There are some people whose enthusiasm I can’t help but admire, and Steve over at UMPC Portal is just such a guy.  It seems he ran as fast as his legs could take him to the Gigabyte booth at CeBIT last week, so desperate was he to get his hands on their HSDPA-equipped M528 Mobile Internet Device (MID), and shot the GUI demo video you can see after the cut.  Frankly, I share some of his interest in the M528; while it may only have a 4.8-inch touchscreen, the 3-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi and Intel’s backing all add up to a strong competitor to the Nokia N810.

“Something is happening behind Intel’s Atom branding that’s more than just silicon development. There’s a software infrastructure building that is big, financially supported and not far removed from the way Apple are doing things with the iPhone. The control is there. The guidelines are there. The restricted hardware set is there. The ISV process seems to be both accessible and well controlled and with 150 people working on the Moblin core and distribution through partners like Canonical and Asianux who are also working on optimisations and UI, you know there’s some big numbers involved” Steve, UMPC Portal

While UMPCs may still be trying to find their niche, even after several generations of hardware, consumer adoption of smartphones suggests that Mobile Internet Devices have a far better chance of succeeding, especially given the growing array of high-speed cellular broadband options. 

Sadly we’ll have to wait a while for the M528; Gigabyte have apparently said it’ll be several months before there’s any chance of a launch.