Business Tech

Though the Motorola Droid and Apple iPhone have different chassis, their high-octane engines are similar.

The internal similarities begin with performance: both devices are fast. The iPhone 3GS is already distinguished for its speed. And the Droid is quickly garnering similar accolades.

"The Droid makes a big leap in internal performance. Compared with its rather sluggish Android predecessors," CNET Reviews said, citing the speed at which the Droid opens applications and menus and scrolls through lists and switches display screens.

"We're really pumped to see all the industry excitement it's created," said Jeff Dougan, the OMAP 3 product marketing manager at Texas Instruments, which supplies the OMAP 3430 processor that powers the Droid. "This is the first handset that truly realizes the full potential of Android," he said, referring to Google's Android 2.0 operating system that runs on the Droid phone.

The TI processor, like the one in the iPhone, is based on an a new architecture called Cortex-A8 from U.K.-based chip design house ARM, whose wide variety of chips populate most of the world's cell phones. Dougan says most smartphones currently on the market use an older, lower-performance ARM architecture than the Cortex-A8--with the exception of the Palm Pre, which opted for the newer TI chip. The Cortex-A8 provides a "two to three times performance boost" over older architectures, according to Dougan.

Max Baron, an analyst at Microprocessor Report, says the chips in the Droid and the iPhone (see not below) are so alike that differences are more dependent on the operating systems the two chips use and how successfully each phone maker optimizes the OS. "With chips that have near-similar specs, the optimum OS and the look-and-feel of the user interface may make or break the product," Baron said.

"The caveat, however, is that even small differences in chips will surface and become important differentiators as soon as the market forces you to increase the screen size or add more pixels per screen, or execute more power-consuming applications," he added.

The raw MHz ratings on the chips are slightly different. The processor in the iPhone 3GS--which is believed to be based on the Samsung S5PC100 processor--runs at 600MHz, according to most accounts. The Motorola Droid's TI chip is rated at 550MHz though theoretically it can be run as fast as 600MHz, according to TI's Dougan.

Both phones also use PowerVR graphics from Imagination Technologies--a company that both Apple and Intel have invested in, testifying to how hot its ultramobile graphics technology is. The PowerVR SGX is renowned for its ability to process several million triangles-per-second--a key indicator of graphics chip performance--blowing away other phones and the previous version of the iPhone.

Other internal specifications are similar between the two phones, including memory capacity (either 16GB or 32GB) and communications chips that offer 3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections.

So, internally the Droid is every bit the iPhone's equal. And future versions of TI OMAP 3 chips that may appear in upcoming Droids will be backed by formidable ecosystems, according to Baron. "Investments in application software may lean more toward the TI components," said Baron, given TI's strong support of the entire chip ecosystem, including auxiliary chips and software development tools.

Note:: Apple's and Samsung's reluctance to release information about the processor used in the iPhone 3GS has made it difficult to determine if the chip is based on the Samsung S5PC100, according to the Microprocessor Report's Baron. Many iPhone 3GS reviews and teardowns, however, state explicitly that the iPhone's processor is essentially the Samsung S5PC100 processor.

ARM, the company that designs chips for the world's smartphones, said handset makers will deliver the first models using more than one processor core next year, as high-end mobile phones begin to mimic the hardware attributes of PCs.

And that means top smartphone suppliers such as Apple and Palm, which both use ARM-based processors, will likely deliver models packing at least two cores inside the main processor--referred to as an application (or applications) processor.

This is a natural progression for high-end smartphones like the iPhone and Palm Pre as the software those phones run gets increasingly sophisticated.

"You'll definitely see handsets shipping with a dual-core A9 in 2010," James Bruce, wireless segment manager for ARM, said in a phone interview earlier this week, referring to the next-generation Cortex-A9 processor from ARM.

The Palm Pre uses a processor based on the current-generation Cortex A8. The iPhone also uses an Apple-branded chip that is based on an ARM design.

"The A8 is just a single core while the A9 will be dual-core, all the way up to quad-core to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost," Bruce said.

He said the move to dual-core phones should happen relatively quickly. "It's very aggressive. It's only going to be in a year's time that you're going to get these phones," he said.

And what about power consumption, a critical concern for smartphones looking to deliver all-day battery life? "What we've done on the A9 is actually make it more power efficient than the A8. The dual-core A9 will be coming out on 45-nanometer rather than the (current) 65-nanometer process," Bruce said. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power-efficient the processor is.

Bruce continued. "With the dual-core running at maximum load there's probably going to be an increase of about 10 to 20 percent in power consumption but in general day to day use you're actually going to see better battery life."

... Read more

Apple and Palm have dialed up a nice little smartphone skirmish.

At Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple announced a new version of the iPhone, called the iPhone 3G S. It's got the same design and pricing as the current iPhone 3G model, but sports a faster processor that Apple says will load most apps somewhere between three to five times faster. It also comes in improved capacities, all the way up to 32GB up from 16GB.
•  Apple selling iPhone 3G S at 8 a.m. June 19, AT&T at 7 a.m.
•  Where does the iPhone 3G S get its speed?

Apple announced that iPhone OS 3.0 will be available worldwide June 17 as a free update to iPhone customers, and as a $9.95 update for iPod Touch owners. For an overview of what the software does, see our previous news roundup from the mid-March developer event.

Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel executives said the launch of the much-anticipated Palm Pre hit a sales record for the company. Neither Sprint nor Palm is discussing specific sales figures, but Tim Donahue, vice president of business marketing for Sprint, said the launch exceeded the company's expectations.

While the crowds that showed up on Saturday morning to buy the Pre at Sprint stores and other retail locations where the phone was offered were small in number compared with the crowds that have gathered for the past two iPhone launches, analysts are calling the launch of the Pre a success.
•  Palm picks Apple veteran to run company

The dark horse in the race, Nokia said its flagship smartphone, the N97, which was announced in December, has gone on sale in the U.S. at the whopping price tag of $699. This price isn't that shocking considering the phone will also be offered in Europe for a comparable price.

The reason the price of the N97 is still so high is that Nokia is not selling it through any particular carrier. Instead it will be sold to U.S. customers in Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago as well as online.

More headlines

Europe to get Windows 7 sans browser

Aiming to appease regulators, Microsoft plans to ship Windows 7 in Europe without Internet Explorer, though computer makers will have the option to add it back in.
•  Who wins, loses with browser-less Windows 7
•  Opera lashes out over browser removal
•  EU responds to Microsoft's browser move

Apple bashes Windows 7, talks Snow Leopard

As part of the WWDC 2009 keynote, Apple's Bertrand Serlet takes a few swipes at the competition and talks about the next version of Mac OS X.
•  Apple refreshes iPhones, MacBooks, and OS X at WWDC
•  Apple: Next Mac OS X unlocks chip power
•  Apple finalizes PowerPC divorce with OS upgrade

Microsoft to discontinue MS Money

The software maker has notified financial institutions that it plans to stop selling its long-running personal finance program.
•  How Intuit managed to hold off Microsoft

French 'three strikes' piracy law dealt setback

The French Constitutional Council rejects a key provision of controversial law that would deny Internet access to those deemed to be copyright scofflaws after two warnings.
•  Jammie Thomas suffers pretrial setback in copyright case

Hybrid trucks strut on Capitol Hill

The Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., plays host to a showcase of hybrid possibilities for the commercial trucking industry.
•  Ethanol made from straw flows at Shell pump
•  Former Tesla CEO sues company, current CEO Musk

2.8 million not ready for DTV transition

As the June 12 deadline for the digital-TV switch approaches, the number of homes not ready represents 2.5 percent of the market.
•  Yes, Virginia, the DTV transition still isn't over

Also of note
•  Google polishes competition charm offensive
•  DOJ steps up Google Books settlement probe
•  Do we still need the Webby Awards?
•  China to require censorship software

Texas Instruments raised its outlook for the second quarter Monday, as analog chips and processors for high-end smartphones like the Palm Pre drive sales.

In a "scheduled update" to its business outlook for the second quarter of 2009, TI said Monday that it expects revenue of between $2.30 and $2.50 billion, compared with the prior estimate of between $1.95 and $2.40 billion. Earnings per share is now expected to be between $0.14 to $0.22, compared with the previous estimate of between $0.01 and $0.15.

Though analog chips are the biggest driver of sequential growth, TI is also seeing a bump in sales of its application processors that go into smartphones such as the Palm Pre. TI's 600MHz OMAP 3430 processor is the brain inside the Pre. The chipmaker also supplies power management, audio, and USB silicon for the Pre.

"Orders were strong in April and May," said Ron Slaymaker, vice president and head of investor relations at TI, in a conference call on Monday afternoon. "We see strength in smartphones--the high-end segment of the market," he said.

And Sprint Nextel executives said Monday that the launch of the Palm Pre on Saturday hit a new sales record for the company. More good news for TI.

The competition to get silicon into the latest and greatest smartphone and mobile Internet device is severe. TI vies for silicon real estate with Samsung, Qualcomm, and Marvell. And the field is getting increasingly crowded: PC industry heavyweights Intel and Nvidia are focusing their considerable resources on the market. Intel, the largest chipmaker in the world, clearly wants to be a major player in the smartphone market by 2011.

And Apple is in the business, too. Though Apple would like it if the iPhone remained a black box (it doesn't matter what's inside, it's the Apple brand on the outside that matters), it is involved in the design of the processors inside its iPhones, according to analysts. The processor inside the iPhone is supplied by Samsung, but branded as an Apple chip.

The TI chip in the Pre is a superscalar design based on the Cortex-A8 core from U.K.-based ARM. The 3430 features "a dedicated level-2 cache and execution of up to twice as many instructions per clock cycle" over previous chips, according to TI documentation. It also integrates a Powervr SGX 2D/3D graphics accelerator.

LAS VEGAS--When Acer and Asus first started pushing Netbooks, it was all about flash memory. But now, a majority of the small, Atom-powered notebooks have hard drives. And Bill Watkins, chief executive of hard drive market leader Seagate, likes it that way.

When the two Taiwanese Netbook makers first talked with Seagate about the category, they told Watkins they didn't need storage for their tiny Atom-powered, Linux-based Netbooks since they'd be used only for surfing the Web and all data would be stored in the cloud.

Just two years later it's a totally different story. Besides more customers preferring Windows XP, Seagate says probably one in four Netbooks now have solid-state drives, and the rest are good old-fashioned mechanical drives.

"For us, it's a big win, since we can sell a lot of drives then," Watkins said in an interview here at CES. "Everyone tries to low-end storage, but they can't get away with it."

Not that he thinks the Netbook is all that great an idea for PC makers. Most of them dismiss the idea that Netbooks will cannibalize traditional notebooks, as Dell did earlier Friday at its press event. At that, Watkins scoffs. "It's a low-end notebook. And it's just chewing into the $800 notebook market," he said.

Seagate's chief is known for being rather frank in his opinions, and his take on this year's CES was no different.

Regarding the much-buzzed about Palm Pre, Watkins says the company nailed it. "It's a better iPhone. It's taking the things the iPhone doesn't do well and improving them," he said, like a physical keyboard instead of a virtual one.

And a trend he likes is pico projectors. Not for the actual gadgets themselves, but the idea that people are finding ways to get content off their devices in new ways. The form factor itself isn't ideal.

"Why would you want to carry an extra device around?" he asks. "Once they're integrated into devices, (pico projectors) will be cool. That's the next step of taking content off devices and finding different ways to enjoy it."

Seagate is here at the gadget extravaganza to push its consumer-oriented storage solutions, like the FreeAgent HD Theater device that allows media stored on an external drive to be connected by dock to both PC and TV.

Consumer storage is one of the only areas that's growing for Seagate. The PC ecosystem has been battered by the troubled global economy--the industry is expected to see negative unit growth in 2009, a first since the tech bubble burst in 2001.

As for Seagate, hard drive shipments were lower in December 2008 than September 2008, the first time ever, said Brian Dexheimer, the company's chief sales and marketing officer. But consumer storage devices like the FreeAgent drives have been the one bright spot, with sales rising 15 percent on the year.

The company, he said, is preparing for a "very conservative outlook" this year.