Contents
AMD
AMD have only once or twice talked publicly about ultra mobile devices and their efforts to address that market. So far, no-one has seen or heard of any real hardware or plans but there are rumors that ‘Bobcat’ is the keyword to watch. Other reports indicate that AMD’s ‘fusion’ concept will integrate the CPU and GPU onto a single die.
Meanwhile, products based on the LX800 and LX900 Geode processor and chipset are still going out of the door although these really aren’t competitive in the current market. Recently we have seen a low-end Turion Dual-Core offering being used in a Raon Digital ‘Note’ UMPC and this has proven to be one of the most powerful CPUs seen yet in a UMPC. No other manufacturers have yet announced AMD devices so the AMD strategy is really looking like a ‘one-off’ strategy at the moment.
ARM
ARM is the company that designs the architecture for the billions of processors used in mobile devices such as smartphones and arguably the strongest microprocessor design company in the handheld mobile computing space. The current single-core ARM11 offerings aren’t really up to the job of a quality Internet and multimedia experience but there are new cores coming through that could change this. Cortex A8 and Cortex A9 are the next-in-line offerings and promise to offer 3x the processing power (Cortex A8) in the same power envelope as ARM11 cores. Considering the current cores run with power requirements under 500mw and that the Cortex A8 could be as powerful as a low-end Silverthorne there could be some interesting possibilities and competition in the space. Add the fact that the ARM ecosystem is huge, mature and well-experienced at producing mobile devices and add the fact that Open Handset Alliance is developing an advanced, open, web-centric operating system for these types of devices (Android) and that Symbian is already working with these products and its easy to see where the big competition between ARM and X86 will start. Devices supporting Cortex A8 (watch out for Ti OMAP 3430) expected in late 2008. Devices supporting the multi-core Cortex A9 are expected in 2010. Early examples of devices are the Archos 5 and OpenPandora devices.
CPU summary:
At the time of writing, there really is only one player in the ultra mobile market. Intel. ARM and VIA are ready with new products though and these could be important in 2009. Nano from VIA and Cortex from ARM are the two key products to consider.
The UMPCPortal product pages contain processor information for all UMPCs.
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Contents
November 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Greetings:
Do you think that at CES 2009 we will see a MID with an Intel Atom Dual core CPU?
Regards Robert
Reply (threaded)
November 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
A MID? No.
They will start with 800Mhz and you might see things go up to 1.3 or even 1.6Ghz in a MID but above that and the Atom Menlow platform starts to get too hot for small fanless enclosures.
Steve
Reply (threaded)
November 7th, 2008 at 12:20 am
When are you gadget guys going to get it? I have been waiting over a year for a MID or Netbook to actually come out. MID – Mobile Internet Device, how can you have one of these without 3G connectivity native, same for the Netbook as in Internet Book?? I can’t wait to go mobile, but what are the chances that there is wife? Free safe wire?? Next to zero. If I am in the car, there is no wifi, if I am in the store there is no wifi. If I cam getting coffee there is free wifi if I have ATT, but otherwise I have to pay. As soon as they release a decent device with 3G I am all over it. Also, you put too much into the ability to mod these devices. 99% of aren’t going to solder on a part, or hack the OS. Tell these manufacturers to actually make us something and release it in the US.
Reply (threaded)
November 7th, 2008 at 9:31 am
i was wondering what you were talking about until i read ‘US,’ Europe and asia mobile telco markets are ripe now and devices are being offered with 3G built in. In America, the market isnt as advanced, is fragmented across technologies and has a high level of provider lock-in that doesnt exist in other markets.
The gadget guys have got it, its the US cellular market in general thats the problem.
Reply (threaded)