Bakhshi delved into ways that not having voice in a MID may not matter. He said that future users, including teenagers accustomed to texting instead of talking on cell phones, will redefine voice as "expression" which draws in all the various ways that consumers use mobile phones, including texting, sending photos and video.

"User generated content will come from social networking and MIDs can make money [for carriers] if they work off this idea," Bakhshi added.

He also predicted that MIDs will run on several operating systems, and on different networks, such as LTE, WiMax, and Wi-Fi. The Mondi runs on the WiMax and Wi-Fi networks, and has the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.

Bakhshi started his lecture by questioning whether the MID category will survive, but he concluded that the proliferation of high-speed networks and "changing social realities supports the MID as a new category."

Still, Bakshi added, MIDs are a "classification nightmare."