[Hands0n]

2011 has been cited the "Year of the Tablet" mobile device. We also can expect to see the Android OS arrive in its Hummingbird (Android 3.0) incarnation that promises Tablet support. Then we can also expect a whole slew of new Android mobile phones appearing. Other manufacturers will also be launching new and more powerful product to improve performance and capability of the next generation of mobile devices. That is not to take away from how far we have come already, in the short few years since the iPhone changed the game quite so dramatically.

But all of this performance comes at a cost - and we are already seeing hardware struggle to cope with the likes of Android's OS. In such cases the User Interface (UI) performance can be somewhat lacklustre, often exhibiting a jerkiness of operation or even a complete momentary freeze. And this can be seen on the highest of the high-end handsets.

Performance is not all about processor clock speeds - these having already reached the 1GHz mark in 2010. The faster these are clocked the more power is required and the more heat is generated. None of that is good in terms of battery charge cycle life and user experience.

The SoC (System on a Chip) manufacturers have all been very busy during 2010 to develop and bring to market multi-core designs, starting off with dual core. We should anticipate more cores in the near future.

What this all means is that, with an appropriate operating system, we can expect performance increases without the associated problems of shorter battery life and increased heat generation by ever higher clock speeds. And this is all pretty much in keeping with what we have seen with the desktop and laptop computing devices.

Background Information
There is a very well written article entitled Hummingbird vs. Snapdragon vs. OMAP vs. Tegra 2: ARM Chips Explained available here (http://www.tested.com/news/hummingbird-vs-snapdragon-vs-omap-vs-tegra-2-arm-chips-explained/1704/) that is worth a read. It sets out clearly and concisely what has been going on among the chip manufacturers.

Interesting times ahead indeed. My advice to anyone contemplating a new mobile device is to wait it out for the next few months. LG has already got their dual-core LG Optimus 2X into the starting gate for a general availability of March 2011 (http://www.techwatch.co.uk/2011/01/30/lg-optimus-2x-priced-at-470-dated-march-18th/) and priced around £470 at the moment, we should expect the price to fall as other manufacturers bring out their multi-core offerings.

So there we are - on the cusp of February 2011 and already the future of mobile technology looks set to get a serious shot in the arm. Bring it on.

[hecatae]

so in the value less than £100 android payg range, do you thing we'll see the first 1ghz chips being used by the end of this year?

[Hands0n]

so in the value less than £100 android payg range, do you thing we'll see the first 1ghz chips being used by the end of this year?

I do think that will be the case once dual-core is mainstream across most/all of the manufacturers. We'll probably see those chips in TV sets and other appliances also for some time to come where the UI speed is not so important.

[Ben]

One problem with the sub £100 Android phones, especially at the spec levels of the Orange San Francisco, is that they're probably loss leaders at some point in the delivery chain. We may have seen somewhat more value here than we'll realistically see for some time, especially given that our currency is weak and we have to import virtually all mobile phones.

nVidia Tegra 2 looks very interesting, doesn't it! I sincerely hope nVidia have a hit with it, they could really use a new lease of life if they're to continue as a viable single entity without desktop chipsets and with discrete graphics very much on the fringe of computing.

I suppose the most relevant chip for Apple buyers will be the A5 (assuming it's called that), though we wont know exactly what's in it until people take the first devices using it apart. No doubt iOS will fly on it, whatever it is, given how successful Apple have been at making iOS run on next to nothing!

The shocking absence? Intel! How exciting that a whole new computing sector has opened up without the monopoly of past decades? Microsoft, of course, are relatively absent also. The computing superpowers of the future are very much being born right now.

[The Mullet of G]

Nokia is rumored to be lining up a device with dual CPU's, not dual core but 2 separate CPU's both clocked at 1.2Ghz complete with Arm's Multi Symmetric Processor Design. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[Ben]

Nokia is rumored to be lining up a device with dual CPU's, not dual core but 2 separate CPU's both clocked at 1.2Ghz complete with Arm's Multi Symmetric Processor Design. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Nokia N8 Server Edition?

Followed six months later by Nokia N8 Server Edition 64GB?

[Hands0n]

Nokia is rumored to be lining up a device with dual CPU's, not dual core but 2 separate CPU's both clocked at 1.2Ghz complete with Arm's Multi Symmetric Processor Design. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.

ROTFL, only Nokia. I'd like to see the battery life on that!

[Ben]

ROTFL, only Nokia. I'd like to see the battery life on that!
I suppose it needn't be a disaster, depending on how it's implemented and how Arm's MSP design works... but it's rather hard to imagine the need for a mobile device with two discrete processors.

[Hands0n]

I suspect that the Arm MSP is more intended for tablet technology rather than mobile phones. Even if fabricated on a single slice of silicon the two [or more] processor design will entail more power usage than dual core given that each full CPU will carry additional circuitry.

I suppose if battery chemistry weren't the limiter then we would see such chips used in mobile phones, but the technology is languishing way behind anything done in the silicon world.

[Ben]

I don't think I've ever heard of multiple discrete processors used outside of workstations and servers. But then I heard that ARM have server aspirations... hence the Nokia quip :) Surely just rumour gone wrong O_o