ARM is now getting bigger and larger. Currently they are sitting pretty going into 2012 with huge market share in smartphones and tablets. According to a notebook maker, ARM will continue to rise because Intel and AMD just can’t compete with ARM in terms of pricing.

Intel already had the 32nm-based Medfield processors with an 11W power consumption, matching with Android 4.0 in January 2012.  It will launch Atom processors with power consumption of less than 10W for smartphone / tablet uses in the second half of 2012. Also, Intel will keep upgrading manufacturing processes with Atom processors to be progressively based on 32nm Saltwell,, 22nm Silvermont and 14nm Airmont.

At Computex in June, AMD is releasing Hondo, an APU with power consumption of less than 5W for tablet PC’s usage. Competitive chips looks to come in to the market. They aren’t in the right price bracket to compete with ARM in 2013.

Source: Netbooknews

ARM Raises Up Front in the Mobile Market is a post from: Eee PC

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Windows 8 on ARM may have kept the same desktop like the standard OS, regardless of the rumors that had suggested otherwise. In a blog post on Microsoft’s Windows 8 development site, some of Microsoft’s lead program managers make references to both desktop and Metro-style apps for system-on-a-chip (SoC) hardware.

Unofficial reports released late last year claimed that Microsoft was planning to do away with the traditional Windows desktop from the ARM edition and just let users utilize the touch-native Metro UI. Nevertheless, the sources did admit that the issue was contentious within the company,.

The blog post is positive on the challenges of running desktop apps on SoC hardware, which is said to require a new means to standby operation. Desktop apps “presented a tougher challenge” due to programming that grants access to all system resources while in the foreground, while no access when a traditional PC is asleep.

Other reports had suggested that Microsoft’s Office suite may not be reprogrammed like true Metro-style apps after the next major release arrives on the market. Sources claimed that the Office apps should run in a restricted desktop mode to optimize power consumption.

Besides the references to a Windows desktop on SoC devices, Microsoft has yet to explicitly confirm the particular details for ARM hardware.

via electronista

Windows 8 on ARM Preserves Traditional Desktop is a post from: Eee PC

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Windows 8 ARM Edition was rumored to appear earlier than estimated and the ARM boss has given positive remarks on Microsoft’s latest OS.

CEO Warren East recently said that Windows 8 has an edge over Android when it comes to tablet platforms, but he didn’t actually say anything about its performance, but rather brand recognition.

Warren says that consumers are already familiar with Windows, while they’re still learning to adapt with the Android environment. This may not be true, however, since everyone knows at least one friend who has an Android phone. The discussions with ARM’s CEO came up during the company’s financial results call this week. East is certain that Android tablet makers have a chance at leaving a mark in the tablet category. However, they need a bit more time in order to gain momentum.

When the Android phones were first introduced, there was a lot of hyped surrounding that even though the devices didn’t really sell as well as the hype reflected. Now, Microsoft and Win 8 wouls have to go through the same thing and MS may actually use that brand awareness to draw the public who wants to keep part of their daily Windows experience, but one converted to tablet use.

via tabletnews

ARM Boss Claims Windows 8 to be Better Than Android on Tablets is a post from: Eee PC

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According to multiple sources, Windows 8 is rumored to be stable on ARM processors. The new ARM-compatible build will be out to developers in February.

This move will be a big step to Microsoft and the PC industry as using ARM chipsets may reduce the costs of devices, including tablets to make them even more affordable to consumers. Compared to PCs, tablets, and laptops running Intel or AMD’s x86 architecture, ARM chipsets will cost less.

One source said that a high-profile device with Intel chips will cost hundreds of dollars less on ARM chipsets.They also say that Microsoft may also target all three chip platforms at the same time, rather than staggering the launch for devices running Intel, AMD, and ARM CPUs.

The biggest challenge with ARM chipsets so far is that devices running on ARM may not be compatible with legacy apps as well as the preview from Microsoft’s compatibility with the OS-maker’s Office suite. While Microsoft claims that Office will be compatible, no one has yet seen or demo that has Office running on ARM. For ARM, Microsoft has largely demoed HTML5-based full-screen applications based on the Metro UI language.

As of now, Microsoft has said and shown little publicly regarding its ARM-based efforts.

via gottabemobile

Windows 8 Stable on ARM CPU? is a post from: Eee PC

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Toshiba and Lenovo have reportedly signed deals with contractor Quanta Computer in producing new tablets based on Windows 8 on ARM architecture. Unnamed sources within the industry said that Quanta will be handling the tablet production for both companies. So, we are to expect the first models to be released early next year.

Windows 8 should arrive later this year for devices that are built on Intel processors. However, there are also reports that suggest companies will take much longer to prepare the ARM-based alternative hardware and software.

Besides the ARM hardware, Lenovo is said to be preparing other tablets as well, using Intel’s Medfield as well as Clover Trail chips, which are also expected to arrive later this year.

Lenovo and Toshiba would still have to discussed specific plans for Windows on ARM tablets. Meanwhile, we can expect for Toshiba and Lenovo’s new tablet models to have better specs and better performance in order to suit the users needs.

via electronista

Quanta May Produce Windows 8 ARM Tablets for Toshiba and Lenovo is a post from: Eee PC

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Apparently, Microsoft has draconian policies in its “Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements”. It looks to mandate vendors to block other OSes from being installed on ARM devices.

Microsoft plans for the UEFI Secure Boot got some attention from people last year when it was pointed out that by forcing the use of Secure Boot, it would lock out third party OSes such as GNU / Linux out of the PCs entirely. The document states: “On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable the Secure Boot via firmware setup.” It then goes on to say (on Page 116): “Disabling Secure MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems.”

There’s no reason why MS would implement such drastic lockdown for one CPU architecture but enabling it for another. Well, there is a reason if you look at it on a non-technical way but on the business side. MS wants to lock their consumer to Windows only OS.

Early September last year, when this issue went public, MS issued a statement rationalizing the Secure Boot features and excuses itself that Secure Boot is indeed part of the UEFI standard. Years past, we’ve seen Microsoft play well with others. Now, it seems like its the 90s all over again.

Source: Netbooknews

Microsoft Blocks Other OSes For Win8 Certification is a post from: Eee PC

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Acer’s Android Honeycomb-powered Iconia Tab A500 tablet PC will now become available in South Korea on a limited basis. According to the official press release, Acer plans to offer 1000 units of the Iconia Tab A500 tablet PC for 399,000 Korean won or about $348 USD. This is a great move in terms of pricing since some competitors are still on the $450 USD price range with their products.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 features a 10.1-inch 1280×800 LCD screen, Android 3.1 Honeycomb (an Android 3.2 Honeycomb update is in the pipeline) and Wi-Fi connectivity. Computing and graphics processing are handled by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 SoC with a 1GHz dual core ARM Cortex A9 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce graphics.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 sale in South Korea starts today, so you might need to hurry if you want to grab one out of the 1000 that’s being made available by Acer.

Korea Newswire via Acer Central

Acer offers Iconia Tab A500 on a limited basis in SK for under $350 USD is a post from: Eee PC

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While we may never get to lay our eyes on the final version of the Lenovo Skylight, Freescale has surprised us with a new Lenovo smartbook put together by Pegatron. Being a smartbook, it has the innards of a typical smartphone running under the hood. This includes an 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, a memory controller that supports DDR2-400 or mDDR-400 up to 200MHz, a NEON coprocessor with SIMD architecture, digital audio subsystem that supports multichannel SPDIF output, controller, Fast Ethernet, FIR ( Fast InfraRed), a GPU with 2D and 3D acceleration core dedicated OpenVG and OpenGL / ES and a decoding engine with support for HD 720p/1080i.

According to the gang over at Notebook Italia, Freescale’s MC13892 power management IC makes it possible for the smartbook to run without needing active cooling or even passive cooling, a claim which I personally find hard to believe (though I’m not saying it’s impossible). The battery life, they say can rival a standard mobile phone. The form factor on this one is very nice and looks like it’ll beat any smartphone or tablet PC by a long shot. More details about it are expected to come out soon.

Via Notebook Italia

Freescale previews Lenovo IdeaPad smartbook made by Pegatron is a post from: Eee PC

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Nokia was brave enough to put together, announce and release their very own netbook called the Booklet 3G last year. Why not try their luck with a tablet PC as well, right? DigiTimes today is reporting that the Finnish smartphone giant is currently trying to do just that. According to an unidentified Digitimes Research senior analyst, Nokia is going to launch an ARM-based tablet PC around the fourth quarter of 2010 and it will have either a 7- or 9-inch touchscreen display which will be supplied by Foxconn. The unnamed source goes on to say that about 100 engineering samples have already been made for testing, and that it is expected that Meego will be the OS used on the upcoming tablet PC. This might turn out good or bad for Nokia, depending on how they go about marketing and releasing it, but none of the info has been confirmed or denied for now.

Via DigiTimes

ARM-based Nokia tablet PC with Meego OS on the way? is a post from: Eee PC

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NVIDIA has been under a lot of pressure lately to deliver their tablet-oriented Tegra 2 chipset. Lots of manufacturers are depending on the chip maker to get their product out on time so that they can cash in on the impending tablet craze.

While a lot of speculation has come out due to this, NVIDIA says flat out that it’s not true. In fact, Tegra products are already headed to companies who are building devices based on the chip for release in “the next few months”.

Tegra combines a low-power ARM CPU with NVIDIA graphics to deliver longer battery life without compromising on HD playback. If this pans out, expect lots of great alternatives to the iPad in the future and maybe a few netvertibles thrown in.

source Liliputing

NVIDIA squashes Tegra 2 delay rumors is a post from: Eee PC

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