Category: Texas Instruments

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OMAP5 demonstrations at Computex 2012

Posted by – June 7, 2012

At Computex 2012, Texas Instruments is showing off the OMAP5 Development Platform, showing its fast GPU performance vs the iPad3, showing its fast web browser performance, showing 1080p 60fps high bitrate video playback and more.

Texas Instruments shows Wi-Fi Miracast wireless display

Posted by – June 7, 2012

This is TI showing support for the Wi-Fi Alliance’s mirroring technology, for users to beam the content on their phones, tablets and laptops to a screen using WiFi.

Texas Instruments OMAP4470 supporting Dolby Surround Sound

Posted by – June 7, 2012

TI now also shows Dolby Surround support on the OMAP4 platform.

Seshu Madhavapeddy, General Manager, Mobile Devices Business Unit at Texas Instruments at Computex 2012

Posted by – June 5, 2012

Seshu Madhavapeddy talks about how Texas Instruments works on their OMAP4 and OMAP5 processors to be in the Galaxy Nexus and in a whole range of other high-end smartphone and tablet devices.

Linaro improvements to Android 4.0.4 performance on the Pandaboard TI OMAP4430 platform


Bernhard Rosenkränzer who is the Android Toolchain expert at Linaro shows how Linaro’s version of Android 4.0.4 runs about twice as fast as stock Android 4.0.4 on the TI OMAP4430 Powered Pandaboard.

Headmounted augmented-reality game and brain activity robot remote controller


Noritsuna Imamura Director of the OESF lets me try some of his latest projects which are the headmounted Android on Pandaboard computer system that has augmented reality application that turns real people into shoot them up characters and that allows for brain activity based robot remote-controlling.

smartdevices.com.cn shows OMAP4460 10.1″ and OMAP4430 8″ Tablets at the HKTDC Electronics


http://smartdevices.com.cn is famous for having made the SmartQ tablets over the past 5-6 years, their early tablets were running some type of Windows CE I think, now their latest tablets run on the Texas Instruments OMAP4460 and OMAP4430 processors.

Metaio Augmented Reality status on the Texas Instruments OMAP4

Posted by – March 30, 2012

Metaio shows a demo featuring their latest status for augmented reality on the Texas Instruments OMAP4 platform.

InHand Hydra-T3 Ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet released

Posted by – March 28, 2012

InHand releases their new Hydra-T3 ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet. It runs on the Texas Instruments DaVinci DM3730 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 and 800MHz TMS320C64X+™ DSP, up to 1GB DDR2, up to 16GB eMMc Flash, the Pixel Qi LCD screen is the 7″ 1024×600 built using a chemically strengthened resistive touch screen layer (I wonder how readable this resistive Pixel Qi implementation is). Having been tested through the military specs MIL-SPEC, MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-461F it can support extreme temperature, fluid contaminates, solar radiation, fungus, immersion, shock and vibration. It uses a 37WHr redundant 3.7V Lithium Polymer battery for up to 10 hours of battery life. It can run Android 2.3, Ubuntu 10.10 and Windows Embedded Compact 6.

This tablet seems to compete with the Orchard Inc Toughlet which is also a ruggedized 7″ Pixel Qi tablet for military and industrial use. The military and the industry must be very eager to use the Pixel Qi screen for tablets outdoor readability, low power consumption as soon as possible.

Read more about this new Pixel Qi tablet at: inhand.com
Source: InHand press release

Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5Ghz for $259 on Woot.com today only

Posted by – March 17, 2012

Only today, the Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5Ghz is being sold for $259 at http://sellout.woot.com/

It’s basically better than the iPad3 and for half the price! Here are some of the reasons I think it’s better than the iPad3:

1.5Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 vs 1Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, Kick-stand, HDMI output, full sized USB-host port for 3G/4G/LTE dongle (for now only 3G is on the market for Europe/Asia), that full sized USB host can also be used for USB Keyboards/Mice/Hubs/Hard Drives etc, second USB-host through Micro-USB with adapter, Samba/Upnp file streaming, full codecs up to MKV 1080p high profile full bitrates with up to DTS audio (meaning any video you download from the Internet just works natively), Android Ics Cream Sandwich runs on it and is open unlike iOS (meaning you can install any app you want through any app store you want and customize the OS as you want), the 1280×800 10.1″ capacitive screen is decent although the next generation of 10.1″ 1920×1200 screens are coming (obviously for more expensive prices), etc.

Found via: carrypad.com

Archos G10 xs, Archos Elements and Arnova 50€ announced

Posted by – March 15, 2012

Archos had an investors event in Paris today, they showed a teaser video for the next generation Archos G10 xs series:

The keyboard dock magnetic screen protector is awesome. But I’d like them to use the kick-stand and attach the thin keyboard dock like a Laptop in a way there’s a mouse pad that can be used. Archos has always innovated using Kick-stands, I hope they continue and I think using the kick-stand is the best way to make the thinnest, coolest ARM Powered Tablet/Laptop convertible. If possible the kick-stand angle can be adjustable. If you’re in an airplane and the space is limited, you don’t need to use the kick-stand, the tablet can rest against the seat that is in front of you. I think the keyboard should also fit behind the tablet when the keyboard does not need to be used. Preferably in a way so that the kick-stand can also still be used even when the keyboard dock is magnetically fixed behind the tablet.

Archos claims to have technology that makes G10 the thinnest tablet on the market. Something about patented paper-thin steel assembly technology. Archos has always been good at fitting huge battery capacity in extremely thin designs. I hope that Archos manages to make a deal with Pixel Qi and use the 10.1″ 1280×800 sunlight readable screen on this one. That’d provide for 20+ hours of battery life, sunlight readability, Kindle Reader competitiveness for reading and use for education and work, and it’d use much less power thus enabling a form factor and weight in the ultra-light class of 400-something grams for a 10″ tablet. Perhaps best to use Neonode’s IR touch technology instead of capacitive for least reflections and best readability.

For the processor on Archos G10, I think that one can expect either the OMAP4470 1.8Ghz Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 with SGX544 graphics or even the OMAP5430 with SGX544 graphics which can also run upwards 1.8Ghz in frequency or more. It depends if Archos plans to release the G10 already from mid-year or if they don’t plan to release it before the end of the year.

I don’t know if Archos will continue to sell that 3G Stick solution in G10. Maybe there is a way to allow for a modem module of any of the 3G/4G/LTE types to be manually added by the user, under full warranty, in some slot on the back of the device without it having to be through a USB host port. Maybe the multi-mode wireless modems are now so cheap, can even be included on the same CPU dye, that maybe they just included it by default even on the cheapest G10 tablet and provide just an unlocked SIM card slot on the side.

Archos did mention making one Windows 8 on ARM based Tablet/Laptop convertible by the end of the year. I hope they make sure to make it dual-boot the latest and greatest Android also.

Archos Elements brings Google Certified tablets at as low as 100€/$100. My guess is that Archos Elements brings the Rockchip RK30 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 performance and higher capacitive screen resolutions than Arnova at extremely competitive pricing.

The new Arnova with Ice Cream Sandwich are going to be sold for as little as 50€/$50 at retail price!! My guess is 50€/$50 is the 7″ WVGA Dual-touch or single-touch resistive type with an RK2918 512MB RAM and Ice Cream Sandwich. It goes up to 150€/$150 retail price for what I think is probably the 9.7″ IPS capacitive RK2918 1GB RAM and Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. Basically with the new upcoming Arnova G3/G4 you get $49 basic alternative to the Kindle Fire and a $149 better-than-iPad1 tablet. Those are amazing low-priced targets for mass consumer retail Ice Cream Sandwich tablet pricing.

Archos is the top Android tablet seller in the major European markets, about equal to Samsung, in front of Asus, Acer, Motorola, Dell, LG, Toshiba and others. Archos CEO Henri Crohas sees a great opportunity to expand that lead with his company. Archos has announced a 32.9 Million € gross profit margin for 2011 on a yearly revenue of 171.4 Million €. They have announced an agreement to borrow upwards tens of millions of Euros more from one of the leading French banks Societe Generale (in exchange for stock guarantees, probably something similar to a capital increase, basically adding new stocks for cash to be used for the expansion) which Archos can use to further accelerate the mass production and mass distribution of their tablet series in the coming months.

You can discuss this post in the forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=63964

I’m on the BBC (on YouTube)

Posted by – March 13, 2012

Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC interviewed me at Mobile World Congress last week about my Motorola Kopin Golden-i Augmented Video-blogging system. By the end of the year, thanks to the fast moving world of Technology, we’ll all be walking around with compact wearable computers, augmenting our reality, it’s going to be awesome!

Appear, Kopin Golden-i Software provider, won 2nd price at CeBIT


Based at the Kista Science City, Mobile City in Stockholm Sweden, Appear talks about integrating their industrial systems software into the Motorola Kopin Golden-i headmounted computer. Here at CeBIT they talk about how people working in the railway, airports etc industries can use the Golden-i in the next level of their augmented reality system.

Archos G9 ICS Firmware update released

Posted by – March 8, 2012

Archos now releases the Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware update on their website for their OMAP4 based 8″ and 10.1″ Capacitive Android tablets of the Archos G9 series. Here’s some more information about the firmware update: http://store.archos.com/docs/Android%204%200%20Update%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

You can download the firmware update at Archos.com

Here’s the changelog:

Version 4.0.4 – March 8th, 2012

Initial Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 firmware release
MediaCenter Video: support for MKV3D on TV with automatic switch to best 3D mode
MediaCenter Video: allow to disable system notifications in video player
MediaCenter Video: collection of VOB files from DVD are now gathered into a single movie item
MediaCenter Music: integrate Music control panel in Lock Screen
MediaCenter info dialog: allow to edit the name used for performing the Movie and TVShow online search
File Manager: display a notification when file copy continues in background
File Manager: improved drag and drop support
File Manager: new option to prevent indexing of some storage/sdcard folders by multimedia library
Applications: more robust video conferencing support (Google talk, Skype etc.)
USB file transfer: a samba server is now activated on the tablet when using USB network tethering for easier file transfer on non Windows based hosts
Archos widgets: new USB network tether widget
External Keyboard: french layout has been expanded to handle AtlGr keys for special symbols
Accessories: Xbox gamepad support

You can discuss this firmware update in the forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=63669

Asus P1, portable LED Projector

Posted by – March 7, 2012

The first projector from Asus, it uses the latest Texas Instruments DLP portable projection technology, with 200-lumen, 1280×800 output, but no HDMI input, only VGA or composite inputs, it’s designed to be a portable projector to be used for business traveling. I think they should support HDMI input with the adaptor for it by default. It’s going to be released globally next month with an MSRP of 456€ in Europe.

Jig.jp Augmented Reality Glasses at Mobile World Congress 2012

Posted by – March 6, 2012

The guys of http://jig.jp are showing off their vision of augmented reality, overlaying video screens using prisms on sunglasses, the heads-up display is made by Epson. Jig.jp works on smartphone web browsers, they are suggesting to create software and user interfaces for augmented reality.

I’m interviewed on DRadio Wissen, German National Radio

Posted by – March 1, 2012

In this Interview conducted by Moritz Metz broadcast on the German National Radio Network DRadio Wissen, I talk about Augmented Reality, Head-mounted wearable computing, the new user interfaces that provides. You can listen to the 5-minute audio Interview in English at: http://wissen.dradio.de/datenbrille-golden-i-internet-im-gesicht.36.de.html?dram%3Aarticle_id=15321

You can also listen the Interview Moritz Metz did with me last year at CeBIT for the same Radio station where I talk about my job as a video-blogger here: http://wissen.dradio.de/cebit-blogger-reist-gadgets-hinterher.36.de.html?dram:article_id=8810&dram:audio_id=11295&dram:play=1

Windows 8 on ARM Consumer Preview Mobile World Congress 2012 keynote presentation highlights

Posted by – February 29, 2012

Here’s my 21-minute highlights video of the Windows 8 on ARM “Consumer Preview” event keynote at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

After the presentation, I was able to ask a few questions to Steven Synofsky and Michael Anguilo, here are some of those replies that I got:

– Desktop apps on Windows Store and Windows Store for ARM: They’ll clarify it to my email later. Steve Synofsky says it’s clear in the blog post. Windows Store is for Metro apps but there is a “parallel thing” (paraphrasing) for Desktop apps, the whole Third Party Desktop Apps for Windows 8 are not to be previewed on the Consumer Preview release yet.

– Multi-booting other OS when secure boot is in use. Steve Synofsky says that is up to the OEM. Secure Boot is a feature Microsoft provides as an option. The whole point of Secure Boot is that people cannot just “boot stuff from their garage”. But he did not seem to dismiss that OEMs can dual-boot for example Android or Ubuntu on the same device.

He didn’t say if Microsoft plans to do backroom deals with manufacturers to force them only to load Windows 8 and nothing else on devices or not, I guess not, but you never know… Maybe they do not apply “rebates” for OEMs that make things a bit “too open”, does that make any sense?

– Windows 8 remains just TI, Qualcomm, Nvidia business for now on ARM, as with Windows Phone, Microsoft limits the number of ARM Partners that can fully hardware accelerate their software platform for now. I think a lot of the other ARM chip providers are in discussions with Microsoft to see when they can also support their software. My guess is Microsoft wants a very high performance for the first supported ARM SoCs, that is why it only is being demonstrated on TI OMAP4470, Nvidia Tegra3 and Qualcomm Krait MSM8960 for now.

If I do get in contact with someone from Microsoft over email to get clarifications for Windows on ARM, please let me know in the comments what type of questions remain to be answered.

LG Optimus 3D Max

Posted by – February 29, 2012

The new 3D phone from LG.