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Apple Buys Parts of Qualcomm
December 31, 2015 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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Apple has bought one of Qualcomm’s Taiwan graphics labs and is operating it pretty much under everyone’s radar to “invent” something that Qualcomm tried and failed to make successful.
The lab was used by Qualcomm to develop Interferometric Modulator Display and Apple Insider claims it is now being used to develop thinner, lighter, brighter and more energy-efficient screens.
The lab employs at least 50 engineers and has recruited talent from display maker AU Optronics and Qualcomm. Outside the lab there is no signage or much to indicate that the Fruity Cargo Cult has assumed control.
Government records show that the building is registered to Apple Taiwan, and a staff in the building were observed wearing Apple ID badges.
Bloomberg thinks Apple wants to “reduce reliance on the technology developed by suppliers such as Samsung, LG, Sharp and Japan and instead “develop the production processes in-house and outsource to smaller manufacturers such as Taiwan’s AU Optronics or Innolux.
Apple currently uses LCD screens in its Macs and iOS devices and an OLED display for Apple Watch and the new lab was where Qualcomm tried to develop to develop its own Mirasol displays.
Mirasol use a different technology to backlit LCDs or OLED. It uses an array of microscopic mirror-like elements that can reflect light of a specific colour. It does not need a backlight and only uses energy when being switched on or off, like E-Ink.
The downside to IMOD has historically been that it reproduces flat, unsaturated colours, a problem that may be possible to fix. Qualcomm introduced a Toq smartwatch with an IMOD screen, but the device flopped.
Qualcomm took a $142 million charge on its Mirasol display business and a year ago there were rumours Qualcomm was selling off its Longtan Mirasol panel plant to TSMC.
What appears to have happened is that Jobs Mob might have bought more than just the facility, and instead has some interest in using Mirasol IMOD technology which could offer an advanced technological breakthrough in enabling a new class of low-power displays for use in phones, tablets or wearables.
Courtesy-Fud
Did Intel Miss The Tablet Boat?
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has admitted the obvious – Intel missed the boat on tablets.
Speaking at the Code Conference, Krzanich said the company was slow to react to the emergence of tablets and smartphones.
“There was a belief that tablets would be a consumption device only (and) that people would come back to the laptop and the PC. There were heavy debates within Intel and it took a while for us to accept and acknowledge that data. Companies make mistakes,” Krzanich told Walt Mossberg in an interview.
In other words at least part of Intel’s failure to tap the emerging mobile market a few years ago was internal wrangling.
The course shifted under the Krzanich regime. Last Intel President Renee James and Krzanich made it clear that the company is now treating its Atom line-up just like its big cores. For years the company treated Atoms as a sideshow, making sure that they would not eat into Core sales.
ARM had different ideas and so did AMD, they went after the tablet and essential notebook markets. As a result ARM currently dominates the mobile space, while AMD managed to carve a nice niche in the entry-level x86 segment, with Brazos and Kabini parts.
Intel is fighting back, but it is paying a heavy price. The company is on track to quadruple its tablet SoC shipments to 40 million units this year, but it has to pay through the nose to get there. As for the smartphone market, Intel is all but absent.
Krzanich insists he is not giving up on the phone and tablet space. He wants Intel to take a 15 to 20 percent market share in these segments, which sounds very ambitious. Thanks to generous subsidies it has a good chance in the tablet space. This week Intel announced a deal with Rockchip, which should also boost its presence in the booming tablet market in China.
However, so far the company has not rolled out a compelling smartphone SoC and it’s lagging behind the competition in LTE integration.
Will Window 8 Tablets Launch In November?
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The first Windows 8 tablets should hit retail sometime in November and we could see a bunch of devices in different form factors.
According to CNET’s Brooke Crothers, the first wave of Windows tablets will include more than a dozen devices, but more than half of them will be hybrid designs. So, it seems Microsoft and vendors are betting on traditional keyboards to set Windows tablets apart from the competition.
The new tablets will be based on Intel’s dual-core Clover Trail Atoms, but bear in mind that Microsoft will also release Windows for ARM chips and AMD could also enter the fray with some low-voltage APUs.
Intel Goes ALL-IN On Windows 8 Tablets
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It appears that is working on a new type of NAND storage, offering higher data density and lower costs. The company believes the new triple-level cell ships are ideally suited for tablets and ultrabooks.
Samsung claims it is the first chipmaker to embrace triple-level cell (TLC) technology, but other companies are expected to follow suit. Unlike single-level cell (SLC) or multilevel cell (MLC), the new tech can store three bits per cell, greatly increasing density. The obvious offshoot is lower production cost, as TLC basically allows for more bits per wafer.
However, TLC also has some drawbacks. Due to its design, it is more prone to errors, less reliable and it is also slower than MLC. However, it still ends up significantly faster than hard drives and reliability issues can be worked out with a bit more digital signal processing.
Will Windows 8 Beat Android?
February 8, 2012 by admin
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ARM’s CEO Warren East has been having a look at his Tarot cards and has come to the conclusion that Windows 8 will probably put the fear of God into Android in the tablet market.
East said that Microsoft may have some potential advantages over Android particularly now it is going to run on chips lovingly designed on ARM. East told CNET that Microsoft’s brand recognition among consumers was a lot better than Androids and this could mean that they would go for that brand. He said consumers are familiar with Microsoft and very familiar with Windows and they’re less familiar with an Android environment. East added that it will be interesting to see how Microsoft exploits that advantage, but I think that’s a fundamental difference. He believes Android tablet sales will eventually take off as there were similarities between what happened with smartphones.
When Android phones were introduced, there was a lot of hype and nothing happened then a few years later–two years later–half a million units a day, 700,000 units a day and Android phones now are successful. East thought that everyone should give Android tablets a little bit more time. He did not think that Intel would be able to dent the smartphone or tablet market.