At the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam on September 8, nokia announced their Media Terminal. To the average Linux geek, it's just another Linux system. To the consumer, it is the guts of a system that offers entertainment as well as Internet connectivity. For the embedded systems enthusiast, it is a great example of the use of Linux in an embedded system. And, for a developer, it is a platform just waiting for applications.

In the press release, http://www.nokia.com/multimedia/ibc2000/press_room.html, you can read all the expected buzzwords including Digital TV, DSL, Ethernet, MP3, World Wide Web, ISDN, cable modem and a few more. But, what does this really mean? To anser that question, let's take a quick look under the hood.

What we find inside is an Intel Celeron CPU, 20GB of disk and Linux. Add to that Mozilla and support for all the usuals such as HTML, JavaScript, GIF, JPEG, MIDI, PDF and Macromedia, and you are well on your way to a complete Linux system built to be an appliance.

On the outside, you will find a while assortment of interfaces. Actually, rather than an assortment, it could better be called a complete set. On the back, you will find up to two antenna inputs, DVB common interface, V.90 modem, two Multist A/V connectors, Analog HQ stereo audio, S/PDIF digital audio, two IEEE 1394 interfaces and 10/100Mb Ethernet. Moving to the front, you find a Smart Card slot and IR receiver. Finally, on the left, you find two USB ports and a PCMCIA slot.

While you can't plug in your favorite ISA SCSI controller card from five years ago, it certainly seems like expandability isn't an issue. Basically, if it has to do with audio or video and is state of the art, the Media Terminal is ready to talk to it.

Besides a typical entertainment-style remote control, Nokia has a keyboard-based remote. It is specifically designed for web browsing.

This product was just announced and we haven't had a chance to see one "in the flesh". Once they are available, you will see a detailed review--inside as well as outside.