Nanotech - The Circuits Blog

Consumers won't see a "Qualcomm Inside" sticker on new Windows Mobile phones, but the chip supplier is playing a big role in powering the first crop of phones based on Microsoft's new operating system.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday the first phones to carry the Windows Phone brand and run the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system--which offers Adobe Flash support, an upgraded browser, and menus that can be navigated with a finger. AT&T has already announced smartphones, with dozens more expected to be rolled out by the end of the year.

HTC HD2 packs a 1GHZ Qualcomm processor

The Tilt 2 and Pure both use Qualcomm MSM7000 series processors, as do a number of other new Windows Mobile phones. These chips typically run at 528GHz--a fairly common speed grade for mobile phones.

Toshiba TG01

But it's at the high end where things get interesting. The Apple iPhone-like HTC HD2 and Acer neoTouch use Qualcomm's latest-and-greatest processor, the 1GHz Snapdragon, also known as the QSD8250.

The HTC HD2, for example, packs 512 MB of ROM memory, 448 MB of RAM, claims video playback battery life of up to 8 hours, and a uses a relatively large 4.3-inch diagonal screen (specifications here.)

And Toshiba has been shipping a Windows phone since June that also uses the Snapdragon processor. Only 9.9 millimeters thick, it integrates a 4.1-inch WVGA 800x480 384k pixel resistive touchscreen and comes with support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and assisted-GPS.

Snapdragon itself supports high-definition (720p) video decode and cameras ranging up to 12 megapixels.

Qualcomm won't stop at 1GHz: the San Diego-based company has demonstrated Netbooks running a 1.3GHz Snapdragon processor and will eventually push the chip to 1.5GHz. Future Qualcomm chips will be dual-core and support 1080p (laptop-class) high-definition video.

But there is still plenty of chip competition in the smartphone market. Though Qualcomm's presence is unmistakable in this first crop of Windows Mobile 6.5 phones, it competes with Texas Instruments in the broader cell phone and smartphone markets. "Qualcomm is a newcomer on the block in terms of applications processors," said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at market researcher In-Stat, adding that TI's OMAP processor is the most widely-used processor.

A standalone applications processor is roughly analogous to the main Intel or Advanced Micro Devices processor in a PC: it is basically the brains of a smartphone.

Speculation about a rumored Apple tablet may be an exercise in futility, but it is an interesting exercise nonetheless. In this case, my speculation will extend to what may be inside an Apple tablet.

Will the design philosophy spring from the notion of an upsized iPhone or a downsized MacBook? I believe it will be the former since this is a more natural evolution of the hardware and software. But I will entertain both options.

Because this tablet is rumored to appear in 2010, the Intel silicon possibility--however remote--is, I believe, as follows.

First scenario: Intel's in a tablet with laptop lineage. This will offer higher performance and better power savings than the current Atom processor--which is Intel's most power-stingy chip technology. Pine Trail integrates a graphics processor onto the same piece of silicon as the main processor--a first for Intel. (Intel's future "Arrandale" Core i series mobile processor, in contrast, will put the main processor and graphics into the same chip package, not onto the same chip.)

Intel's next-generation integrated graphics silicon technology is largely unknown. But tablets should deliver graphics performance that doesn't disappoint, as this is a shortcoming often brought up by critics of Netbooks.

A real tablet based on a 600MHz ARM processor: the Archos 7

(Credit: Archos)

The more likely non-Intel tablet.

Second scenario: Apple's ARM silicon in an upsized iPod/iPhone. This seems a much more likely scenario than Intel silicon. The that, according to reports, runs at 600MHz. How Apple would tweak this design for a tablet is so highly speculative that I will not hazard much of a guess.

Suffice to say, inside of Apple there is more intellectual capital invested in ARM-based designs than Intel-based ones because of the and the success of the iPhone. And the fact that the iPhone's ARM processor has "Apple" stamped on it should not be overlooked.

Here's the guess that I will hazard: a faster processor analogous to Qualcomm's ARM-based 1GHz Snapdragon processor. that they had co-developed a 1GHz chip similar to the processor that currently powers the iPhone 3GS. And this is the same kind of processor that Qualcomm is targeting for , which could be either a Netbook or tablet.

Freescale's concept "smartbook" tablet

(Credit: Freescale)

Graphics is less clear but U.K.-based Imagination Technologies provides the PowerVR graphics core inside the iPhone's ARM silicon. And Apple has expressed a keen interest in Imagination in the chip design firm to 9.5 percent.

And as a final thought, it is interesting to note that speculation about an Apple "iPad" has gone beyond mere individuals to . Do they know something that we don't?

Texas Instruments and Qualcomm executives talked Wednesday about the opportunities they see for the just-announced Google Chrome operating system.

Prototype Qualcomm Snapdragon processor-based device

(Credit: Qualcomm)

The Chrome operating system is "lightweight," a term that Google uses, meaning the OS runs fine on less hardware. Chrome will initially be targeted at Netbooks--essentially ultra-small laptops--that will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010, according to Google.

Both TI and Qualcomm believe the Google OS will provide more opportunity for new-fangled devices to gain wider acceptance. And both believe this is an opportunity for their respective ARM processors--which power many of the world's cell phones--to gain more ground.

Analysts see the makings of a broad realignment in the computer industry. "What Google is betting on with the Chrome OS (is a) shift in computing and consumer behavior," Charles King, president and principal analyst at Pund-IT, wrote in a research note on Wednesday. "If that scenario truly comes to pass, it could disrupt the efforts of virtually every vendor focused on personal computing."

Texas Instruments, which has been working with Google on the Chrome OS, expects big changes in the design of devices, according to Ramesh Iyer, TI's head of worldwide business development for mobile computing.

"Netbooks are really the tip of the iceberg. We need to fast forward into the future and think of things beyond the Netbook thanks to this initiative from Google," Iyer said in a phone interview. TI's OMAP ARM processor powers a number of cell phones and smartphones including the recently-announced Palm Pre.

"We see the future being cloud computing really. You are walking around with a simple tablet, that is probably no thicker than the thickness of your display. It may have a (physical) keyboard, it may have a soft keyboard. ... Read more

The 1GHz smartphone has arrived. A Japanese telecommunications carrier is the first to launch a device based on Qualcomm's much-anticipated Snapdragon processor.

The Toshiba-Docomo T-01A uses Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chip.

(Credit: Docomo)

Docomo is now offering the T-01A in Japan, while Microsoft is pitching the phone on its Japanese Web site.

This would mark the first commercially available product using the Snapdragon chip, a Qualcomm spokeswoman confirmed Monday. The chip's claim to fame is that it's an ARM design running at 1GHz. Typical ARM architecture chips used in mobile phones, such as the iPhone 3G S, peak at about 600MHz.

A legion of other chip suppliers offer ARM-based chips for mobile devices, including Texas Instruments, Freescale Semiconductor, Samsung, Nvidia, STMicroelectronics, and Broadcom.

The Toshiba-Docomo T-01A--which will be offered outside of Japan as the TG01--runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and is designed to take on the iPhone. Only 9.9mm thick, it uses a 4.1-inch WVGA 800x480 384k pixel resistive touch screen and comes with support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and assisted-GPS.

The TG01 is also slated to be available in Europe this summer.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon supports high-definition (720p) video decode, 3D graphics (up to 22M triangles/sec), XGA display support, a 12-megapixel camera, and mobile broadcast TV.

Qualcomm has been talking up the Snapdragon (aka QSD8250) since November 2007, when the company announced initial sample shipments of the chipset.

And Qualcomm won't stop at 1GHz. The San Diego-based company has demonstrated Netbooks running a 1.3GHz Snapdragon processor and will eventually push the chip to 1.5GHz.

The future Qualcomm QSD8672 will be a dual-core Snapdragon that features two CPU computing cores and will include HSPA+, up to 28Mbps download speeds, 1080p high-definition video, Wi-Fi, mobile TV, and GPS. The graphics core is based on Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit's technology.

Pricing is not immediately available.

(Via Engadget)

An Eee PC Netbook based on a Qualcomm processor that runs Google's Android operating system looks promising as an alternative to the millions of Netbooks out there tethered to Intel Atom processors and Microsoft Windows.

An Asus Qualcomm-based smart-book is a promising alternative to Windows-Intel Netbooks

(Credit: Asus)

Asus was showing a Netbook at the Computex conference in Taipei running the Android OS on top of Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, according to this TweakTown video.

When Asus plans to ship a Netbook based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor isn't clear and Asus is not disclosing its plans (later this year?), but it becomes even less clear when you add Google's Android operating system to the mix. Michael Rayfield, an Nvidia executive, doesn't expect Android Netbooks to appear commercially until next year.

What is clear, however, is that these Netbooks are different from the Windows-Intel variety. Qualcomm is calling them "smartbooks" rather than Netbooks to draw attention to the fact that they will operate more like smartphones: standard 3G connectivity, always-on, and all-day battery life.

And what makes this Asus demonstration at Computex interesting is that all Asus Netbooks to date have run on Intel processors. Obviously, Asus thinks the Snapdragon technology is different enough to warrant a separate design.

Other specification for the Netbook include a 10-inch screen, a built-in Webcam, and a universal 3G radio that supports UMTS and CDMA networks on all frequencies used globally, according to an IDG News report.

Qualcomm said Sunday that it is adding new Snapdragon silicon to its series of chips for Netbooks and other small devices while it showcases devices at the Computex conference in Taipei.

Snapdragon-powered devices will come in various designs

(Credit: Qualcomm)

The San Diego-based company announced that it is expanding the Snapdragon chip platform with a next-generation chipset that uses the 45-nanometer process technology to provide faster processing, significant battery life improvements, and other enhancements.

The chips are targeted at smartphones and so-called smartbooks. The latter is a category of small devices that, in some cases, will be similar in appearance to Netbooks but will emphasize 3G connectivity and be sold through telecommunications companies. Netbooks are small laptops typically powered by Intel's Atom processor.

The new Snapdragon QSD8650A chipset, scheduled for sampling before the end of 2009, runs a 1.3 GHz processor, achieving 30 percent higher performance as well as enhanced multimedia and 2D/3D graphics, Qualcomm said. Current Snapdragon silicon runs at 1GHz. The chip uses a manufacturing process based on the same 45-nanometer geometries that Intel currently uses for its processors.

"Utilizing 45nm technology also allows power consumption improvements such as up to 30 percent lower dynamic power (over) previous-generation Snapdragon products and an unmatched standby power of less than 10 millwatts," Qualcomm said.

Qualcomm also said that the company's device manufacturing partners will be showcasing devices powered by Snapdragon chipsets. The company will hold a press conference to highlight these new devices and discuss its smartbook strategy on Monday at Computex.

Demonstrations of Snapdragon-based devices will include Asus, Compal, Foxconn, High Tech Computer (HTC), Inventec, Toshiba, and Wistron.

"We feel the Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm holds great promise, and look forward to collaborating on groundbreaking new consumer products that redefine what is possible on a mobile device," Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC, said in a statement.

"Thanks to the unprecedented performance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets, we look forward to delivering a new type of user experience to the market," Alan Tsai, the senior vice president of Business Group 2 of Quanta Computer, said in a statement.

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Qualcomm and Freescale Semiconductor are ready to begin pushing a category of devices that they say are cheaper, lighter, and more connected than Intel-based Netbooks.

And just to make sure that the difference is crystal clear, both companies are calling the category "smartbooks."

"We are relabling with the term 'smartbook.' We are joining others in using this term," said Glen Burchers, director of global consumer segment marketing at Freescale, in a phone interview Thursday. "The manufacturers that are using ARM-based devices are cooperating in using this terminology," according to Burchers.

"The smartbook is the smartphone experience on a larger form factor," according to Luis Pineda, vice president of marketing at Qualcomm's CDMA technologies division, speaking during a teleconference on Thursday.

So, what makes a smartbook different from the Netbooks being sold by companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard? Netbooks use an Intel Atom processor and, typically, Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. Smartbooks will use processors based on an ARM design and the Linux operating system. And 3G connectivity will be standard--like a typical smartphone.

ARM chips offer better power efficiency than Atom processors and ARM-based devices come with virtually no cost overhead for the operating system. "The primary distinction between them (smartbooks) and the existing crop of Netbooks will be longer battery life--eight-hour battery life--slimmer form factor, and lower price point," said Burchers.

One Snapdragon-based prototype uses a tablet motif. Both Qualcomm and Freescale say that the term smartbook will encompass multiple designs. 3G connectivity--the standard for smartphones--is key.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

Other distinguishing features are "instant-on" and "persistent connectivity," according to Burchers. "The idea is that the device is intelligent enough to go fetch your emails and your messages automatically. And this is what you'd expect from a smartphone," he said, trying to emphasize that the device would operate in some ways more like a smartphone than a Netbook.

Qualcomm, for its part, has a Web site dedicated to smartbook prototypes and concept devices and lists standard features such as 3G mobile broadband, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and HD video. Qualcomm hosted a dinner at the The Wall Street Journal's "D7: All Things Digital" conference, where company executives discussed the smartbook strategy.

Qualcomm's smartbooks will be powered by its Snapdragon processor, while Freescale's chips use an uncatchy "i.MX515" moniker. Both companies license the basic chip design from U.K.-based ARM. In Qualcomm's case, it has an ARM architecture license which allows the San Diego, Calif.-based company to do major modifications to the basic chip design.

Another Qualcomm prototype is a classic clamshell design. Some Freescale-based devices will also be clamshell designs.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

The first smartbook devices are appearing from so-called original design manufacturers or ODMs, which typically don't market under their brand name but supply devices to large PC makers which then slap on their brand. Wistron and Pegatron, both ODMs, will be showing Freescale-based 10-inch clamshell devices at the Computex conference, Burchers said. Computex starts next week in Taipei.

"These are the first near production-ready devices that we expect to find a home at OEMs (brand-name device makers) before Christmas time this year. We should definitely be able to hit the $199 retail price," according to Burchers.

Nvidia--while not tying itself to the smartbook nomenclature--is also expected to show devices based on its ARM-based Tegra processor at Computex. Nvidia has been touting a $99 "HD mobile Internet device" that telecommunications companies would offer with subscription plans--the route that devices based on Qualcomm and Freescale chips are also expected to take.

Netbooks, by contrast, are typically priced between $300 and $500.

One the challenges facing all ARM-based device makers is the lack of a Windows operating system--a problem that XP- and future Windows 7-based Netbooks don't have. Freescale and others are looking to Google's Android OS, due commercially in devices next year, to counter the marquee draw that Windows has.

"The potential that Google has--this has got everybody's attention," Burchers said. "One thing that's driving that is the Google brand. The second thing is that finally there's one-stop shopping for an operating system that is an alternative to Windows. Linux (generically) is an alternative to Windows but it is fragmented. There are too many derivatives," according to Burchers.

Until the potential of Android in smartbooks is realized, the lack of a Windows operating system will always pose a problem for some consumers, especially in laptop-like clamshell designs.

"The biggest inhibiting factor is that it doesn't have any legacy (established PC) operating system compatibility because Microsoft is unlikely to provide native support for it near-term," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at investment bank Collins Stewart. "For the mainstream market, unless they get Microsoft compatibility it's going to be a long road," Kumar added.

Handset heavyweight Qualcomm is set to butt heads with Intel as it readies its high-performance Snapdragon chip.

Qualcomm VP Mark Frankel with the Toshiba TG01 (in hand) and Wistron Netbook.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

I sat down with Mark Frankel, vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, last week to discuss the prospects for Snapdragon and Intel's increasing presence in small devices.

"From a business perspective and design win perspective, things have only increased since Q4 of last year," Frankel said of Snapdragon.

Toshiba will be the first to bring out a Snapdragon-based smartphone. "Toshiba is this summer. That's the only Snapdragon 'hard' device that's been announced so far. You'll see many more over the course of the year," Frankel said.

The Toshiba TG01 Windows Mobile-based phone was unveiled in February. It uses a 1GHz Snapdragon (aka the Qualcomm QSD8250 chipset), is only 9.9mm thick (versus 12.3mm for the Apple iPhone), runs Windows Mobile 6.1, sports a 4.1-inch WVGA 800x480 touch screen (versus 3.5-inch for the iPhone), and comes with support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and assisted-GPS.

(See video below of Qualcomm-developed game running on the Toshiba TG01 and Snapdragon.)

Acer and Asus, among others, are also expected to bring out Snapdragon-based products.

It took a long time for Qualcomm to reach this point. In November 2006, Luis Pineda, Qualcomm's senior vice president of marketing and product management at the time, told ZDNet UK that "chipsets based on Snapdragon should become available towards the end of 2007, with products appearing the following year." That didn't happen, of course.

Nevertheless, Qualcomm--as the leading provider of core silicon in cell phones--has a long history of providing chips for high-profile phones. The T-Mobile G1, which runs Google's Android operating system, is powered by Qualcomm's processor, for example.

One of Snapdragon's purported fortes is its performance. The chip runs at 1GHz, a milestone for the power-frugal ARM architecture, which typically yields processors that run at much lower speeds. (U.K.-based ARM licenses a basic chip design to companies including Samsung, Nvidia, Toshiba, and Panasonic, which take the design and modify it for their specific needs.)

Snapdragon boasts an ATI graphics engine, too. In February, Qualcomm acquired Advanced Micro Devices' ATI handheld chip technology, which includes intellectual property for "unified shader architecture" that has been used in Microsoft's Xbox.

Frankel said the ATI graphics engine will improve. "Going forward, you'll see more and more innovation done in-house," he said.

Qualcomm is also going multi-core, an established trend at Intel and AMD for PC and server chips but not for handheld devices because of the power requirements. And even Intel abandoned--though this may change later this year--multi-core in its Netbook Atom line-up because it would make Atom too power hungry.

"It is possible to have multi-core versions just as there are multi-core versions of Intel and AMD processors," Frankel said. "We do have a pretty robust CPU road map. (A dual-core) chip has been in development for some time. And it's well under way. It's sampling this year. You won't see it product this year. You'll see version one of Snapdragon," he said.

The Qualcomm QSD8672 dual-core Snapdragon is expected to reach speeds of 1.5GHz.

Qualcomm is gaining in global chip rankings by revenue, while Intel still sits comfortably at the top, according to market researcher Gartner.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $255 billion in 2008, down 5.4 percent, or a decrease of $14.5 billion from 2007 revenue, according to the final market share analysis released by Gartner on Wednesday.

"While sales held up fairly well in the first half of 2008, in the third quarter the industry started to soften as the economy slowed, and by the fourth quarter sales were deteriorating quickly, causing revenue growth to go into negative territory," said Peter Middleton, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

Intel held the No. 1 position for the 17th consecutive year, increasing its market share to 13.3 percent in 2008, although revenue declined by 0.5 percent, a result of spinning off its NOR flash memory business, Gartner said. "The company outperformed the industry average due to the strong performance of its notebook business in which the company gained share throughout the year," according to Gartner.

(Credit: Gartner)

Reports on Thursday say Intel, whose shares have been gaining over the last month, may fare better than expected when it reports earnings on April 14. "We think the first-quarter results will beat Intel's internal forecast and consensus estimates and expect second-quarter guidance to reflect modest growth," The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, quoting Wedbush Morgan analyst Patrick Wang.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, however, should probably keep an eye on its flourishing California rival, San Diego-based Qualcomm--the "best performer" among the 2008 top 10 in Gartner's market share analysis. The world's largest supplier of cell phone silicon saw growth of 15.3 percent, driven by a strong first three quarters of the year. It jumped in ranking from No. 11 in 2007 to No. 8 in 2008.

Samsung, the No. 2 chip vendor, was among the hardest hit because its main products lines are memory, a chip category that saw steep declines in 2008. The company's revenue fell 15 percent in 2008 as a result of oversupply and consequent price drops in DRAM (used as the main memory in PCs) and NAND flash (used as storage in cameras, digital music players, and solid-state drives).

No.3 Toshiba saw revenue fall 10.3 percent in its lines of chips for consumer, wireless, and automotive electronics due to a market free-fall in the second half of 2008, Gartner said.

Broadcom led the rankings in 2008 for "Relative Industry Performance"--which measures the difference between industry-specific growth for a company and actual growth, indicating which companies are outperforming (or underperforming) their business segments. Broadcom benefited from solid performance in the set-top box business, helped by Blu-ray and digital TV products and the sale of digital converter boxes for the DTV conversion in the United States, Gartner said. Broadcom also fared well in Ethernet switches, broadband modem chips, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.