Those are using the cheap Qualcomm MSM7225 platform with dual-sim card support for one 3G sim card and one 2G sim card. Thus this type of phone, that could start retailing at $220 unlocked or that could be sold for even cheaper locked on pre-paid plans could be great to be used as a combination of basic Android smartphone, Mifi, using a cheap 3G data sim card and at the same time being used as your basic phone for your cheap pre-paid phone number. Gigabyte are first launching these in some eastern european countries.
Category: Exclusive videos
Texas Instruments OMAP4430 Memory Bandwidth, Desktop Computing performance
They can do Android on the phone and at the same time output Ubuntu on a HDTV or Computer monitor. In this video, TI answers some of the questions regarding the OMAP4430’s memory bandwidth for desktop computing level of performance in web browsing and other apps as well as other details about the status of this platform for use to run a full desktop/laptop OS. TI also claims to have the best Flash support, doing up to 1080p Flash video in the Android browser just software based today on OMAP4430, and Flash 11 for Honeycomb coming out in August or September should be taking full use of GPU hardware acceleration providing even smoother Flash support. OMAP4460 is the platform that TI currently is using with Google for TI’s full Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich support working on fully optimizing hardware and software.
HD Video Conferencing on Texas Instruments OMAP4430
Wow awesome. A few years ago I would film the HD video conferencing solutions that required $15 thousand setups (Lifesize, Sony Ipela, Cisco Telepresence..), now TI is showing HD video-conferencing that works on your next ARM Powered smartphone or tablet. Just connect your smartphone to your HDTV, use WiFi is available, but even over 3G and LTE, with just 512kbit/s you can do 720p video-conferencing on SIP or Skype, and with 1mbit/s upload or more you can even do 1080p video-conferencing using the latest OMAP4460 platform. This also can support up to 8 simultaneous videos. Sorry, but I am pretty much amazed. Soon enough, HD video-conferencing using just cheap ARM Powered devices will be a piece of cake.
Full Netflix support on Texas Instruments OMAP4430
Texas Instruments supports the full required security features to support Netflix HD on an ARM Powered device. They are the first to showcase it.
Citadel 3D game on the OMAP4430
Citadel is a very advanced 3D technology demo, it can be regarded as a way to benchmark the 3D performance of devices. So here it has been ported to the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 processor with SGX540 to showcase how advanced the 3D is that it can support.
VIA WonderMedia Prizm WM8710 ARM11 Gingerbread solution
VIA’s subsidiary WonderMedia launches this new ARM11 platform for tablets, with a new much faster DSP for improved video playback, improved UI responsiveness, better graphics and 3D, the target still being to cheap low cost tablets which is a rapidly expanding market.
VIA WonderMedia SmartStream WiFi Direct to HDMI output
VIA’s subsidiary WonderMedia is doing this ARM9 based platform to stream screen content to your HDTV wirelessly using WiFi Direct technology. It sounds like it ccould be a cheap way to wirelessly connect your Laptop, Tablet, even Smartphone to your HDTV without needing a cable. I wonder how WiFi Direct compresses stuff and how it manages high bitrate HD video, advanced 3D games and other such stuff.
Pixel Qi launches 10.1″ super thin 1280×800 screen
Here’s a new comparison between Pixel Qi and the iPad followed by Mary Lou Jepsen’s status report on the latest Pixel Qi news, their first showing of the new 1280×800 thinner 10.1″ wide view screen.
MHL now in several phones at Computex 2011
Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) is now presented in several of the newest coolest smartphones and Tablets, including the Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Sensation, HTC Flyer, Samsung Infuse, HTC Evo 3D, HTC Evo View 4G and more are going to be released soon.
Asus Memo, worlds first 7″ Honeycomb, they make it 3D even
Check out this awesome 7″ Honeycomb UI, they had to put a 1280×800 7″ screen to support the current Honeycomb software, that’s the first time I see such high pixel density in a 7″ screen. Honeycomb will be further customized for 7″ and smaller screens, as they will resize icons so they get to be big enough for smaller screens, and all kinds of other screen size optimizations that Google and their partners are working on. The Asus Mimic is a cool Bluetooth headset basically, but feels more like an external mobile phone. You can dial on your tablet and talk in the bluetooth phone. I really like the idea of improving the Bluetooth accessories to function with 7″ tablets that thus can stay in the jacket pocket when you receive calls or when you dial numbers. For some reason, Asus does not want to release this product with a normal 2D screen, they want to wait and ship it with this 3D parallax barrier 7″ IPS screen. Let’s hope that does not add too much cost, thickness and weight and other worse screen quality artifacts to this otherwise pretty awesome 1280×800 7″ screen experience.
Asus Padfone, put the phone in behind the tablet
This is Asus new announcement. Put their phone in a slot behind the tablet. I have tried to ask some of their representatives if this means only the phone has a processor, or if both the phone and the tablet have the same Qualcomme Dual-core processor, some have told me it’s got two processors, but someone else told me they both share the same processor. Logically there is a HDMI output and a USB Host connector in there. Dos this make sense to you? Or does it make more sense to put your phone in the pocket and the tablet wherever else you want to have it and a full power ARM SoC in each. Maybe it’s just Asus who doesn’t really want to charge double the price for this combination but prefers to try to provide the processor-less tablet as a $200-$300 accessory. This may be their Atrix dock.
Asus Slider, to be released in June
Here’s a look at the Honeycomb powered Asus Slider to be released in June. Asus says their Eee Pad Transformer is popular, is this one going to be as popular? Are they going to price this one as much as the Transformer plus the keyboard add-on?
ARM President Tudor Brown Computex 2011 keynote
Tudor Brown, President of ARM, delivers a keynote speech on the status of the ARM industry and where it’s headed. Here at the Computex 2011 trade show in Taipei Taiwan, look forward to a whole bunch of new ARM Powered devices. As 25 Billion ARM processors have been shipped thus far, look forward to even more uses for these ARM Processors, with the Internet of Things and infinite other uses to turn everything smart.
Linaro update at Computex 2011
Linaro provides an update on the latest Linaro news at Computex 2011 in Taipei.
Samsung Origen, the new $199 Exynos 4210 development board
Linaro and Samsung announced the new $199 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 development board featuring the 1Ghz Exynos 4210 processor, 1GB DDR3 memory with fast memory bandwidth.
ARM Powered Chromebooks to be released soon
As a reply to my ARM Powered Chromebook Chrome OS notebook question posted online, the Google Chrome Team confirms that while they are focusing right now on getting the Intel Powered Samsung and Acer devices out the door on June 15th, the Chrome OS team is also working hard on ARM support and the ARM Powered Chromebooks should be released soon after. Their wording is the ARM Chromebooks are “hot on the trails” of the Intel Powered ones. This could be the first mass market ARM Powered laptop ever released.
The advantage of an ARM Powered Chrome OS device is that it is thinner, lighter, runs longer on a battery and especialy could be sold for a lot cheaper. I’m expecting the ARM Powered Chromebooks to sell below $199 for them to become the new best selling notebook platform.
Trim-Slice, compact Tegra2 Desktop, now released for $199
Here’s a powerful super compact Nvidia Tegra2 ARM Cortex-A9 Dual-core 1Ghz based Desktop box, for now seems to run something like Ubuntu 11.4 (ARM netbook edition?), but the software support is a process that is a work-in-progress. Their pricing starts at $199 for the basic model, I will try to get a review unit, what do you think about this type of compact ARM Powered desktop?
Haifa, Israel – 30-Apr-2011 – CompuLab is announcing immediate availability of the NVIDIA Tegra 2 based Trim-Slice miniature computer.
Trim-Slice is offered in 3 configurations –
Trim-Slice Barebone – with 1 GHz Tegra 2, 1 GB RAM, HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet, 4 USB ports, 2 SD slots and RS232 serial port. Trim-Slice Barebone MSRP is $199.
Trim-Slice Value – adds a 4 GB micro-SD card with Linux pre-installed and a USB 802.11n WiFi adapter. Trim-Slice Value MSRP is $219.
Trim-Slice Pro – with 1 GHz Tegra 2, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB SSD with Linux pre-installed, HDMI and DVI ports, Gigabit Ethernet, built-in 802.11n WiFi, 4 USB ports, 2 SD slots, RS232 serial port and a USB Bluetooth adapter. Trim-Slice Pro MSRP is $319.
OEMs and system-integrators can order Trim-Slice in volume with customization of feature set, branding and case finish.
Trim-Slice currently runs Linux and is supported in the mainline kernel revision 2.6.39. Support for other operating-systems is work-in-progress. “We design Trim-Slice with SW developers in mind” said Irad Stavi, Director of Business Development at CompuLab. “Developers that are looking for an open cost-effective high-performance ARM platform are likely to find Trim-Slice an attractive and unique solution that is very convenient for SW development.”
Shenzhen Behind the Scenes 4: Walking around the Shenzhen smartphone market
There are about 5 huge malls on and around the Shenzhen Electronics street on Shenzhen Hua Qiang Bei, with up to 7 floors in each of these mall buildings that take an hour to walk through each floor if you want to look carefully and ask each booth about prices and what they have. Full of all kinds of electronics. This video features walking a bit around some parts of the Smartphone and Feature phone market in Shenzhen, see a bit of how the athmosphere is there. This is where I found my $87 Android Smartphone and my $120 Android powered iphone-copy.
Also watch my other videos in my series “Shenzhen Behind the Scenes“:
1: Hongda Factory tour
2: utopiacn, Apad Android Tablet maker
3: Richtechie.com, Freescale i.MX51/53 PCB designer
4: Walking around the Shenzhen smartphone market
5: 3Gnet Factory Tour
Nokia copy phone at the Shenzhen Electronics Market
Look into what the new Nokia logo with Microsoft software might look like, or not.
Goolge copy phones at the Shenzhen Electronics Market
This is what the secret new Android Ice Cream Sandwich might look like, or not.