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AMD Targets Web Pad & PDA Processor Market
According to this
press release
and this article
from The Register
, AMD has leveraged the technology portfolio of recently acquired
Alchemy Semiconductor
to introduce an ultra-low-power processor designed for sub-PC applications.
The chip is based on the Alchemy Au1 core and features, among
other things, an integrated LCD controller and a pair of Secure Digital controllers.
Symbian OS runs exclusively on ARM processors, and with the backing of _everyone_ in the mobile industry, that's a momentum you can't ignore.
Oh, right. Intel has the XScale (next-gen StrongArm) so AMD has to fight back
it's in my head
Strange, we see AMD branching out, moving into what would seem to be an obvious market, and people bitch about it (jeering their desktop procs, etc), and yet, the same crowd can bitch about MS and AOL and Intel (and any other big corp) monopolizing their respective markets.... AMD branching out forces existing players into re-thinking their current and future strategies, creates new opportunities and possibilities, and gives end-users more choices in the marketplace. All kewl... It is always good to hear of additional competitors for my (our) dollars. Go to it, AMD.
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
> "The AU1100 also adds two Secure Digital (SD) controllers for small storage devices"
n al" way?
Wait, secure as in the "keep-bad-guys-from-getting-in" way, or the "keep-me-from-performing-basic -functionality-because-I'm-presumed-to-be-a-crimi
It's a shame I have to ask that.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I looked at the register's page and something caught my attention...: Secure Digital (SD) ... Sure sounds like half of the name for Secure Digital Media (Music) Initative. So what do I do, I check out AMD's spec page. All it says is it's some sort of controller for small storage devicies... Ok, but wait. Small, like the Rio or iTunes? Hmmmm
Needless to say, I don't like this till I know exactly what these controllers do. Till then, I'll stay away from this product.
http://www.alchemysemi.com/product_info/secure_da
grnbrg
I'm always seeing companies targetting the embedded systems and webpad markets with new products, but where are the webpads?
I would have thought in '98 with the amount of press and press releasing surrounding the webpad idea we'd be swimming in low cost options by now and I'd happily be reading slashdot on the couch, but I've been sorely disappointed.
Does anybody have any idea when a mid cost wireless webpad will show up that actually makes this market worth targetting?
can be found here.
The problem is that the portable heater market is already fairly saturated.
I stole this Sig
I don't know, do you want to post to Slashdot while driving 60 mph? You don't? Come on, we came up with such a great name for it: "telematics"! It's so useful, because if we say "internet in your car" people usually start laughing at us. "Telematics" sounds so much more...uh...uh...I don't know, just BETTER. Come on---you could bid on a closing auction while backing out of your driveway! Doesn't that sound SAFE?
Premature optimization is the root of all evil
an ultra-low-power processor designed for sub-PC applications
What, is it waterproof to 20k leagues? Does it have PING built into the instruction set?
Just wondering...
You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
amd au1100 - 400 MHz, 250 mWatts, mips core + mac, etc..
intel pxa250 - 400 MHz, 300 mWatts, StrongArm + mac, etc..
power consumption/features roughly comparable, so which gives more work/cycle?
The difference between Theory and Practice is greater in Practice than in Theory.
It actually runs linux, check on Montavista's site... they have the Linux LSP available for download for Alchemy's (sorry... AMD) au1000 which is the ancestor (just no lcd/sd controller, a little more power hungry) of the au1100. But you'd rather use Alchemy's au1500 which has a pci bus controller i guess...
I was about to say "RTFA," but the Register article doesn't mention that these chips are MIPS-compatible. They did link to this page, though, which mentions Linux as one of three supported OSen.
(Then again, timothy provided the same link...so maybe "RTFA" is an appropriate response after all. :-) )
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
A few years ago 800x600, 256 color, a few hours battery life and a 56KB/sec wireless connection, cost $1,000 would have stolen the show. Now it's gotta be 1024x768, full color, last 8 or more hours, be capable of playing back mp3s and video, tie into some sort of low-cost wireless system, preferably 802.11?, and cost $500.
They're competing with low end laptops for market and components and always suffering in comparison to desktops. Add in the ruggedness that's required (how many times will it slide off the couch or get dropped as someone tries to pick it up one-handed from the coffee table?) and range of uses they'll be put to and it's a tough product to build at an attractive price point.
Then there's the OS & UI. Folks want the same as they've got on their home PC which mostly means Wintel or MacOS (Linux isn't going to be a popular choice for the consumer market, /.-readers excepted.) Both of these OS's really rely heavily on keyboards and while there have been any number of work-arounds (how many iterations of PenWindows?) they remain clunky without. On-screen "Soft-keyboards" are one option but not one that's ever generated much enthusiasm.
One clever solution has been to use the Webpad as a remote terminal. This solves much of the software and storage issues as long as one has decent wireless bandwidth. However it does require the "base" PC be on & dedicating resources to the client.
Windows is not particularly good serving two masters though MS does have some new technology that they've been showing around. However after so many failed attempts in this area vendors are justifiably nervous about committing real resources to it until someone else proves it out.
Apple has only recently re-introduced partial remote terminal capability into their MacOS line (it was present in Next Step but lost in the transition to Quartz/Display-PDF). There is speculation (isn't there always with Apple?) they're going to offer some combination of local/remote interfaces as part of their "Digital Hub" strategy with a webpad running an embedded-PPC-based MacOS X-lite.
Linux - well as noted most of the market is biased towards Wintel then Mac. While something with inherently limited functionality like a webpad (not that Linux is inherently limited, just that this wouldn't require a full-blown Linux-for-the-desktop universal solution) and the low cost of Linux would make it attractive the lack of full & easy support for all file formats & plug-is a problem. There are work-arounds but frankly they're not attractive ones from a sales & support perspective.
Finally, remember that lots of the companies most likely to try out a webpad product are the exact same ones that got burnt on network appliances. In today's deadly market nobody is particularly enthused to chance losing money on another dead end like those, especially for a market & product so similar. Webpads *might* take off but not many want to risk their not, particularly for the low per unit profit most see in them.
My guess? Aside from a few rebranded models we won't see any from the big names except possibly IBM & Apple. IBM has a good history of migrating technology like this to/from their vertical markets so they've little wasted R&D or manufacturing costs. Apple likes to be a trailblazer plus their customers are open to an all-Apple terminal/server solution. Thus Apple can keep the margin low on the webpad & recoup it on the server. Others? Perhaps some Tiawanese & other manufacturers attempting to build their own brands.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
For my applications, I like the 1500 better - it's got two Ethernet controllers built-in, so you should be able to make a variety of little router boxes. (With the 1100, there's only one built-in Ether, but there's a PCMCIA controller and a PCI controller, so you can add things easily enough, and building a wireless gateway should be easy with any of the parts.) And there's a 1500 development board which provides all sorts of physical interfaces and the different glue controllers, like PCMCIA, so a non-hardware-person like me can put together a system to try it out. Wonder when the 1100 will get one?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Not sure if it's related, but Transmeta stock dove about 14% today. I'm guessing there must have been some rumors about an AMD buyout.
Praying for the end of your wide-awake nightmare.
Yes, the MIPS has a nice architecture, while the Pentium is just an arcane mess. But that battle was fought years ago. It seems to me that a Pentium (even a basic Pentium, perhaps even missing some instructions) would give them more of an edge. I, at least, would be much happier if I could use the same compilers for my handheld as I can on for desktop. With ARM and MIPS, I'm restricted to gcc and a few others for which someone happens to have gone through the enormous trouble of writing a new backend. Is it really so hard to make a small, power-saving Pentium-compatible chip?
I just got a laptop using the Athlon 4 processor. It's been on most of the day, and the keyboard and glidepoint are actually warm.
This is an interesting way for AMD to help keep people working reasonable hours.. Here's hoping Compaq knows best. If this thing melts I'll be fairly dissapointed.
Just FWIW, here's a couple processor heat numbers:
Desktop AMD AthlonXP 2000+ : 70.0W Max/62.0W typ
Desktop Intel P4 2.0GHz : 75.3W TDP
Desktop Intel P4 2.0A : 52.4W TDP
Mobile AMD Athlon4 1500+ : 25.0W TDP
Mobile Intel P4-M 1.6GHz : 30.0W TDP
Mobile Intel PIII-M 1.2GHz : 22.0W TDP
AMD Alchemy Au1100 400MHz : 0.25W Max
Intel XScale PX250 400MHz : 0.30W Max
Max = Maximum possible real-world power consumed by the chip
Typ = Typical power use under heavy processing
TDP = Thermal Design Power, usually just slightly higher then typical power, though it's defined by the manufacturer
So, just to keep things in perspective, we're talking about these embedded chips using two orders of magnitude less power then even laptop x86 chips. Now, obviously the performance isn't going to be at all the same, but in terms of power, it doesn't make any sense at all to compare the power consumption of either.
Ohh, and just for fun, here's one more chip:
Intel Intanium 800MHz : 130W Max
Regards
Tony