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Transmeta set to Introduce Crusoe Processor
senthilp sent us a nice article about Transmeta which basically wraps up all the loose ends hanging out, and sums up the leading speculation on what transmeta will announce. The officail launch date for Crusoe is Jan 19 (next wed) and
Chris DiBona is gonna be there with a richochet on his laptop and hopefully broadcast to IRC what is going down. So anyway, we've only got a few days left to speculate: the leading rumor is a VLIW processor which will be demonstrated in some sort of PDA or Handheld running Linux. But speculation is running rampant: I've heard that they were working on a superior version of The Kernel's Secret Blend of Herbs and Spices, and before that it was a carbon dioxide fueled teleportation device so who knows.
grimsaado sent us details on the Crusoe in another story with slightly more realistic speculation.
Tell us when the chip actually does come out instead of contributing to the hype around it.
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Funny, though, something tells me it won't replace my 486 cpu anyway...
#include <signal.h> \ #include <stdlib.h> \ int main(void){signal(ABRT,SIGIGN);while(1){abort(-1)
OFTC: By the community, for the community
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
At the risk of stating the obvious, employing Torvalds was the best move Transmeta could have made. How many millions must he be worth to them in free advertising, before they even have a product?
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Given a GCC code generator for "native Crusoe," or whatever they'd call the not-involving-emulation instrution set, it ought to be more sensible to run Linux natively on the chip, as that should be faster and more efficient since it takes direct advantage of the CPU's facilities.
That can be made more adamant if we're talking about PDA applications where it's likely that applications are "embedded" and where it's pretty certain that source code to the applications would be available.
If you look at some of the major proprietary applications, it's still the case that they may be recompiled for alternative architectures. Applixware is available for Alpha as well as IA-32. Mozilla is getting deployed on various architectures. StarOffice has been available for PPC. That may not represent an exhaustive list, but a PDA is not likely to have an exhaustive set of software installed on it.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
... is that whatever it does, it uses small amounts of screaming-fast DRAM. Transmeta has been pretty busy in the DDR SDRAM standards process, and their focus has always been on single-bank-to-controller applications at insane speeds (like 400 MHz!)
Based on what I've heard from inside sources: the FT article is dead on the mark.
Listen to the logic: there are processors designed from the ground up for high-powered workstations (Intel Itanium, Sun SPARC, DEC Alpha).
There are processors designed from the ground up for personal computers: AMD Athlon, Intel PIII/Celeron, etc.
There are processors designed from the ground up for embedded computing: StrongARM, MAJC, etc.
Now, please, name me one processor designed from the ground up intended for laptops.
You can't, can you? Intel and AMD retrofit their desktop processors for laptops. Every other component is now specially designed for laptops - think IBM harddrives, LCD displays, etc, etc. The end result is that the CPU is the (physically) biggest item on a laptop MB and it consumes the most power.
Transmeta Crusoe, the first processor x86-compatible processor designed specifically for the laptop, will allow laptops to be smaller, lighter and run for longer all with less battery power.
The logic is infalliable. The market is untapped. If their processors are fast enough, in 2 years Transmeta may be the Intel of laptops CPUs.
I submitted this too, but someone beat me to it
A couple of days ago, a friend of mine that works for IBM told me that he is working on a project with Transmeta. He said even Linus Torvalds is working on this project. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me "cool stuff" with a smile. He is also under NDA, so he couldn't give me any more information but it will all be release to the public soon. With the article stating "unspecified partner", putting 2 and 2 together, is this partner IBM?
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind
They aren't looking to just go after Intel but rather will have a surprise announcement of Multi processor Crusoes being launched by Apple running OS X server and emulating PPC faster than Motorola can make the chips run. 800 Mhz dual processor boxes running a *BSD variant that is easier to administer and cheaper than equivalent NT boxen (no CALs guarantee a price advantage).
The tip offs? IBM, a Motorola rival producer of PPC chips is producing the Crusoe but IBM's own PPC chips would compete with Crusoe if it were truly an embedded only chip. There's no advantage for IBM to do that.
Apple also plays into this with its stealth update of Mac OS X server to 1.2. With delays on other fronts (Pismo, the P7, Mystic) it would have been a natural to hype the upgrade to their server software at MacWorld SF but they didn't go for it. The stock price was hammered because of the lack of news.
A Transmeta tie in would give Transmeta an instant market for chips in a controlled hardware platform that has a good reputation for quality. This would ease Apple's supply problems for chips since they would suddenly be able to go to Crusoe whenever Motorola fell down on the job. It would also reinvigorate Apple's stock price by showing a business strategy that's been assembled piece by piece for the past year+, hidden in plain sight. It's just the sort of 180 degree coming from nowhere gotcha that Steve Jobs would love.
DB