Qualcomm Ships Dual-Core Snapdragon Chipsets 168
rrossman2 writes "Qualcomm has issued a press release revealing it has started shipping new dual-core Snapdragon chipsets. These chipsets run each core at up to 1.2GHz, include a GPU that supports 2D/3D acceleration engines for Open GLES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1, 1080p video encode/decode, dedicated low-power audio engine, integrated low-power GPS, and support for 24-bit WXGA 1280x800 resolution displays. These chipsets come in two variants, the MSM8260 for HSPA+ and the MSM8660 for multi-mode HSPA+/CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev B. The press release also lists QSD8672 as a third-gen chipset like the two mentioned, but doesn't go into any detail of what its role is. With this announcement of shipping chipsets, how long until HTC makes a super smartphone?"
Re:1080P (Score:1, Insightful)
HDMI Out a la HTC Evo 4g
Re:Give me an x86 phone...BAD MOVE (Score:3, Insightful)
That would be a very bad move since any x86 OS is both bloated, and not suited for a touch screen only interface. They all want keyboard/mouse inputs. Even Apple realized that OS/X was not the thing to run on a smartphone, while HP has dropped Windows 7 for their Slate, Google offers Android, not Chrome, for phones, and Microsoft Win 7 Mobile is really looking iffy to appear at all.
This is also why Microsoft Office and Open Office aren't available on the Android phone yet. They are not suited for this type of hardware, memory limitations, screen limitation, and lack of keyboard/mouse.
And most SSD drives these days are just about the size of your entire phone. Try to realize why a smartphone is a different paradigm altogether.
The BBC micro (Score:3, Insightful)
I hate patent lawsuits (Score:2, Insightful)
We will not get the great dream phones we all want until the current patent mess is sorted out. As soon as HTC brings out a proper iPhone competitor, Apple will sue the crap out of them, making sure that at least they drag the new product into a mire of fud and drawn out proceedings.
Net result? The customer doesn't get a better device.
Re:1080P (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, a HDMI output port would make these things much more like a small PC. Wander around with it, reading your emails, then get to the office and plug a cable into it from your TV/Monitor. Add a bluetooth keyboard and you have something every salesman, accountant, and manager dreams of.
I reckon that's the future of computing devices, not Windows anymore.
Re:Give me an x86 phone...BAD MOVE (Score:3, Insightful)
That would be a very bad move since any x86 OS is both bloated, and not suited for a touch screen only interface.
This is pure BS. Look at the upcoming Moorestown and the OSes available to run on them. MeeGo runs on it - completely touch-based OS. And, Android also runs on it. There is nothing inherent in the x86 to make it touch-averse. Where it has been lacking so far was performance for the limited power envelop. Moorestown will fix that. The next thing where it will still be lacking is not tight enough integration of communications capability - which is key to create a mobile platform that runs well with limited power consumption. Osho
Re:Power efficiency? (Score:1, Insightful)
Since it's a dual core ARM, that means it's the Cortex A9, which means the CPU going at full tilt uses at most 250 milliwatts per core. (I think the design is supposed to work at up to 2 ghz, and since this one is 1.3 ghz, it might use less than 250mw per core). Audio and video decode are supposed to be dedicated hardware and use a lot less power than a CPU core (compare to other similar devices where they give you the expected battery lifespan; it's usually 4x to 10x longer than for general purpose use).
I would guess, but can't confirm, that the GPU needs as much power as 1 or 2 CPU cores? I don't remember seeing "battery life while gaming" estimates anywhere, so I can't pull the same trick I did above with video playback.