Intel: Mini-internet for mobiles will 'disappear'

Mobile shrink-down versions of websites will soon be a thing of the past, says a senior Intel executive.

Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's mobility group, told ZDNet Asia in an interview that mobile versions of web pages, typically stripped of bandwidth-heavy elements such as images and embedded elements, make for such an unsatisfactory surfing experience that people will gradually abandon them altogether.

"There is just 'one' internet. It is very difficult to sustain mobile websites. Attempts to make a 'second' internet [for mobile users] will disappear," Perlmutter said Tuesday, at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China.

Although the mobile phone is generally acknowledged as the device upon which people in emerging markets will access the internet for the first time, Perlmutter sees opportunity instead in the low-cost PC space to bridge the gap between emerging and developed markets.

The simple reason for this, again, is the unsatisfactory experience of browsing on a small device, he said. "Even though I have my BlackBerry, once I get into a hotel room, I immediately get on a laptop, because I need the bigger screen and the full keyboard," Perlmutter said.

A crucial piece in the puzzle is in keeping costs down for small, internet-capable devices, he explained.

Intel has been on a big push to penetrate the MID (mobile internet device) market — a space in which the chipmaker has traditionally not participated. The semiconductor giant recently christened its new line of low-powered processors targeted at low-cost PCs, dubbed Atom.

"Up till now we've been focusing on notebooks," said Perlmutter, noting that while the company has no plans to slow down in that respect, MIDs are expected to provide a new wave of revenue for the company.