The ASUS 1015pn was already one of the most powerful 10″ Netbooks but here at CEBIT we’ve found it running the dual-core Atom CPU at 1.68Ghz. The Crystalmark test shows better CPU performance than the 1015b (AMD C-50) but worse 2d and 3d rendering performance.
Here’s the full result with optimus enabled and then with the 1015pn locked into Nvidia mode and externally powered. See our previous post for 1015b results.
Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab
I wrote a few days ago on my personal blog about my mobile video editingI project aims. Soon after I posted that, I had a long talk with @jkkmobile who, like me, is always looking for ways to improve speed and quality while keeping the weight down. We both deeply understand the tech involved, the requirements and challenges and have come up with a set of initial thoughts that we hopebare worth sharing.
To recap, the three areas of interest are cloud-based processing, arm-based smartphone and tablet processing and traditional x86 laptops. The target for this project is a sub €600 solution that is able to post 16:9 HQ quality (480p) edited content with watermarks, titles, crossfade and other cpu-bound processes. The computer solution should weigh less than 1.5 kg. Trust me, this is quite a challenge as you’ll see below.
We quickly discussed the idea of cloud-based editing but while that might be possible over good cable networks, over 3g networks it is too unreliable and too slow. We’re both interested in this as a future possibility and Clesh is a service we’re watching closely.
As for ARM based editing on smartphones and tablets, again, there are issues. While the technology is maturing quickly and there are some interesting software solutions out there (Reel Director on IOS, Movie Studio on Honeycomb Android) these solutions need tight integration of hardware and software. We’re thinking of future cameras that include camera hardware you just don’t get in ‘general purpose’ smartphones and Tablets. For a smooth and fast editing experience we also need to wait for at least the next generation of ARM platforms. There’s definitely an opportunity for someone to make a niche ARM/ANDROID camera for mobile reporters although we’re not sure that the carriers would be too pleased about the upload usage! Software needs to mature too. Of course, it doesn’t mean you can’t post the occasional 30 second clip from a phone without editing. I plan to do some of that using the Galaxy Tab which, although not a 16:9 solution, records in 720×480 and has some very simple and easy sharing tools.
Todays video editing solutions are very much about traditional computing. X86 processors, desktop operating system, rich software, common file formats and separate devices for the camera and editing parts of the process. Many will actually tell you that you shouldn’t even think about a low cost laptop. As for netbook, people that do video editing for a living often laugh.
Having used a netbook for editing and posting videos at expos’s I know its possible. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it because JKK and I have over 20 million combined YouTube views and most of these were done on-the-go with a netbook but as I mentioned in the last post, the requirements have changed over the last 2 years and 4:3 VGA videos aren’t acceptable to many. Its a trend, it works against the mobile user but I (JKK already produces videos in 16:9) have to play along now if I’m to be taken seriously.
JKK and I agree that there are a number of approaches that can be made in the x86 world.
Firstly we’ve discounted the idea of using Apple Mac products with iMovie for mobile video editing due to the import process which converts video into the AIC format usable by the video editing software. The process simply takes too long. There are other software solutions though which could be interesting on the MacBook Air product, as long as there is no import processing. This needs further research but even if the import problem could be solved, the price of the Apple MBA products is outside our range. I’m focusing this project on low-cost and lightweight solutions.
In our discussion we repeatedly came back to Nvidias CUDA technology which allows a certain amount of general purpose computing to be done on the graphics module. It is truly a game-changing technology but it does require software to be re-written to take advantage of it.
You see, graphics modules (gpu) are very specific processing engines for 2d, 3D and video decoding. In some cases the GPU can also handle encoding but these basic processes are often not what you need for video editing. Consider a fade, an overlay, a watermark or a transition. These processes require general purpose processing on a frame by frame basis. This is why CUDA is so interesting for mobile and low power video editing; it breaks the requirement for pure CPU processing.
CUDA doesn’t just appear in high end graphics solutions because it also appears in the Nvidia ion2 platform that is offered with the netbook-class Pinetrail CPU. Beware though, this ion2 variant doesn’t include the CUDA you need for video processing. The lowest power processing platform that we have found that includes full CUDA capability is the Ion2 12″ Netbook platform. it couples the D525 dual-core, 1.8Ghz Atom with the full 16-core CUDA engine. They are not the best mobile cpus (speedstep is missing) but they are in a processing class that easily outpaced traditional netbook platforms. The ion2 solution also allows the platform to fall back to the embedded graphics thus saving power when the GPU is not needed. The platform also idles down to a very low power drain state. For our purposes, its a very interesting platform.
Examples of devices that use this platform are the Acer EeePC 1215n and the Acer Lamborghini VX6 which even offers a useful 3GB of memory. Both are around 1.5kg in weight.
But what about dropping CUDA and going for a general purpose CPU with a bit more power than Atom? It’s possible. The Lenovo U160 offers CPU options up to core i5. Could a boost in cpu equal the CUDA solution? It would certainly be more useful for general purpose activities and opens up the choice of software to that which isn’t optimized for CUDA. Using a higher-end architecture with faster bus speeds and one well matched to a GPU for more efficiency might bring benefits.
Two choices in the low-cost area that I’m looking at are the Lenovo U160 and the Acer Aspire 1830T. Both are available with a low power Core i5 and weigh about 1.4kg. The Acer has the better performance and battery life of the two according to reports I’ve read. Cost is relatively high though and it is going to be tough to find a solution under 600 Euro.
The other interesting thoughts we discussed was that of the keyboard requirement. Could we used Tablet PCs and save weight and space?
Editing movies is largely a mouse operation which means it could be suited to tablet operation. In general though, battery sizes are smaller (and spares more expensive.) I haven’t seen any Tablets with the CUDA 12″ netbook platform and there are only a few low cost options with laptop cpus. The Hanvon B10 is one of them. We see the advantage of the ‘modular’ tablet solution but we’re both wanting to keep or lapping scenario, the keyboard and the protection it brings when folded together.
JKK and I discussed a bunch of other important items too. Fast SSD helps a lot. Using fast SD cards means you can edit from the SD card without having to copy it to the hard drive first.
We also discussed file formats, bitrate and sizes. We’re currently in agreement that h.264 is the format that provides most flexibility but there’s a huge CPU load associated with h.264 that is used to compress files down much further than standard mpeg4 part 2 codecs. The important thing to note is that our initial and most important file transfer is from an SD card in a PC. The bitrate and file size can be large without affecting the transfer time significantly. Final compression into h.264 at 2 or even 3 mbps doesn’t save that much in final file size and its not important to us how YouTube sends the file out so why even bother with h.264?.
It seems to me that a recording format of Mpeg-2 at a bitrate of 10mbps would be acceptable for our sub 10 minute clips. They would be relatively easy to work with. One thing to note on this is that CUDA might not work with mpeg2 which brings us back to using a general purpose CPU. Testing is needed here. If we can find video editing software that uses CUDA for mpeg-2 editing (note that we also need to choose our output file format carefully too) then mpeg2 could be exactly the right choice of source codec.
There is other slight problem here in that there are very very few cameras that record in mpeg2 now.
Resolution, bitrate and aspect ratio.
16:9 is the ratio we need to aim for with YouTube. The lowest acceptable resolution is 854×480 with a bitrate of around 2mbps. This triggers HQ encoding in YouTube although I’ve had no problems with my 640×480 resolutions showing as HQ. Another option would be 720×480 which isn’t quite 16:9 but doesn’t look as bad 640×480.
Note: Recording in the resolution you want to output in will save processing.
Recording in 720p (1280×720) is another option but could require re-encoding to 480p before using in an editor because it’s a huge jump in pixels per frame. Ideally the camera will allow 480p and 780p at various bitrates. If you consider the requirement for viewfinder and Mic input you will only really find solutions in the video camera world. Combining a digital camera with these video requirements results in very little choice.
As for bitrates for the final upload file, it will depend on final codec and resolution. To ensure a reasonable chance of using 3g services to upload the file, a bitrate of around 2mbps needs to be used. For a 480p resolution it means you really need an advanced codec like h.264 to preserve the quality.
So in summary, mpeg2 at 854×480 at a relatively high bitrate seems like a good source and editing choice. Output files should be the same resolution but at around 2mbps bitrate in the h.264 codec.
What does jkkmobile use? He currently records in mpeg2 at a 16:9 ratio. Resolution is 960×540, bitrate either 6 or 9mbps. He converts that down to 854×480 which is 480p resolution. I’m not sure what format and bitrate he outputs to send to YouTube. If he has enough cpu power he will be using h.264 but he may be using wmv or something else that it is a little easier on the CPU. He certainly has the optimal settings for source files. His camera is a Canon FS100 which you can’t buy any more. There are other SD cameras from Canon that also offer 16:9 capture though.
A quick step back to the world of camera products shows that 1080p rules and it’s difficult to know exactly what alternative resolutions a device will offer. In addition, h.264 is the popular codec which at anything bigger than 480p resolution, will be a problem.
Can CUDA do all that we require or are we going to have to rely 100% on a general purpose CPU? From what I have read and been told, most video editing software that is CUDA-enabled is doing so on output to h.264 only. I’ve seen test result with mpeg2 source formats too so mpeg2 again looks like the best source format.
There is only one way to find out. I’m arranging an Asus 1215n loan device for CeBIT next week and I plan to do as much testing as I can. I will use JKKs cam to create some 16:9 mpeg2 source and test it with some CUDA-enabled software. Power Director from Cyberlink looks like a good starting point.
Many thanks to Think4IT Solutions for offering to help us with this project.
Stay tuned for part 2 which should come after CEBIT.
Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab
Nvidia’s ION and other discrete graphics options have really helped expand the netbook’s potential from mere web browsing to more advanced things like HD video playback and even some light gaming. The second version of Nvidia’s graphics options are now starting to hit the shelves. ION 2, combined with the dual-core Intel Atom 550 make the 10.1” Asus Eee 1015PN a small but capable machine.
Asus Eee 1015PN tracking page – Full specs, stats, links, and more
Thanks to HDMI output and the capable Nvidia graphics, the 1015PN will definitely be great for anyone looking to hook up to the big screen. Combined with desktop viewing experiences such as Boxee, XBMC, or Hulu Desktop, the 1015PN will be the perfect HDTV companion, able to deliver 720p and 1080p (and Dolby 5.1 surround sound) content without costing a fortune and all in the size of a netbook which doesn’t need to be permanently hooked up next to your TV.
The 1015PN is available on Amazon starting at $429 but it’s going quick! Amazon is currently sold out of the white, red, and blue models and only has three of the black models remaining. It might be a bit more expensive than your typical 10.1” netbook, but if you’re looking for an HD content capable netbook, the 1015PN can deliver.
It’s not confirmed right now but the Mobinnova Beam could be the first non-voice Android device to get the full Google seal of approval and if it does, it could become quite the mobile all-rounder.This is the lightest 8.9” laptop-style device we have in the product database!
The Beam is coming to AT&T with HSPA and Android with a 3D UI and a super light weight of around 820gm. That’s lighter than any other netbook out there thanks to the small, 24Wh battery and fanless processing platform based on Nvidia Tegra 2.
Sizing-wise, the Beam is slightly deeper than the EeePC 901 but significantly thinner. In terms of battery life, we’re looking at an on-net, in-use life of 8-10 hours (estimated) which means you really could leave this device on, and connected, all-day.
Pricing and availability is unknown right now but we’re watching this one very carefully. If it gets Google approval, it could signify the start of Android-based productivity and that’s why we’re reporting it here on UMPCPortal. This has pro-mobility potential.
Full specs, article links, videos in the Beam product page.
We mentioned the supposedly Android and Nvidia Tegra powered ‘Vega’ tablet a few weeks ago, and now it looks like Engadget has gotten their hands on a prototype. Jump over to their story to see the video.
The thing that will probably jump out to any of us is that the prototype is running Windows CE at the moment. It’s possible that this is just temporary while they build and fine tune the Android software that will be purportedly powering the device at launch, but I’m just hoping that they don’t rush the unit out the door with Windows CE and promise Android firmware at a later time. This would put them in some regards on the same unwanted level of the no-name MIDs I wrote about the other day (see the ‘Users as beta testers’ section). I’ve also got to mention that I’m not digging the resistive touchscreen.
At least the Tegra hardware ensures some pretty good performance. A movie playing at 1280×720 is demoed in the video and the device seems to handle it just fine. The ZuneHD might have the same Nvidia Tegra hardware, but it is too small to actually have a screen with an HD resolution, so on the Vega it is nice to see that HD decoding capability put to good use.
A company called Innovative Convergent Devices has put info up on their website about a new device called the Vega, which purportedly will be an Android 2.0 powered Slate device which will come in your choice of size: 7”, 11” or up to a whooping 15.6”.
Check the specs (likely subject to change):
And one other thing listed on the spec sheet that is rather odd: 262,000 colors (6-bit) which seems sort of low for a device that claims to be usable for HD content.
The press release on IDC’s site says that the device will be released through “Tier 1” carriers in the US, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, which should mean that the device will be subsidized. They are also set to show off a demo unit at this year’s CES (Jan 7-10) and hope to launch in the first half of 2010.
There is a lot of talk about the Vega being a “no compromise” product that consumers really want, however, I don’t know about you… but I’d call a Slate device with no physical keyboard and a resistive touchscreen just that: a compromise. Your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
I have just been watching a very interesting video from the Adobe MAX 2009 conference. It’s the Keynote from Kevin Lynch, Adobe CTO, who demos Flash Player 10.1 for mobile devices, smartphones and netbooks.
You get to see flash on Maemo, WebOS, Android, an unknown upcoming Android phone, an HP Netbook with Nvidia ION and a smartbook (Mobinova) running Tegra. There’s also the HP Mini 110 running with its Broadcom Crystal HD module (which is interesting news from May that I completely missed.) The Broadcom solution is a PCI Express Mini slot-in module that offloads video decoding (no real 3D support here unlike the ION solution) and could be an interesting option for those with a spare PCI-Express Mini slot.
Anyway, back to the Adobe video. Check out some leveling of the Intel vs ARM playing-field below.
Don’t forget that the CPU is still needed for Flash code operations and that it’s only the H.264 video that can be offloaded to a co-processor. Running Flash code on even a Cortex based platform will still be a big task and will slow down your browsing performance and reduce battery life just as it does on the desktop. Even running flash on a 1.6Ghz Atom is a chore. On the other hand, YouTube fans should get better battery life from the hardware-decoded video.
Why doesn’t someone make a Flash 10 co-processor? (Flashable of-course!)
Warning. This is another ‘our reliable sources’ story!
Shanzai.com, a website dedicated to tracking China’s tech industry, is reporting that Lenovo, and Acer will launch products based on the Nvidia Tegra platform and running Google Chrome OS.
If it’s true it means that Google OS is months ahead of schedule. Previous Google said that we wouldn’t see devices until 2010.
Apart from those ‘reliable sources’ and a few very strange looking pics that were purported to be Google OS, there’s nothing much to go on here.
Thin and light mini notebooks will come soon, I have no doubt, but there’s a huge question mark hanging over the choice of OS. Linux looks to be the big winner here but what flavor it will have is anybody’s guess.
Exclusive: Lenovo and Acer to launch Tegra devices with Google’s Chrome OS
Got any thoughts on this one?
This is a subject we discussed at length on the last MeeMobility podcast. Operating systems for smartbooks. Android appears to be a great brand but it’s not ready for the big(ger) screen yet. As far as I know, the Open Handset Alliance has never announced plans to upscale the OS to laptop-style usage so for the time being, a good brand is all it is.
Nvidia, the creators of the Tegra MID and Smartbook platform, think the same and are focusing on WinCE right now. Yes, it’s a little shocking to us too. We know the platform is mature and stable but we can’t say we’ve ever seen any good quality consumer-focused mobile internet devices running it. Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Mobile 7, extensions of the WINCE OS could carry more branding weight and attract more developers but again, it might not be the right choice for consumers.
The Nvidia info comes from an interesting ComputerWorld article.
Nvidia chose to work with Windows CE first, said Rayfield, because it “is a rock-solid operating system that has been shipped billions of times.”
Windows CE also has a “low memory footprint and a good collection of apps,” Rayfield said.
He said Nvidia is also improving Tegra for use on Windows Mobile, a close variant of Windows CE, for ARM-based smartphones.
Nvidia is working with Google to accelerate Android, which is based on Linux, when running on Tegra hardware. But it will be about a year before that delivers for smartbooks, due to existing limitations in Android, he said.
Get that? A year before Android ‘delivers’ on a smartbook.
The Tegra playing field has a number of big holes that need to be filled. CPU power, Operating Systems, Adobe Flash, a rich suite of modern applications and the all-important developer ecosystem. When you look at Moorestown and Moblin V2 and hear Intel talking about it being able to deliver better smartbooks than the ARM-based ecosystem, you have to wonder whether Nvidia can really compete. Maybe Tegra-based MIDs and Smartphones on Anroid, Win 7, Mer or Maemo would be a better focus?
This story is currently developing at MWC. Updates will be added below.
Via Engadget
“A $99 Tegra-based MID is expected to be announced by Nvidia at MWC. The MID includes full high-definition 1080p video playback and full Wi-Fi and 3G mobile broadband connectivity capabilities. The always-on device can go “days” between battery charges, a company spokesman said.”[Via PCWorld]
Update 1:
It’s not quite clear what they mean by $99. Subsidised perhaps? If so, ignore the hype on the pricing but it’s interesting to see nvidia highlight the Tegra 600-based MID (ARM core) and the Ion based PC shown in the diagram (looking like it’s based on the old HTC Shift!)
Udate 2: Press release. note that there is no mention of voice here. [Source]
SANTA CLARA, CA UNITED STATES
NVIDIA Tegra Brings Full Internet Experience to Always On, Always-Connected Devices
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 16 MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 09 — Today’s users want an always-connected device for social media applications such as Facebook and YouTube, as well as great multimedia performance for recording and watching HD movies and videos on the go.
NVIDIA Corporation, the inventor of the graphics processor, today introduced a new platform, based on the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(TM) 600 Series computer-on-a-chip that enables a $99, always-on, always-connected HD mobile internet device (MID) that can go days between battery charges.
This platform will enable OEMs to quickly build and bring to market devices that carriers can offer for as low as $99 — bringing broadband connectivity and all of the Web’s HD content to the masses.
“Mobile internet devices have evolved to provide consumers with the performance and connectivity required by today’s lifestyle,” said Michael Rayfield, general manager of the mobile business unit at NVIDIA. “Until now, consumers could get just another ‘gadget’ with limited functionality or a PC that’s not ‘always on’. A Tegra-based platform combines the best of both worlds.”
The Tegra MID delivers:
— 720p and 1080p video playback
— Days of use between charges
— Full Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity
— Optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications for a true
desktop-class internet experience
— A complete software solution including Microsoft Windows Embedded CE
OS, application viewers, full Internet browser, UI framework, board
support package (BSP), software development kit (SDK), Web mail client,
and more
“The next generation of smart, connected, service-oriented devices are centered around rich multimedia experiences and enhanced functionality,” said Mukund Ghangurde, Director, CE and Consumer Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased to collaborate with NVIDIA to develop platform resources that assist OEMs in quickly bringing these new devices to market.”
In addition, NVIDIA partnered with ST-Ericsson to add 3G communication capability into this new platform, allowing for seamless connectivity, worldwide.
“ST-Ericsson together with NVIDIA have developed a Microsoft Windows Embedded CE implementation using the ST-Ericsson U335 and the NVIDIA Tegra which is ready for customer design development,” stated Jorgen Lantto, Chief Technology Officer, ST-Ericsson. “This solution takes advantage of the high volume, IOT tested and proven U335 modem solution together with NVIDIA which takes multimedia performance to a new level.”
ICD, a leading consumer ODM, also announced support of the new class of devices enabled by this new platform.
“ICD has long believed that there will be a new generation of innovative connected devices. Designing these devices around the Tegra platform will bring carriers an amazing level of functionality at prices as low as $99,” said David Hayes, President and CEO of ICD.
Update 4: Earlier (2008) news about Tegra.
Pushing netbooks even further into the laptop space (no-one can really deny that netbooks are the new consumer notebooks now) is the Nvidia Ion chipset.
It replaces the existing 945 chipset with a smaller chip and provides a big boosts to the graphics (10x is quoted) along with hardware decoding of video formats up to HD rates and digital TV out.
This is excelent news for gamers, CAD artists and people looking for Vista / Compiz eye candy.
Does this open the doors for a slew of SD-card-based games releases and re-releases. We think that there’s gold games for the new netbook crowd. TV-out is exactly whats needed too.
Don’t forget that the platform should also be usable in the bigger (7″ and above UMPCs and tablets.)
More details in an article over at Laptop Magzine.
Nvidia Goes Netbooks: Releases Ion Graphics Platform for Intel Atom.
Something is up here. Something exciting perhaps. Either someone had a bit too much love for OQO’s ID when they hashed together a design for Nvidia’s computex webpage or OQO are indeed going to use their industrial design skills to release an ARM-based MID. Oh the mind boggles. Android? Windows Mobile 7?
Click to enlarge. That’s definitely an OQO with an Nvidia logo on it!
The OQO UMPC design is one of the best there is. Beautiful engineering. Near perfect keyboard. I’d be extremely happy to see OQO screw up all definitions of a UMPC and release this as a MID.
I’ll be trying to confirm a yay or neh in the next 30 minutes.
Update: Nvidia seem to be showcasing quite a lot of other peoples designs!
Update2: ARM issued a press release saying that Nvidia Tegra is ARM11MPCore (up to 4 cores.) Could be interesting in a handheld for browsing, audio and telephony.
In an article over at CNet, Mike Rayfield, general manager of NVidia’s mobile business reveals that the company will show its new Tegra platform and a MID reference design (left) this week.
Tegra comes in 600 and 600Mhz flavours and will be formerly revealed tomorrow if earlier news is correct. It will be interesting to see if this is a Cortex A8 based device with enough processing power to give the Atom Z-Series a run for it’s money.
The reference design looks like an oversize Nokia N96 to me which certainly isn’t a bad thing as it’s likely to have a bigger 4.8″ screen at Internet-friendly resolutions. You could also fit a nice big battery in there for all-day life.
One really interesting aspect of the ‘leak’ details is that the design is being built exclusively to work with Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile 7 is mentioned too. The article also hints that the MID-range extends from 4-inch minitablets (with keyboards hopefully) up to subnotebooks for NVidia. Stick that in your diagram Steve!
Update: Engadget published a few more details:
Update: Gizmodo have an image that seems to suggest that Tegra uses an ARM11 core but its not 100% clear where the image comes from.
I’ll be keeping an eye on new Nvidia Computex website over the next 24 hours. Also note that there’s a MID section on the ARM website that shows the N95 and iPhone as new products.
Update. ARM issued a press release. Tegra will use the ARM11 MPCore (up to four cores) technology.
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