Of course it doesn't matter, since this turned out to be a misunderstanding of some sort, but I can't resist running numbers on these things...
800x480 in 4.1" is 228 PPI.
1024x576 in 4.99" is 235 PPI.
1024x576 at 228 PPI is 5.16".

To me, <5" wouldn't be all that amazing, if there were some good reason 4.99" was substantially better than 5.16; more likely I'd expect them to keep the same PPI, but who knows...

Well I would definitely give up a speaker to get that display. Not gonna happen though...

I doubt they will increase the ppi any further anyway though. People complain about it as it is(I love it though...).

No soup for you.

It's about competition indeed however NIT's competition is not merely limited to the MID space.

Yes, and the MID space is getting narrower. From the smartphones segment, we will have the Palm Pre and maybe the Android G2 (or whatever it will be called). And at the upper limit, we have the cheap linux netbooks which increasingly gaining mainstream acceptance.

In any event, since the SDK is released now, this "hibernation" discussion will end.

I LOL'ed!!1!

Where else will we post random pictures of recently-announced-but-not-released products that might be competitors to the upcoming tablet?

Yeah, I guess we could start new threads with equally provocative titles, along the lines of, "LOOK OUT NOKIA! YOUR DOOMED NOW!"

Can you get a "comfortably" pocketable device in a 5.16 inch screen?

I'm glad somebody liked the joke. I debated whether to use the wink emoticon.

Smartphones and netbooks both existed when MID was first discussed, so I don't think it's narrowed at all. The distinction between phones and MIDs? A phone is a device made for holding up to your ear and talking into. Admittedly, this one is a little fuzzy, with stuff like the tacophone and the N810 ostensibly on opposite sides of it, but both in the "marginal useful, and not really made for it" category. But the Pre is smaller than the iPhone, and AFAIK the G2 will be no larger the G1; they're not stretching into the MID space at all. The only recent development that seems to push it at all is the N97, and that only in styling; it's no larger than a G1. (Sizeasy)

MIDs vs. netbooks is an almost unambiguous distinction. If it's a clamshell, it's a netbook. If it's a touchscreen slate (possibly with slider), it's a MID. IMHO, there's more room for confusion between smartphones (Navigators and the like) and netbooks than between MIDs and netbooks. The only potentially confusing options are convertible touchscreen clamshells, of which there are hardly any, and they all seem more netbook than MID. And again, most of the recent growth in netbooks is in the upward direction, with 10 and even 12" displays instead of the original 7-9" size, not encroaching on MIDs at all.

Netbooks aren't actually growing in size though. The original eee had a ginat LCD bezel, big enough to fit the LCD from the 901. The smaller LCDs were a cost saving measure, not about form factor. Now that they have grown in popularity, more and more 10" LCDs are coming out in order to provide more usable keyboards. The 12" dell mini for example is pretty much a flop. The future of netbooks is going to be in ultrawide LCDs to allow for big keyboards and HD movies.