Qualcomm has Snapdragon. Intel has Atom and Moorestown. Which of these chips is (will be) a more viable, compelling chip for the fit-in-your-pocket device and ultralight computer market? I'll let the reader decide.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon is a highly integrated chip that is shipping now. Products are due in Q1 2009.
(Credit: Qualcomm)All of these chips are targeted at mobile Internet devices, like the Apple iPhone, and ultralight (less than 3 pounds) notebooks, like the Asus Eee PC. Two (Snapdragon and Moorestown) are aimed at high-end smartphones.
Here's a very quick overview of the silicon. You decide which seem more compelling.
Atom is here now. For Intel, it is a very-low-power chip (but not considered low-power in the cell phone world), boasting a thermal envelope of about two watts, compared to 35 watts for a typical Intel Core 2 chip for laptops.
Atom, however, is not highly integrated. Graphics, audio, memory controller, and communications silicon are all on a separate chipset.
Importantly, Atom runs the same software and Web applications as any other x86 architecture Intel chip in a typical PC. This is a big selling point for Atom (or any Intel chip for that matter), according to Intel.
But Atom isn't fast. High-end Atom processors (1.6GHz) benchmark more or less on par with a low-end Celeron processor. (Celeron is Intel's low-end line of processors.) And Intel is on the record saying that Atom is similar in performance to circa 2003-2004 Pentium mobile chips.
Less is known about Intel's Moorestown (see graphic below), due in 2009 or 2010. This much is known: it will integrate additional logic, bringing it more in line with silicon designs in the smartphone market--at which Moorestown is targeted. For example, the SOC (system-on-a-chip) will integrate components like the memory controller and graphics, boosting communication speeds between these crucial devices. And, like Atom, it will run all the popular software on PCs today.
Enter Qualcomm and Snapdragon (aka Qualcomm QSD8250 and QSD8650), which is targeted at high-end smartphones and mobile Internet devices.
The key difference between Snapdragon and Atom (Intel's only well-documented processor for ultrasmall devices) is power and integration. Qualcomm--because of its background in the cell phone market where integration and low-power are the name of the game--has packed a lot of features onto one piece of silicon that is short on power consumption and long on battery life. By comparison, delivering integration and long battery life in a tiny device are not things Intel has focused on in the past.
(Qualcomm has been involved in the market for cell phone silicon since the early 1990s. Intel isn't even a player yet.)
Another salient point: Qualcomm isn't licensing the technology from ARM in the traditional sense. The company has licensed the instruction set only and then built its own processor, allowing it to boost the clock speed to 1GHz and beyond while keeping the power low. Snapdragon, however, is not a speed demon. It will offer relatively good performance within the targeted power envelope.
Key features: Snapdragon operates below 0.5 watts, is based on the newest ARM v7 instruction set, runs as fast as 1GHz, and integrates almost everything including the processor, GPS, an ATI graphics core, multimedia (digital signal processor), and 3G modem, all on one 15mm X 15mm piece of silicon (see graphic).
Qualcomm is claiming cell phone-like battery life.
The San Diego-based company is shipping Snapdragon to customers who will ship products in the first quarter of 2009. HTC and Samsung have announced that they will bring out products based on Snapdragon.
Moorestown silicon due in 2009-2010 is the closest thing Intel has to Qualcomm's Snapdragon
(Credit: Intel)Qualcomm may be preparing to launch its MediaFlo mobile TV service in the U.K.
The company this week said it has won 40MHz of wireless spectrum in the U.K. that would be ideal for mobile TV and broadband services. The spectrum is in what's known as the L-band, which is between the frequencies 1452MHz and 1492MHz.
Ofcom, the telecom regulator in the U.K., auctioned off the spectrum earlier this month. And Qualcomm, a wireless chipmaker and mobile patent holder, came away the big winner spending 8.3 million British pounds, or $16.1 million.
So far the company is keeping mum about what it will do with the spectrum. For now, the company plans to use it to test new services and products.
"Qualcomm considers that the L-band spectrum represents at this stage an opportunity to develop, test and explore a variety of emerging business models, innovative wireless services and technologies," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "However, we have not taken a decision on spectrum use."
But if the company's spectrum strategy in the U.S. is any indication, Qualcomm could be preparing to build a mobile TV network in Europe. A few years ago, Qualcomm quietly began acquiring spectrum licenses for the analog TV channel 55, which by law must be vacated in February 2009 when broadcasters must switch to digital transmission.
Qualcomm has been working with broadcasters on channel 55 to make the switch earlier so it can deploy its TV service. And the company already has 55 markets up and running. The company also acquired more spectrum in the recent 700MHz spectrum auction that will also be used to expand capacity for the MediaFlo service.
MediaFlo resells its TV service to wireless carriers. Verizon Wireless has offered the MediFlo mobile broadcast TV service for more than a year. And AT&T just started offering MediaFlo for TV service last month.
So far the demand for live broadcast of mobile TV has been disappointing, according to Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs. But the company is hopeful that it will improve as more cities get the service.
So far Qualcomm has only made MediaFlo available in the U.S. And expanding into Europe could be a challenge, since the European Commission seems to be pushing the rival standard DVB-H used across Europe.
It's that time of year again when U.S. cell phone executives gather at the semi-annual CTIA Wireless trade show to show off new products and hobnob with each other. But this year it seems like some companies are working extra hard to clear the air before they hit the Las Vegas show floor.
Trade shows are typically where companies make new product announcements. And while I'm sure there will be some new handsets and services announced at CTIA, my feeling is that some of the more troubled companies like Sprint Nextel and Motorola, will use the conference to let the press, analysts, and investors know they have a plan moving forward.
This may not be a new strategy for companies that have hit a bumpy road, but it's a trend I noticed this week as I was bombarded with a one-two punch on a couple of big stories in the wireless industry.
First, there was a story on The Wall Street Journal Web site on Tuesday night that cited unnamed sources who said Sprint Nextel was talking to Comcast and Time Warner about helping fund a joint venture between Sprint and Clearwire to launch a combined WiMax network.
The following morning, Motorola announced that it was spinning off its handset business after a two-month internal study about what to do with the struggling cell phone division that has steadily been losing market share.
And then finally AT&T and Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA announced that AT&T would finally be launching its live mobile TV service that uses the MediaFlo network, providing some positive news for a service that has seen lackluster success since it was launched more than a year ago on the Verizon Wireless network.
In one fell swoop, Sprint Nextel, Motorola, and Qualcomm, MediaFlo's, parent company have managed to preempt many of the questions they were likely to be bombarded with from reporters and analysts at the upcoming show.
"A show like CTIA gives us a date to drive towards in making decisions and getting our stories together," said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFlo USA. "We could have waited and announced the AT&T news next week, but we wanted to have the news out there so we have a story to tell. This show for us is really about being able to communicate our message."
For Sprint Nextel and Motorola, which are each going through massive upheavals as brand new CEOs try getting their businesses back on track, CTIA offers an opportunity to get a more positive story into the media.
For the past several months, Sprint's investors have been questioning the company's plans to continue funding a new 4G wireless network based on WiMax technology as it steadily continues to lose customers from its traditional cell phone business. The company's new CEO Dan Hesse has said he plans to refocus the company's attention on its core business. Rumors have been floated that Sprint might spin off its WiMax network, known as Xohm, and combine it with Clearwire's network.
Such a spin-off could make sense, especially if Sprint and Clearwire can find someone else to pay for it...like Comcast and Time Warner, as the aforementioned Journal article suggested.
According to the Journal, Hesse has been "pressing all parties to wrap up discussions in time for the wireless industry's trade show next week in Las Vegas, so Sprint can have something to present to investors."
If the deal could be announced before CTIA, Hesse could re-emphasize Sprint's commitment to its traditional business and finally put to rest concerns that investors have about its WiMax initiative.
In time for CTIAMeanwhile, Motorola is also facing some tough challenges. The company, which has seen its handset market share plummet due mostly to a lack of compelling new products, said in January, amid pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, that it would consider separating its handset business from the rest of the company in an effort to increase shareholder value and revive the struggling business. On Wednesday, it officially announced its plan to break the company into two publicly traded entities.
While some people may say the timing of the announcement the week before CTIA was purely coincidental, I would disagree. For one, the company made the announcement before it has even found a CEO for the new handset company, a move that several analysts noted as unusual.
My guess is that Motorola wanted to clear up questions about the fate of the beleaguered handset business before the big industry gathering, so the company could try to focus attention on new products that are being launched by the other half of Motorola's business, the side that sells set-top boxes to cable companies and communications gear to large companies and governments.
Of course, Qualcomm's MediaFlo isn't in the same sort of dire trouble that Sprint and Motorola are in, although the company has been beat up the past year in a series of legal battles with Broadcom and others. But a year after MediaFlo launched its live mobile TV service with Verizon Wireless, questions are brewing about mobile TV's success, or rather its lack of success. Earlier this week, Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs told an audience at a conference in Hollywood that subscriber uptake on MediaFlo has been going slower than the company would like, according to RCR Wireless News.
But news that AT&T, the largest cell phone operator in the U.S., is getting ready to launch the service in the next couple of months could help spur renewed enthusiasm.
"CTIA has become a focal point for the industry," said MediaFlo's Lombardi. "It's where we meet with press and analysts to communicate our message. So for Motorola and for us with the AT&T mobile TV announcement this week, it's about having our stories already out there."
AT&T said Thursday that it will start offering live mobile TV service from MediaFlo in May, but will anyone be watching?
AT&T first announced its partnership with MediaFlo in February 2007. Back then it said it expected the service to begin by the end of 2007. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Reuters the company waited until May to offer the service because it was "a brand new service on a brand new network, and two brand new devices."
The new service will operate on two new handsets, the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. Subscribers will get access to eight channels of live TV plus two exclusive channels. AT&T said it would make pricing information available in May when the service officially launches.
MediaFlo USA is a subsidiary of wireless chipmaker Qualcomm. Using analog broadcast TV wireless spectrum it bought several years ago, MediaFlo has built a wireless network to deliver broadcast TV service to mobile devices.
Verizon Wireless, which was the first wireless provider to work with MediaFlo, has been offering the service for more than a year. Verizon hasn't published specific subscriber numbers, but Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs said during a speech at the Tech Policy Summit in Hollywood on Wednesday that the uptake has been going slower than the company would like, according to RCR Wireless News.
Jacobs blames the carriers for not advertising the service enough. He said that carriers might be waiting for MediaFlo to increase its coverage, which he said will happen in February 2009 when TV broadcasters will transition to digital TV, the article said.
Qualcomm, which owns spectrum for the analog TV Channel 55, has had to negotiate with broadcasters in each market to be able to use the spectrum that some of them have used to broadcast TV. The network is currently operating in about 55 markets and is available to about 130 million people, said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFlo USA. Markets where MediaFlo has launched include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
But some mobile experts question whether people really want to watch TV on their phones. Verizon is charging $15 a month extra for eight channels of live TV. Perhaps the price point is still too expensive for consumers who on average spend about $40 to $50 a month on cell phone service. And as the economy dips further into a recession, I question how willing people will be to spend extra money on what I'd consider an unnecessary service like mobile TV.
It will be interesting to see AT&T's customers' response to the live TV service. AT&T already offers an on-demand video service to customers who buy certain 3G data packages.
If consumers don't fall in love with live mobile TV it could spell trouble for Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA, which has spent millions of dollars acquiring spectrum and building the network. Right now the company wholesales the service to mobile operators. But Verizon and AT&T are currently its only customers.
Lombardi said the company is in talks with other wireless operators in the U.S. But the company is also considering offering its service on any device with a small screen.
"We've had a lot of interest from car manufacturers," she said. "We've even had refrigerator manufacturers ask if we could provide TV service to the tiny screens they put on refrigerators."
Lombardi said the service could be sold much like satellite radio, which allows people to subscribe to a monthly service for about $10 per month. If subscribers want satellite radio service on additional devices, they get a slight discount on the monthly subscription for the second and third device.
"We are looking into all of these options," she said. "If there's interest, we don't want to turn away from any opportunity knocking at our door."
How do we value technology companies? Ingenuity and invention, quality of service, brand loyalty, manufacturing muscle, operating efficiency, supply-chain management, price, great place to work. There are lots of metrics.
For those unfamiliar with the wily ways of Wall Street, the stock market has its own way of expressing what it thinks of companies. It's called market capitalization or market cap for short. ... Read more
The proposed Patent Reform Act of 2007 will be coming up for a vote in the Senate in a few months. A similar version of the bill has already passed in the House.
The bill has certain relatively benign provisions, but let's ignore them since they just cloud the argument and are of little interest to either side in the debate.
United States Senate
Let's instead just cut to the chase. In lay terms, the bill makes it easier to challenge issued patents and harder for patent holders to obtain compensation through the U.S. legal system.
Regardless of how that sounds to you, make no mistake - this debate is between two opposing sides with their own interests at heart. ... Read more
Have you ever, I mean ever, copied software, a CD, a DVD, or a video tape without permission or paying? How about downloading music, video, pictures, or art?
If you answered yes, congratulations, you're just like everybody else.
On the other hand, you probably also think U.S. screenwriters are being screwed by the studios. And that China and other countries shouldn't be illegally copying and selling material copyrighted in the U.S.
That, my friend, is called a double standard.
Something else to consider:
Did you read this post about Trend Micro suing Barracuda Networks for patent infringement. Do you agree with the blogger? Do you think companies like Qualcomm, Rambus, or Trend Micro are patent trolls that unjustly enrich their shareholders at the expense of consumers? ... Read more
A source within Qualcomm has confirmed that the company quietly acquired Open Interface North America in December of 2007. Founded in 2000, Open Interface North America (OINA) is an embedded Bluetooth software developer that has provided Bluetooth software for companies such as Sharp, Sprint, Motorola, and LG. One of OINA's most recent accomplishments was a new Bluetooth streaming audio codec named Soundabout Lossless, which promised a dramatic improvement over the prevalent A2DP Bluetooth audio standard.
Qualcomm has yet to formally announce the acquisition of OINA or hint at its intended applications for the patented Bluetooth technology. When we spoke with Open Interface's Rick Romatowski in July of 2007, it was clear that OINA was excited to see its Soundabout Lossless software licensed for use in high-end wireless headphones, car audio, and home theater receivers.
Qualcomm has likely dodged a bullet that could have halted the import of some of its chips into the United States.
On Friday, the company said a judge recommended putting an end to an investigation conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission that is looking into complaints filed by handset maker Nokia against Qualcomm.
Nokia, which sells more mobile phones than any other manufacturer in the world, asked the ITC in August to ban imports of phones that included Qualcomm chips that Nokia says infringe on its patents. The patents are related to technology that enhances device performance, lowers manufacturing costs and improves battery life.
Nokia and Qualcomm have been duking it out in the courtroom for several months after the companies failed to renew a licensing agreement that expired in April.
ITC Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern recommended that the investigation end because the companies are already in arbitration to settle the dispute, Qualcomm said in a statement. The ITC has 30 days to review the decision. If the decision stands, the investigation will be terminated and Qualcomm will continue to be allowed to import its chips into the United States.
The judge's recommendation comes a few months after the ITC ruled that imports of Qualcomm chips that infringe on a patent from Broadcom would be banned from entering the U.S. The ban has been partially stayed while Qualcomm appeals the case. But service providers such as Verizon Wireless, which use Qualcomm chips in many of the cell phones they sell, has made a separate deal with Broadcom to ensure that phones on the Verizon network still make it into the country.
Chipmaker Broadcom said Monday that it has developed a new processor that integrates all key 3G cellular and mobile technologies onto a single chip.
The processor that operates at extremely low powers will enable cell phone makers to build new 3G phones in more compact form factors with very long battery lives at a fraction of what it costs today, the company said.
The new 3G "Phone on a Chip" supports the four next-generation cellular technologies used throughout the world: HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), and EDGE (enhanced data for GSM evolution). It also can transmit and receive FM radio for playing music on a car stereo. And it supports Bluetooth technology and processing capability for a 5-megapixel camera.
Broadcom claims it is at least a year ahead of competitors, such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, in terms of integrating so much functionality into a single chip. The company also said the chip is already available to a select group of Broadcom customers.
In 2006, Broadcom had only about 1.4 percent of the cell phone chip market. By contrast, TI and Qualcomm each had about 20 percent of the 2006 mobile phone chip market, according to iSuppli.
The new chip could help boost Broadcom's market share against these competitors, especially in Asia where operators are rolling out faster networks much more quickly than they are here in the U.S. market. Broadcom has been aggressively trying to get a greater share of the cell phone market for the past few years. And as a result, the company has been embroiled in a series of legal fights with rival Qualcomm.
Broadcom won an important battle earlier this year, when the U.S. government banned Qualcomm and its partners from importing devices that use Qualcomm's 3G technology, because part of the technology has been found to infringe on patents held by Broadcom.
