uphill struggle to gain market share, but at least they have a unique and clearly defined product concept: a PC in a pocket.

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