Mobility is set to be a huge theme this year at IDF. Just like at Computex (we’re still recovering from the barrage of netbooks and nettops we saw in Taiwan), Intel has promised us a decent amount of mobile content. There’s even an “Open Mic” session about Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) that will see over 20 companies deliver quick-fire talks on new products, ideas and innovations behind what a lot of people are calling one of the fastest markets around.

With mobile going on in big way with IDF, it’s no surprise to see companies are doing what they can to get in early before the big rush. The aforementioned talk on MIDs is on at 4 p.m. Tuesday, but as ZDNet reports, there were a few talks the day before the conference even began with Mary Smiley, director of Intel’s emerging platforms labs kicking off what we expect to be mobile madness at IDF 2008.

Her presentation talked about essentially making devices more in tune to where you are and what you want or need to function in your current environment. She explained the idea in relation to the health care industry with a concept device capable of monitoring a person’s blood pressure, weight, calorie intake and diet. An interesting idea (with a rake of pros and cons, no doubt), but there’s still an awful lot of groundwork to be done on the project.

IDF isn’t supposed to be all ifs and buts and there are plenty of products in store at IDF that are no longer in their larval stage. Similarly, manufacturers of these products are eager to announce their ideas before everything gets a little too hectic and their news gets lost in the IDF headlines.

NEC Electronics is one such company, announcing late this evening, a couple of things we can expect to see from it at IDF. Claiming to be the first company to introduce USB 2.0 host, hub and device controllers to the market, NEC plans on showcasing its progress in wireless USB technologies with a demonstration of its ExpressCard-type host controller (operating with higher-bandwidth BG3 at clock speeds ranging from 6.3 to 7.6 GHz). To prove the controller’s Wireless USB throughput capability, it will interact with the company’s Wireless USB DWA chip integrated into a Wireless USB hub.

The company will also detail its new DWA chip, which enables connection of wired USB peripherals, such as a mouse or printer, to Wireless USB-based systems. It can can also be combined with host controllers to enable high-speed wireless transmission of data between your PC and your peripherals (printer, external HD).

Source : Tom's Hardware