Thanks to the Intel Insider program I was able to take part in the Mobile Dev Camp in Munich last week and what a great day it was. As with Hamburg and Amsterdam (I really must visit a Mobile Dev Camp in a country that speaks my own language soon!) I was blown away by the skill and focus of the developers and the quality of the presentations. I’m not a developer myself but I learnt a lot. I’m sure others did too.

Overall I came away with the impression that, as with Dev Camp Amsterdam, Europeans are slightly more focused towards Android than iPhone and are even continuing with Windows Mobile Symbian work due to numbers of end-users and the fact that a lot of people in Europe started in mobile software development before the iPhone boom. Switching operating systems isn’t cheap so a lot of the early software dev teams are still working with Symbian and Windows Mobile.

There’s also the feeling that the browser is coming of age. Four things seem to be driving the trend.

1. The growing number of mobile platforms and end-user devices means it becomes more expensive to cover everything.
2. Improvements in browser technology, in particular javascript engines, mean that in-browser code is now able to provide a better user experience.
3. Improvements in mobile CPUs also mean that in-browser code can be executed quickly.
4. HTML 5 elements provide a way for developers to get more creative in the browser.

Improvements in browser and platform technology was at the core of the first talk I attended. Stefan Zaunseder and Christian Schilcher from GISCAD who have both spent a lot of time researching the best technologies to use to present detailed mapping information via SVG. Should they use a client application or should they use a browser?

From the statistics they presented it appears that we’re now reaching a crossover point where, on smartphone devices, in-browser performance is finally reaching levels that can satisfy an end user. Interestingly enough it matches a lot of my own testing that indicates that the latest mobile cores and the latest browser technologies are now able to offer the end user an enjoyable way to use web-based applications without costing too much in size and battery life. Until now, this just hasn’t been possible.

Again, matching my own smartphone platform tests, it seems that the iPhone 3GS browser is leading the pack on the ARM platform. [As a quick sidenote to that topic I can say that although the ARM-based browsers are getting good, the best of the browsers on the best ARM platforms are still a long way away from the X86-based performance we see in Intel’s ultra mobility platforms. In my own javascript tests I'm seeing 3-5x more javascript performance at the same clock speed between Intel Atom and ARM A8 cores. Stefan, if you’re reading this, check out the Viliv S5!]

The second talk of the day came from Simon Tennant of Buddycloud. The subject quickly went to depths of Android coding that I’m not capable of following but I did pick up on one aspect – Power efficiency. I personally have a problem with chatty protocols over 3G but BuddyCloud are using XMPP (as are Google and others) which they say gives them a full day of connected battery life on a regular smartphone. That’s interesting because although I haven’t tested extensively, I’m finding that Skype is an absolute no-no as an always-connected service over 3G. The protocol is effectively a multi-link P2P service and extremely chatty. I hope Skype find a way to improve that. Until then I’ll be looking for clients that use XMPP!

Simon had a nice slide which highlighted 5 tips for developers. Note how important he thinks power management is. I totally agree. Power management must be a core consideration for developers now.

The third session was from Simon Schoar who has a number of applications in the Android marketplace. He spent a good hour giving tips about what and what not to do when releasing an app. If I ever get into the Android application developer game (and believe me, I did think about it a few times at MDC09!) then I’ll be getting in contact with this guy.

Mobile phone software development is still very much an ARM-based activity. With effectively 100% of smartphones being on the ARM platform it’s hardly surprising but in my talk about device segmentation I bravely (and partly in German for the first time ever) tackled the subject of device segmentation. I tried to highlight the changing crossover point between devices on ARM and Intel ultra mobile platforms and to show how small the current X86 devices have become using a big set of devices I took with me. I also highlighted some applications that I think don’t really fit onto a smartphone very well. Media playback, ebook reading, navigation and web browsing were my main examples and you can see those functions in the image below.

I also highlighted where Intel are moving to, the expected sizing of Moorestown devices and how the Moblin platform could cover everything from smartphones to netbooks. When I highlighted the numbers involved I couldn’t help but notice a few people start to make notes! It’s something to think about because as Moorestown and Medfield platforms feed-in and Moblin develops into a mature OS with a quality application delivery and monetisation process, just a  5% penetration into the smartphone / mobile internet and netbook market means many millions of end-user devices! Imagine what the numbers are going to be like if it penetrates further. Intel like to quote a total addressable market of over 400 million devices. ABI research say much the same. Keep the Intel Atom Developer Program in mind, people!

Thanks to all the organisers and sponsors of MDC09. I’m looking forward to speaking to you all again soon.

@Chippy

More MDC09 information can be found here (German, translation.)

Kicking me back into life after 3 weeks away from my desk is this special Meet:Mobility podcast about the (possible) Apple Tablet.

JKKMobile, Sascha, Warner, Xavier, Ben and Brad provided some really interesting thoughts and commentary on what the device might be like and where it will be targeted. At the end of the podcast I ask them all if they would buy one based on the current rumors and there’s a very very interesting response that tells me that the Apple Tablet is a hugely risky product!

Meet:Mobility Round-Table Podcast – The Apple Tablet | Meet:Mobility.

Image from Apple Insider.

Back in Feb, I listed a set of devices that should be high on your list if you’re thinking about mobile microblogging. It included MIDs and UMPCs. As the market for mobile social networking, mobile web search, mobile content creation, location based services and lifestreaming (my rough definition of Mobile Microblogging) gathers steam we’re seeing more and more devices coming into the segment and it’s mainly from the smartphone sector. UMPCs and MIDs aren’t getting a look-in. In fact, in my latest list, below, you won’t find a MID or UMPC.

Smartphones with bigger, higher resolution screens and high-end processors are appearing on the radar almost every week. Smartphone-based mobile software development is increasing too as more and more mobile device application stores tempt developers with easy-to-use, rich SDKs and APIs, a channel that reaches right down to millions of users devices and a good cut of any earnings.

What’s really interesting about the Mobile Microblogging phenomenon is that very little software development is happening for today’s Intel MIDs, the very devices that were targeted into this segment. Intel have stopped work on the Moblin OS for them and they’re effectively UMPCs. You could even argue that there are no Intel MIDs any more! They are being totally left behind in both software and hardware until Intel push the reset button when Moorestown MIDs with Moblin hit the market. Until then, it’s desktop operating systems for MIDs and UMPCs.

You won’t find an easy-to-use, small-screen, GPS-enabled search service on Windows. You can’t even link Google Maps to a GPS on the browser. Forget the thought of a compass helping with augmented reality, an accelerometer, an FM receiver with RDS or, if you’re into internet photography, a half-decent snapshot camera. There’s no application store either. Only on smartphones will you find the creative software and hardware that is driving the mobile microblogging market and making it exciting, fresh, competitive and, quite frankly, desirable.

Moblin-based MIDs do have a chance as do Maemo 5 based devices but you won’t find any on the market yet so it’s going to take time for the developers to warm to those platforms. Come back in 2010 to discuss that!

Apple and Android have done a lot for the new generation of mobile internet devices and usage scenarios and so it should be no surprise to see smartphones dominating this Mobile Microblogging segment to the point where UMPCs and MIDs don’t get a look-in. UMPCs and Netbooks still have big  advantages for general purpose, day-to-day productive computing but if mobile creativity is your thing, there’s nothing better than the new generation of smartphones.

One could argue that smartphones have grown into the MID segment but for me it was always about usage scenarios rather than device categories. As Intel said, communication, location, entertainment and productivity. It’s a shame that Intel’s MIDs aren’t living up to their own hype yet. (see my recent Moorestown article for thoughts about 2010)

(continued on next page…)

A few minutes after the iPhone 3GS announcement yesterday I tweeted that it was still the most important MID out there. Despite some ridiculously lame announcements (MMS and tethering for example) the fact that the processor has been upgraded, that a compass has been added along with video capability, that there’s a turn-by-turn navigation offering and the introduction of a ton of ebooks into the store highlights that it can stretch its wings across nearly all the segments that mobile internet devices should be in. Internet, gaming, photography, communications, ebooks, navigation and media playback.

The fact that it’s capable of all these things (albeit in ‘standard definition’ and with carrier-tied 24month contract) makes it important to watch. Imagine what’s going to happen within the iPhone developers ecosystem. The creativity contained within it is incredible and we’re going to see amazing applications, new usage models and a ton of new user-created data.

But…

It’s still not quite the MID most of us are looking for. Keyboard, hi-res screen, 720p recording, hi-def playback, video-out (wasn’t this supposed to be in the new OS?), removable battery, processing power, camera flash, Adobe flash and a general dash of openness are going to be big issues for pro-mobile types and that’s why it doesn’t really challenge devices like the UMID, the S5 or new devices like the Compal KAX-15 or the rumoured Nokia N900. Looking to 2010 and Moorestown/Moblin 2 the iPhone is going to look positively low-def if what’s promised comes true.

It looks like the hardware problems are solved and we could have our ideal MID tomorrow but that software ecosystem is key to gaining a fan-base, developers, word-of-mouth marketing and, quite simply, sales. Moblin and Maemo need to attract some of that creativity otherwise we’re left with some good hardware and a set of basic applications. App stores, stylish hardware, compelling API’s, unique features and attractive brands are a must.  The iPhone may not be the MID that any of us would create in our dreams but it’s still the most important MID out there.

Time draws closer to the event in which Apple is rumored to unveil a new, larger, touch oriented device. Let’s call it the iPod Plus (as Chippy coined it) essentially a device based around the concepts of the iPhone/iPod Touch (simple touch navigated software) but with less focus on the phone aspect and more focus on media and web interaction. No one knows for sure yet but people are imagining a small Slate style device with a highly touch friendly OS with a screen ranging from 5-8”. Being a happy iPhone owner, I’m very excited about the prospect of a new device that could culminate the lessons that Apple learned from the iPhone and use the great part of that experience to power a new media rich device. As I think about what it could mean for the company to release a new device, which would probably have a very different size than the iPhone and also run software that isn’t directly compatible with the iPhone hardware, I wonder if it will really happen the way that it is rumored, considering the hurdles that stand in the way.

Software and Developers

Apple has set off some sort of revolution with their App Store, an application that makes it very simple for users to find useful software for their iPhone/iPod Touch. Since the release of Apple’s App Store, we’ve seen the App Catalog for the upcoming Palm Pre, the Android Market for Android powered devices, the Windows Marketplace for devices running WM 6.5, and the BlackBerry App World for certain BlackBerrys. The concept of an App Store is great for many reasons. The biggest of which are the ease in which users can find and obtain applications and the ease in which developers can distribute their applications. By providing a virtual store for all third party software, Apple makes it easy for developers to focus on creating applications instead of having to make round-about back-ends for activation codes if they wanted to sell their applications. The App Store is an huge draw for developers.

That is apparent as Apple recently announced that the one billionth application was downloaded from the App Store. Just throwing out some rough numbers, let’s say that 50% of the applications downloaded from the App Store were free and that the other 50% cost just $2.99. If 500,000,000 applications have been downloaded at $2.99 each (Apple takes 30% of the price of the app), then you are talking about $448,500,000 of profit directly into Apple’s pocket by doing no more than providing a framework on which developers can reach an audience. Clearly the App Store and the concept of applications is very important to the success of the iPhone/iPod Touch, and I would say that Apple would need to think long and hard before coming out with a new device that would be unlikely to support some 35,000 applications which currently run across the entire iPhone/iPod Touch (gen 1 and 2) line of devices.

If they were considering this, I don’t think that Apple would release a device that is essentially a giant iPhone. More likely it seems that they would release a media rich device using an improved version of the iPhone OS (which is actually based on the full fledged OSX). Given the larger dimension of the device, and the likelihood that it won’t be phone, I think that Apple will have designed a new navigation philosophy and will probably want that experience to translate over to applications. Thus I don’t feel that they could simply port over all of the applications currently available in the App Store. Not only would the existing applications not work without scaling on a higher resoultion screen, but these apps would need to be rebuilt entirely for this new device to be compatible with the improved version of the iPhone OS and to function using the same navigation principals as Apple established with the device, as many apps in the current App Store have a consistent interface design that works to make system-wide finger navigation viable.

By releasing a new device based on different principals of user interaction and making current App Store applications incompatible, Apple would be throwing its current library of 35,000 third-party applications out the window and additionally they would be trying to split their strong base of developers.

As a developer who wants to sell an application, it would be hard for Apple to convince you to start developing for a new device that doesn’t have backward compatibility with the old devices. Any developer would realize that the current audience, which includes anyone with a 1st or 2nd gen iPhone or iPod Touch, would be much larger than a newly released device. And why might someone spend the time developing an application for the newer hardware when the audience would be so much smaller. Sure, eventually the numbers would start to even out, but it would be hard to get the ball rolling and see the same widespread development of applications on the iPod Plus as we’ve seen with current App Store apps.

Apple’s steady strategy for said devices has been based on compatibility. Even while coming out with new generations of the two devices, Apple has made it clear that they want every application in the App Store to be able to run on every generation and model of their ‘touch’ series of devices. Why break the trend now? There is definitely a time to move forward and come up with something new but Apple has seen great success with their current strategy and it might be too early for them to jump to new hardware and thus, new applications that would require that new hardware to function.

Nintendo is a company that works using a similar strategy of backward-compatibility. The company is responsible for one of the most successful handheld game consoles and part of that has to do with the fact that the handheld gaming system can play the same games from the previous handheld game generation released all the way back in 2001. Similarly, Nintendo’s Wii console can play games from the previous generation that was also released in 2001. While the Nintendo Wii definitely isn’t the most powerful of the three current gaming consoles, it is doing better than the other two in sales, partly due to its backward compatibility.

Size and Portability

I’ve recently come to realize how great the iPhone is as a gym companion. Heading to the gym to do some exercise with the iPhone in a holster on the waist has plenty to offer one who is doing various gym activities. Music is the most obvious thing that comes to mind. It couldn’t be easier to put together a playlist and with the included earbuds, you can change tracks easily using the button on the cord without even having to look at the iPhone, one can even answer and hang up calls with the same button and the ringtone comes right over the earbuds. Beyond just listening to music, the iPhone can be great for web consumption when on the stationary bike. Some people like to read a book using the little shelf on the bike, but the iPhone sits there just as well and provides a portal into one’s online life. Its great to be able to exercise while checking twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, etc.

While hunched over and tapping my fingers around on the iPhone’s small screen, I realized how great that the little magazine/book shelf would work with an iPod Plus. Imagine a 7” screen sitting flat right there where a book might go and offering a great touch navigated media experience. You could read full web pages and easily flick your way up and down the page to see the contents without having to frequently pinch zoom. Considering more powerful hardware, you could have a nice twitter app running in the background that would notify you of new updates using a Growl style notification system. Sounds great to me, but when I considered that the iPhone simply comes with me to the gym in a holster on my waist, I wondered how I would carry such a device with me.

With a 7” screen I don’t think it would be very pocketable. It wouldn’t be the companion style device that could play music for you while lifting. What does one do with a device that sits between the size of a pocketable phone and a notebook? The iPhone is usable while walking because it can be held in one hand an operated, but a device such as that which has been rumored sounds like it would need to sit down on a table and have the attention of both user’s hands in order to be operated. Sound familiar? That’s right, notebook basically needs to be put down on a table and have interaction from both hands to be effectively used, and I don’t think that Apple wants to compete with their own notebook line. Apple hit the sweet spot when coming up with a device that could be used with one hand and slip into the pocket with no problem.

Summing it up

There are certainly a lot of factors that go into the creation of a new device and I’m sure that Apple looks into this stuff with much scrutiny before trying to push a big new product. While I would love to see an iPod Plus device with a large screen that featured a great new interface and the ability to consume media rich content, I think that it is unlikely to see anything radically different from an iPhone. It doesn’t seem likely that Apple would release a device that is more powerful, isn’t compatible with the apps in the current App Store and also sits at a size that competes with the MacBook line of notebooks. What’s more is that Apple doesn’t want to split their developer community, and would have a hard time starting up the wildfire of rapid application development that was part of success of the current ‘touch’ series of devices.

Speaking of the iPhone and Bluetooth stereo today, it looks like an interesting application has been released through Cydia today. Quickly: Cydia is the application that allows you to install unofficial third part applications after your iPhone or iPod Touch has been jailbroken. (iPod Touchs don’t have Bluetooth though, sorry guys!)

So what is iBluetooth? The dev says that in its current incarnation it is capable of doing file transfers of images and audio. Maybe not everything we’ve wished for, but its a start. Here is the interesting part:

The developer says that he is charging a small fee for the iBluetooth (3.99 Euros) application for an important reason. Using proceeds from the sale of the application, he plans to purchase a full Bluetooth stack an implement it as a daemon (background service) into the iPhone so that any jailbroken application can have access to the iPhones Bluetooth with a fully supported Bluetooth stack.

What does a fully supported BT stack mean? Well for starters, it would provide A2DP stereo audio over Bluetooth. On top of that it should support all of the other Bluetooth profiles, which should make it possible for the pairing of keyboards and other devices. I’m pretty excited about the prospect of this happening and if you are as well, the dev asks you not to pursue a cracked version of the application, but instead pay for it as it will lead to the implementation of a full Bluetooth stack accessible to any jailbroken application developer.

[MeDevil]

“But Ben, my iPhone already has Bluetooth!”, I’m sure you are saying right now. Thanks to Apple, you can barely use it for anything, and support for A2DP audio streaming and AVRCP is definitely not included. Luckily there are ways around this. Take the wiRevo Stereo Bluetooth Adapter for iPod and iPhone, which you can buy today on Woot.com’s Yahoo partner site, sellout.woot.com. For anyone who has managed to avoid hearing what Woot is, it is the most famous deal-per-day site on the interwebs. They offer one item per day with a limited stock, and when it sells out, it is gone for good (translation: if you want one of these, buy quick!).

The wiRevo Stereo Bluetooth Adapter for iPod and iPhone supports A2DP and AVRCP, which roughly means that you’ll be able to listen to good quality stereo music through a pair of Bluetooth headphones. There is also a pass-through for your power adapter which means that you can charge your iPhone/iPod while the adapter is plugged in. It is sad that Apple couldn’t build this functionality directly into the iPhone’s bluetooth stack, but $9.99 isn’t a bad deal if you want to remedy Apple’s flaws, and an even better deal if you have an iPod that doesn’t have Bluetooth to start with. I’m not sure exactly which generations of iPod this works with so I’ll leave that little mystery up to you before purchasing it. Seems like this same accessory is selling for around $39 elsewhere on the internets.

This weekend brought some relatively nice weather and I thought it would be a good time for a hike. With some friends I went out to a local preserve, hiked up a large hill, and we had a mini picnic and enjoyed the warm weather. On our way back, we decided it would be a good idea to not go back the same way we came (which involved using a bridge to cross a river), but instead walk down the length of the river and find a downed tree or thin gap that we could cross. We came to a ‘good’ crossing point that had a pretty lengthy jump to a lower bank, but it would get us across. A friend leapt across and I tossed him his gear. It was my turn to jump and after a nice running start I was about to go flying through the air to the other side, when the bank gave way. Short story even shorter, most of me ended up in the water. This included my iPhone 3G which was on my belt. My first mistake was not tossing my phone to someone on the other side, and my second mistake was trusting the edge of the bank to be a good jumping point.

Anyway, the iPhone shut itself off immediately and wouldn’t turn back on; I wasn’t surprised. The phone was only submerged for a few seconds, but it was plenty of time to short some important connections. After a wet drive home, I knew what needed to be done. I pulled a bag of rice out and poured it into a bowl, then buried my iPhone in it. The rice quite readily absorbs water, and if there was any hope for the phone, the rice bath would be the thing to bring it back to life. After several hours in the rice spa, the iPhone powered on! This was a good sign, but it wasn’t completely functional yet. The hardware buttons were shorting out, and the phone constantly thought someone was holding the volume down button and the power button. I used the included SIM ejector key to eject the SIM card from the SIM slot on the top of the phone. This was good because there were visible water droplets covering the SIM card which would have caused problems later. I dried the SIM card and SIM card holder separately and put the iPhone back in its rice bath to try to continue to extract water from it, and hopefully get the hardware buttons back to a working state.

By some inconceivable occurrence, there were two grains of rice in the bottom of the SIM slot several hours later when I checked the phone again. I discovered these after the SIM would not go back into the phone. The SIM slot is a very slim space and it was really hard to see inside. I had to close one eye and line it up with an LED flashlight to be able to see the rice down there. The SIM card contact points are springy and jut out into the middle part of the SIM slot, trapping the rice and making it very hard to remove. The slimness of the space made it hard to get tools down there and around the SIM contact points to remove the rice. All-in-all, I spent at least and hour and a half looking into the slot with a flashlight, then trying to get the rice unstuck using a pocket knife and a paper clip. This was not a fun process, but after much toiling, I finally freed both grains of rice from the SIM card slot.

By this point, the phone’s hardware buttons were functioning fine. I did a restore of the software just to be safe, and had to reload all my media, which took a little while, but it was much better than being without a phone for several days and having to buy a new one.

The moral of this story? Rice not only tastes good, but can bring a soaked gadget back to life. If you are ever in a similar situation, get your device into a bowl of rice ASAP and leave it for several days to give it a fighting chance.

So that was my weekend, did any of you do anything fun?

I’ve been having a look (or should that be listen) to the music capabilities of the BenQ S6 MID device. With a stereo headphone socket and a music player as part of the built in software, the device can be used as a portable music player.

But is it any good?

A good music player needs to have a couple of areas where it has to perform. The audio quality, the navigation of music on the device, and transferring music from another computer.

Audio quality output is good, the speakers on the device happily fill my kitchen and taking it outside there’s enough volume to listen comfortably when in the park. It’s when you start listening on headphones that there’s a problem. The headphone socket (which also carries the microphone socket as well) is only a 2.5mm jack socket. The standard size on pretty much any consumer device is 3.5mm, and my favourite headphones (including my custom moulded monitors) are all that size. While you can get adaptors, I fail to see any design reasons to go for the smaller jack plug that benefits the end user.

Looking through your music on the device is not a pleasant task. Although all my MP3 files have the correct ID3 tags, with the artist, album, track numbers and album art, the S6 does not use any of that information. Once you open the media application and start navigating music, you are using the directory structure and filenames of the MP3 files, with little option to search through the meta-information.

The controls only show up on the screen when you tap the play icon next to a media file – this places the controls over the the screen for a few seconds before disappearing again. It’s not at all intuitive. What’s more, once you switch away from the media player, there are no on-screen controls you can pop up to control the music.

Finally, transferring music to the device. I had to resort to using a blue tooth transfer from my PC to get a connection to the memory card or internal memory of the S6. While I know many people will be able to do this, it is not a consumer ready solution.

Compare the hoops you have to jump through when compared to the iPod Touch and iTunes, the ease of controlling the music, and searching through with your eyes or filters, and you realise that the BenQ has some work to do to make the S6 acceptable as a music player.

Word has been spreading around lately that the second-gen iPod Touch [Portal page] has a faster CPU than any of the previous Touch devices (including the iPhones). This was a bit strange when I first read it because I own an iPhone 3G, and it was easy to see that in comparison, a friends second-gen iPod Touch was visibly faster when there were on-screen GUI actions. I thought that because it was so clear that it was just a known fact that the second-gen iPod Touch was faster. And yet here I am writing this post to let people know that in fact, the second-gen iPod Touch has a faster clock speed than the original iPod Touch, as well as the iPhone EDGE, and iPhone 3G.

From what I’m looking at, it appears as though the ARM CPU in the second-gen iPod Touch is different than those in the other Touch family devices (at first I thought it was simply a change in clock speed). Second-gen iPod Touch: 523MHz, up from 412MHz in the rest of the family of devices. Regardless of the slightly updated CPU, I think it is possible for Apple to turn up the clocks on the other devices to reach the same speed, however there are other important factors to consider before doing that, the biggest of which is battery life. It seems as though the second-gen iPod Touch’s hardware is quite a bit more efficient than the original iPod Touch. Even with the more powerful CPU, the second-gen iPod Touch has better battery life than the original. Here is a list from greatest speed to least for the Touch family:

1. second-gen iPod Touch
2. iPhone 3G
3. iPhone EDGE
4. first-gen iPod Touch

In my personal experience with all of these devices I would say that the speed differences between the iPhone 3G, iPhone EDGE, and first-gen iPod Touch are entirely unnoticeable. Only when you compare these devices to the second-gen iPod Touch can you see a difference.

The real question is why didn’t Apple mention this increased CPU speed (they didn’t mention it IIRC) especially if they managed faster speed with improved battery life? Maybe they meant to limit the CPU to the same clock as the rest of the devices but it slipped by them? Hopefully we won’t see games that cater to the second-gen iPod Touch’s faster CPU. At this point, every piece of software is interoperable across the entire Touch family, it would be a shame to see software that ‘works’ on the other three devices, but is really meant to be run on the second-gen iPod Touch.

No prizes for guessing what company said that! ZDnet highlights it with "Intel slams ‘slow’ iPhone ARM CPU."  Gizmodo follows up. Engadget too (along with a lot of comments) and now it’s reached the front page of Techmeme. Oops!

I’m all behind Intel for their work in squashing the X86 architecture down to smartphone-sized levels with Moorestown and there’s an element of truth in the fact the the iPhone is underpowered for Internet apps but the way I see it is that it’s not really about CPUs anymore and as such, it comes across rather uncool to focus on it, especially when your partners are behind schedule on getting mobile Internet devices out of the door and you still have work to do to reach smartphone levels of power efficiency.

Both ARM and Intel have reached similar (consumer acceptable) territory in terms of watt/performance [*1] with their respective core architectures and yes, Intel’s solutions are probably more powerful and will definitely be attractive to the power-user but that’s a tiny part of the equation that goes together to make a thrilling consumer device. Intel’s main task now is about the integration of the CPU, GPU, controllers and radios into the smallest space possible with the highest platform efficiency. Both ARM and Intel’s ecosystem is highly capable of achieving that but there’s even more to consider. Industrial design,marketing and most importantly, software.

Intel are betting on one of the most fragmented software environments out there – Linux. They want to create a new, mobile-focused stack with it and surround it with quality ISVs. ARM’s partners want to use Linux too but they already have well-supported stacks with the same ISVs and big dev communities around them to. To drive a new Linux stack you need control, lead (in-house, paid, full-time) developers, Linux distribution partners and, if you want to take advantage of the existing application base, the skills of the people that wrote them. That means you need to be Linux-geek-cool and you need to show the dev community that you are a caring, sharing type. You also need to have an easy channel for them. An app, store. It’s critical now, not only for the developers, but to enable an important revenue stream in e-commerce for Intel and the partners. Moblin doesn’t have either of those two elements. Highlighting your advantages is one thing but making statements that attack the other side (where some of your community sits) won’t win you any hearts in the open-source world.

To be fair, I wasn’t there and haven’t been able to hear the comments in context and having interviewed Pankaj Kedia a few times, I know that he knows what he’s talking about. Add Steve Jobs’ recent comments into the mix and the stones that came from the ARM camp a few months ago and you can understand why these comments happen. Intel’s ultra mobile products are good and getting better and there may even be an Apple product in the works that gives Intel this confidence but when I hear comments like this, it just sounds cheap.

*1 The latest ARM-based devices have almost closed the 9-second penalty I demonstrated a year ago. See this article about the Archos 5.

Update. Intel has corrected its comments in a statemnet here.

Many others have written about it. NYTimes. ARS Technica, Liliputing, GearLog are just a few. This taken direct the article at Small-Laptops.

Jobs on netbooks: “As we look at the netbook category, that’s a nascent category. As best as we can tell, there’s not a lot of them being sold. You know, one of our entrants into that category if you will is the iPhone, for browsing the Internet, and doing email and all the other things that a netbook lets you do. And being connected via the cellular network wherever you are, an iPhone is a pretty good solution for that, and it fits in your pocket.

I love that attitude. He’s effectively saying that MIDs are where it’s at isn’t he. Isn’t he? The ‘Not a lot being sold’ part is probably a nod towards their 7 million iPhone sales.

I agree with Jobs and believe the Netbooks segment is a dangerous segment to be playing in right now. I believe that the action will start to take place in other segments soon. It will only take one well-executed MID/PMP product to make heads turn and for people to realise that most of what they do on their netbooks (surfing, reading emails, IM, videos) can be done by a device that fits in the pocket. Yes I know some of you use netbooks as laptops for inputting text but to be honest, I don’t think that inputting reams of text is what most people are doing with their netbooks. When that special product comes out and when those heads turn, people like Samsung, Toshiba, ASUS could get caught out with big zero-margin netbook stocks. In fact the whole Intel Atom ecosystem could get caught out if that device turns out to be based on an ARM core and gets followed up by a raft of cool ARM-based devices from established players.

Jobs will need a product to replace the iPod in the next 18 months and a combined video and Internet device is perfect for that. There’s almost no question that Apple will do a 4-6" device and that the technology and software is there to be able to do it but the question is, when will the market and carriers be ready? End of 2009? Beginning of 2010? Apple must have tens of prototypes in the lab ready to choose from and they’re probably doing the sensible business thing by waiting.

‘Faster over fuller’ is the expression Jenn uses to describe how consumers want their browsing experience and I tend to agree. Personally I want Firefox 3+add-ons for my browser as it’s long my most important piece of software but I’m not most consumers. A consumer MID doesn’t need to be 100% FIE for most people but it does need to be close.

The browser on the Archos 5 is, relative to existing consumer and smartphone-based browsers, a big step forward in the eyes of most people that have tested it so it’s nice to confirm it with some stats. Jenn has lined-up the Archos 5, the iPhone 3G and the Nokia N810 in a browser speed test and overall, you’re seeing page load times 1.5 times faster than an iPhone 3G  and about 1.8 times faster than a Nokia N810. But is it fast enough? MIDs and low-end UMPCs are likely to beat these times and return more accurate results but does the difference really matter?

What we’re seeing here is proof of, not just a fast new Archos device, but how the ARM Cortex core could improve the Internet experience. In this case, the ARM core is sitting on the Ti OMAP platform but Ti aren’t the only people using it. Intel really do need to watch their backs in this territory now because they’re not fighting against relatively small companies like AMD and VIA here, they’re fighting against the huge ARM ecosystem and they certainly know a thing or two about mobile hardware and software.

Read about the 3-way test at Pocketables.

I have no doubt at all that this idea will raise the eyebrows of many an iPhone 3G owner. PimpMyUMPC blogger Valto has put together a presentation of a concept he calls the eXtendr. In the presentation you’ll see a slider keyboard but it you read the article you’ll see that it’s not just a keyboard idea. The concept could be used to carry speakers and batteries a bit like the original iPaq jacket and, more recently, the Digifriends MID. Because this is the iPhone though, it somehow seems to have more impact. Good work Valto!

Full news item at Pimp My UMPC

Kornel, Ben and I have summarised our thoughts on the iPhone 3G. I think we all agree it’s a MID but the contract pricing seems to be the sticking-point.

Kornel

This is the iPhone many were waiting for. Here’s what I’m excited about: improved speaker, 3g speeds and…the GPS. I haven’t yet seen an implementation of GPS in a phone that I would like. But this is Apple. Location awareness, Geotagging – all that built in and user friendly. No wonder the GPS makers are scared. Great price and I don’t expect to see contracts as expensive as in America in other countries. And then there’s always the unlock route. Closest thing to a MID you can get right now, considering they are not out.  Just sold my N95 8GB – bring on the iPhone!

Ben

The new $199 price point is extremely attractive for a phone with those capabilities, and don’t forget you are getting a top notch DAP as well. As an all in one mobile entertainment device/phone the price is extremely attractive. 2.0 firmware offers some nice updates, I’m not sure about the App Store yet. Jailbreaking an iPhone adds an incredible amount of functionality through third party apps, I’m just hoping the App Store doesn’t put Apple in conflict with the Jailbreaking community. I’m also waiting to see what kind of prices developers plan to charge. The iPhone interface has always been a joy to use and is what makes it much better than the competition in my opinion, Apple is following the right course by continuing to improve it through lots of feedback. GPS is nice but I’m hoping we won’t need to buy an application to get true GPS style driving directions. I’m somewhat surprised we didn’t see the latest BT version and wireless N. I also would have liked to see an improved camera. 3G will make the iPhone 3G a must-have for some people, but others aren’t looking forward to the ridiculous prices of 3G.

Chippy

TCO $70 per month for 2 years. No video. No camera improvements. No screen resolution/size variations (still have to zoom in and out to read/navigate), can I send an Image via Bluetooth? Can I tether? The iPhone won’t satisfy the pro-mobile user and will be too expensive for many customers. With exiting new software and hardware platforms on the horizon, I’d hate to be locked into an expensive 2-year contract with this device right now!

As you have most likely heard, Apple today announced the iPhone 3G at their annual WWDC event. The phone’s most obvious new feature is the HSDPA 3G cellular data connection that now enables the phone to have faster cellular internet connectivity. This replaces the old iPhone’s EDGE technology which was on the dial-up end of the internet speed spectrum. HSDPA in the iPhone 3G is closer to wi-fi speeds as demonstrated by Apple. The phone itself has changed very little cosmetically. We’re talking about millimeters in size differences, and a plastic back on the iPhone 3G instead of easily scratched aluminum. The iPhone 3G will be available with a black or white back.

Probably the second most significant hardware change is the addition of GPS. Apple says that the iPhone 3G will use a combination of GPS, wi-fi and cell towers to pin-point the position of the user. The iPhone EDGE used Locate Me, a function that provided a rough estimate of the users position based on cell tower information. With the addition of GPS the system is accurate enough to locate the street the user is on and give driving directions, something that couldn’t be done due to the inaccuracy of the Locate Me technology of the iPhone EDGE.

Another one of the anticipated upgrades is to the iPhone’s operating system. The iPhone 2.0 firmware will be released when the iPhone 3G comes out on July 11th. At the same time, Apple will make the update free to iPhone EDGE users, and available to iPod Touch users for $9.95. The 2.0 software will bring some increased functionality to the current feature set including things such as mass email management and contact searching. Additionally, 2.0 will bring the App Store onto the home screen of iPhone/iPod Touch users, and will allow them to download applications wirelessly to their device. The store will offer a combination of free and purchasable applications. Developers who charge for their apps keep 70% of the cost; for those who will be releasing free apps, Apple has said there will be no charges to the developer. Along for the ride in the 2.0 firmware is a lot of support for enterprise users including VPN connectivity, Exchange support, and more.

This time around Apple has worked with AT&T to subsidize the iPhone to a more attractive price point. The iPhone EDGE was released as an 8GB model for $599 USD, while an iPhone 3G will only run you $199, with the 16GB version following at $299 (of course this is all with a contract from AT&T). In addition to reduced pricing, Apple has stated its goal to release the iPhone 3G in 70 countries this year.

Check the technical specifications on Apple’s website for the dirty details of the new phone.

We’ll have some thoughts from the UMPCPortal team in a later post. Is it a MID? Is it good value? Does it improve the Internet Experience? What about video and cam capabilities? Bluetooth profiles improved?