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$20 Cellphones Possible with TI's New Chip
swimgeek writes "Texas Instrument's Indian branch has succeeded in developing a single chip which combines the functions usually performed by multiple chips in a GSM cellphone. By doing so, cellphone costs can be dramatically reduced, thus making cellphones more affordable in developing economies. Nokia has been contracted to make the initial sets, with market launch in as soon as 9 months. More coverage here and here."
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that this grand invention for Texas Instruments was done in India.
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
The article mentioned "India and other developing markets" but unless I move to Bangalore looking for work, am I going to see a cost reduction in my next phone? And if not, why not?
What about those of us who use a CDMA/TDMA only provider?
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My phone company offered me a new, free cellphone today.
They guy on the line went silent for ages as he tried to think of a response to my reply that I only ever use voice, and don't want or need a camera or anything else.
The phone I have, a Nokia 5120iA does everything I want or need it to, as did the old Ericsson phone I had before that. I only upgraded from the Ericsson to this Nokia because I was given a cool faceplate which didn't fit the old Ericsson phone!
Cellular phone calls have to go down in price. Regular land phones are cheap but not everyone on the planet has them, because land lines are expensive. Cheaper cell phones are great what about the price of the phone calls ? And don't believe that crap on digital divide, its called the RICH AND THE POOR divide been there for a long time just labelling it won't change it.
it never was. this current announcement is just smoke and mirrors.
phones have been incredibly cheap to make, cell phones doubly so because of the vast volume they deal in.
it's all irrelevant because you'll never be able to buy a usable cell phone cheaply... because the hardware is tied to the service. the 20 dollar phone looks less cheap when you pay 20-40 bucks a month for service.
honestly, the cell phone "service" looks a lot like inkjet ink. way out of proportion to what it actually costs and what they foist on people to pay. what the market will bear... well this market should stand up and tell them they won't bear it anymore.... well dreams are all we have in these troubling times.
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
I know it's not the theme of the article, but it's just as obvious...
One chip means smaller and lower power consumption possibilities as well. It goes hand in hand with cheaper.
It will help lead to phones in watches as well as integration into other devices (eg, directly into mobile PC's as a standard chipset for GPRS integration. )
Cheap is nice too, but it's just part of the overall advantage.
GrpA
Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
With GNAA members leaving for T4C in droves, it's not surprising to see that you're ramping up your recruiting.
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Because you can't turn a land line off as easily. While I personally despise cell phones, their greatest "feature" is the easily-accessible "off" switch. It takes a good deal of unplugging to get the same effect on a land line.
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
"thus making cellphones more affordable in developing economies"
should read:
"thus reducing the cost to manufacture cell phones"
The term "affordable" is objective, not subjective.
Theoretically, this should allow reduction in price in ALL markets.
> At what point will technology become so cheap and simple to use, that it will make terrorism that much more effective and efficient.
About 40 years ago.
Any terrorist that needs to wait for a big company to release sub $20 mobile phones before he can make a cheap remote detonator isn't trying.
A 7 year old could make a cheap remote detonator from parts bought at Radio Shack with his or her pocket money.
Advanced users are users too!
You're an idiot. This has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism. If you're going to kill people, you're not going to be stopped by having to pay an extra 30 bucks for a phone, and a remote detonator can be rigged up for the cost of a remote control car and a screwdriver already.
But even if that weren't the case, stop making every fucking thing about terrorism. You're making us all dumber.
The article is not clear on this, so I can see where you would be confused. What you're talking about has been done years ago. The most common nokia phone chip is the TI OMAP, which couples an ARM 9 processor core with a TI 5000 series DSP core. This is already in your phone today.
What the article is talking about is incorporating RAM, the RF circuitry, probably flash, and power management (usually done by an external microcontroller). That is, bringing all the other chips on the board into the die. Mind you, they are talking about a 20$ bill of materials (BOM) cost for the phone, this is NOT the price that you would pay. An OMAP sells for about 10-12USD in massive quantities. The price of this new part would probably be similar, but it would eliminate the need for many peripheral chips (thereby reducing the total board cost). What we're talking here is probably a reduction from 25 USD to 20 USD in the BOM. If they were sold through normal retail channels, expect to pay 2x to 4x the BOM cost.
The CNET reported does not seem to be clued in on what this really means. This in no way means 20 dollar phones for anyone. It just means that phones are going to get just a little bit cheaper to manufacture, and that TI is going to take away some business from other part suppliers. Good news for TI, pretty much meaningless for everyone else.
Of course they do. A $150 phone is only like $30 if you get a plan with it.
I expect that this means that the initial price of the phone will be $20. In other words, buying a whole phone without a plan could now be cheaper than buying a whole phone with a plan (and an 80% price reduction).
There should be a little switch on the side/botttom of every phone manufactured lately (last 30 years or so).
I think that's the grandparent's point -- every phone. In many (most?) households, that may be two, three, four phones in a single house in any number of places: Kitchen area, a family/rec room/, basement, bedrooms...
Much easier to turn one off than four.