Horizon's Cheap Personal Fuel Cell Now On Sale—Charge Gadgets Cleanly and Cheaply [Fuel Cells]

First seen at CES years ago, Horizon's MiniPak has (finally) gone on sale for $100. It's the first personal, portable fuel cell—if you don't count the Japan-only Toshiba one—and is like a mini power plant for charging gadgets.

It eats refillable cartridges (coming bundled with two), with each cartridge giving the equivalent of 1,000 AA batteries. At $100, you can see it's going to end up saving you quite a bit of money. Not to mention help save the environment, with fuel cells being a clean and cheap way to generate energy. More on that can be explained here.

A bunch of connectors are included, so your smartphone/gaming console/other portable device should be supported, with up to 2W of power surging through a USB port. It's dead-small too, fitting in the palm of your hand, only slightly larger than the object you're charging up.


[Gizmodo via MiniPak via GizMag]

Microsoft Employee Shows Off Prototype Windows Phone 7 Series Smartphone From LG [Windowsphone7]

Aaron Woodman, the director of consumer experiences for Microsoft's mobile division, was a guest on today's Engadget Show, and he had a nice surprise for everyone: a prototype of LG's Windows Phone 7 Series phone.

There's not a whole lot in the way of details—it's a slider that's a bit thicker than the iPhone, it has a 5MP camera, and sports six hardware buttons—but it's still exciting to see the new operating system on a branded device for the first time.

Woodman wouldn't confirm nor deny if Windows Phone 7 Series would support Mac OS, only mentioning that it was a topic the team was currently discussing. Hey, at least the notion hasn't been shut down out of hand, so we'll take this as a no news is good news type of thing for now.

Head over to Engadget for more pictures and a quick video clip of the LG phone in the round.
[Gizmodo via Engadget]

TI's OMAP4 Chipset Promises Insane Performance and 145 Hours Battery Life [Guts]

TI's new dual-core OMAP4 mobile chipset, the sequel to the OMAP3 series that powers the Droid and Palm Pre (among others), claims crazy performance: Three independent displays running 1080p video, for example, and an estimated 145-hour battery life for audio.
Basically, TI made up a kind of demo unit (pictured) to show what the OMAP4 can do, which is not inconsiderable. The demo unit is a portable device running Android, equipped with two screens and HDMI-out as well as a 12MP camera, pico projector, plus all the wireless protocols and sensors you can imagine. It's a fantasy device, most certainly not intended for market, but it's a pretty effective way to get our hearts racing.
The ARM A9-based chipset will be competing with the Apple A4 and Tegra 2 in tablets and smartbooks, but it's also small enough and energy-efficient enough to power handhelds—good news, since it's got some pretty serious muscle. The demo unit uses a dual-1GHz-core version, and supports 1080p video recording at 24/30fps, three simultaneous independent displays (why you'd need that is beyond me), 20MP image processing, and more memory bandwidth than the Tegra 2 (for better multitasking). Besides that, TI's built in image stabilization and "universal decoding," which means it should be able to (software permitting) play back just about any media file you throw at it. TI claims that with a 1000 mAh battery, it can hit 145 hours of audio playback, which sounds freaking insane—the current OMAP3 can only get between 30 and 40.
It's slated to hit the market either in late 2010 or early 2011, aimed first at smartphones and later possibly larger devices like ereaders or tablets. We'll report on it more as it gets closer to release, but even if the chip can only hit 75% of what it claims, it'll still be damned impressive.
[Gizmodo via Slashgear]

Samsung Producing First Integrated Touchscreen AMOLED Panels Starting Next Month [OLED]

Samsung Mobile Display has announced that they're going to begin mass production of the world's first 3.3-inch touch-embedded AMOLED panels next month. That means goodbye heavy glass display, and hello thinner, lighter, brighter phones.
The technology Samsung has developed places .001mm thin touch sensors on-cell on a 3.3-inch WVGA AMOLED, between the panel's substrate and the bottom polarizer film. The result is that you don't need the touch-sensing glass panel that currently sits above your phone's display anymore. The technology could also be integrated into cameras to provide a brighter display and/or longer battery life.
We've been enamored with AMOLED before, but this is the first time we've seen such a practical application hit mass production. Exciting! More so when we actually start to see some of these products hit the market—and see how much they cost.
[Gizmodo via Korea IT Times via OLED Info via Engadget]

Qualcomm's Dual-Core 1.5GHz Snapdragon: Smartphones Are About to Go Hyperspeed [Guts]

Qualcomm's current 1GHz Snapdragon is the muscle that makes the Nexus One so fantastically speedy, but Qualcomm isn't sitting on their laurels—they just announced two new chips that are going to power the next great mobile devices.
First up is the single-core Snapdragon 8X50A, a 45nm chip that's essentially the next version of the 1GHz chip in the Nexus One. It's clocked at 1.3GHz. But what we're really excited about is the dual-core 8X72, which uses two Scorpion cores to achieve 1.5GHz. Luis Pineda, Senior VP at Qualcomm, assures that the 8X72 is suitable for smartphones (not just smartbooks or netbooks) and can handle 1080p video. Both the 8X50A and 8X72 will be out this year, going head to head with the Tegra 2.
[Gizmodo via Hexus via Slashgear]

NVIDIA unveils the next generation Tegra processor

NVIDIA unveiled the next generation of its Tegra mobile processor at CES yesterday, promising to deliver tablets, smartbooks and smartphones with a blazing web browsing experience, HD video, Flash 10 support and multi-day battery life. Rather than go on and on, we will simply let the Tegra 250 specs speak for themselves:

• The world’s first dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU running up to 1GHz
• Eight independent processors to handle web browsing, HD video encode and decode and mobile 3D gaming
• 10x faster than the processors used in smartphones today, and up to 4x the performance of the previous generation Tegra processor
• Advanced TSMC 40nm process with active power management to provide amazing battery life (140 hours audio and over 16 hours of HD video playback) despite being always-on and always-connected
• Support for 3D touchscreen user interfaces
• Up to 1080p video encode/decode and support for HD Web streaming formats and complete HW accelerated HD multimedia engine for visually stunning movie playback
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1 acceleration for streaming video and 3D mobile games
• Resolutions ranging from four-to-eight times that of smartphones
• Form factors and screen sizes ranging from 5-15 inches

This second iteration of the Tegra mobile chipset is in the production stage with a development kit ready and waiting for eager programmers to build applications for this next generation in mobile computing. While you wait for those drool-worthy mobile devices to emerge, you can check out a 3D gaming demo showcasing the prowess of the Tegra 250 chipset. And oh yeah, remember that the video blow is from a mobile device, not an Xbox 360.



[BGR]

A Day in the Internet is Mindblowingly Overwhelming [Information]

A snazzy infograph shows us what a day in the internet looks like (get ready for huge numbers).
[Lifehacker]

Dolphin Browser Adds Multitouch Support for Droid

If you’re a Droid owner, you’ll want to check out the recently updated Dolphin browser. After hanging out in the Android Market for a few months, the web browser just picked up a few enhancements, most notably, multitouch support. Since Droid does allow for multitouch in third party apps, the developers decided to bake that into the latest build of their web client. Until the WebKit browser comes with 2-finger support, Dolphin looks to be the best choice.
Dolphin bills itself as social, smart, and fast. Judging by the short clip below, we’d also like to add “feature rich” and “intuitive” to the list.
Among the features found in Dolphin:

• Quick access to Google services (Search, Gtalk, Gmail, etc)
• Fast windows switching
• All-in-one start page
• Sync with Google bookmarks
• RSS detection and subscription

[AndroidGuys]

LG announces GW820 ‘eXpo’ smartphone w/ 1GHz processor and optional projector

LG has announced a new Windows Mobile 6.5-based smartphone, the eXpo. But unlike other 6.5 smarties on the market, the newest member of the LG family is packing just about everything but the kitchen sink including a 1GHz processor, a built-in fingerprint sensor, and an optional Pico Projector you can slap onto the back with an 8-foot projection distance.

The projector adds another 1.8 ounces, and as you can see, a bit of an ass to it. Besides the 1GHz goodness, the slider's running Windows Mobile 6.5, has a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a 5MP camera for $200 on contract. Specifically a "minimum $69.99 plan." The projector add-on's $180, though it'll follow the phone's Dec. 7 drop date by a few weeks.

[CrunchGear, Gizmodo]

Did Samsung Just Announce Another Mobile OS? [Samsung]

They're calling it 'Bada,' which means ocean in Korean. And it's got an SDK! After sifting through hundreds of words of deliberately vague press release, this is all we really know about Samsung's new mobile OS. Well, almost.
Samsung is as aware as any company of just how many smartphones OSes there are in the world, since they license almost all of them, from Windows Mobile to Symbian to Android. Throwing another OS into the mix seems like it might confuse things, but at first glance, that's exactly what it looks like they're doing:

In order to build a rich smartphone experience accessible to a wider range of consumers across the world, Samsung brings bada, a new platform with a variety of mobile applications and content.

So, a new OS with an emphasis on apps. But why the awkward language about 'smartphone experiences' and 'accessibility?' On the project's website, Samsung's a little more clear:

More and more people want rich and connected application-experiences that are currently available only for smartphone consumers. Samsung has developed bada to make these exclusive smartphone experiences available to everyone.

Ah! So it's probably not a full-fledged smartphone OS, but a feature phone OS with an SDK. Samsung is a huge company, so this can't be ignored, but it doesn't mean that smartphones are about the get more confusing. If anything, it means that feature phones are about to get better.
Or not at all! We won't know for sure until Samsung stop being cryptic for sport, or whatever it is they're doing here. [Samsung]

Samsung Launches Open Mobile Platform:
Samsung bada – The Next Wave Of The Mobile Industry
Developers get the chance to create mobile applications
for millions of new Samsung handsets
November 10th, 2009, Seoul, Korea – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of its own open mobile platform, Samsung bada [bada] in December. This new addition to Samsung's mobile ecosystem enables developers to create applications for millions of new Samsung mobile phones, and consumers to enjoy a fun and diverse mobile experience.
In order to build a rich smartphone experience accessible to a wider range of consumers across the world, Samsung brings bada, a new platform with a variety of mobile applications and content. The name ‘bada', which means ‘ocean' in Korean, was chosen to convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform. It also alludes to Samsung's commitment to a variety of open platforms in the mobile industry. Samsung bada also represents the fresh challenges and opportunities available to developers, as well as the entertainment which consumers will enjoy once the new platform is open.
Based on Samsung's experience in developing previous proprietary platforms on Samsung mobile phones, Samsung can create the new platform and provide opportunities for developers. Samsung bada is also simple for developers to use, meaning it's one of the most developer-friendly environments available, particularly in the area of applications using Web services. Lastly, bada's ground-breaking User Interface (UI) can be transferred into a sophisticated and attractive UI design for developers.
Samsung will be able to expand the range of choices for mobile phone users to enjoy the smartphone experiences. By adopting Samsung bada, users will be able to easily enjoy various applications on their mobile.
Samsung bada also offers an easy-to-integrate platform for mobile operators so that mobile operators can provide unique and differentiated services to their customers. Samsung established its mobile application ecosystem through the launch of Samsung Mobile Innovator in 2008 and the Samsung Application Seller Site followed by Samsung Application Store as another key element of this offering.
Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics said, 'By opening Samsung's mobileplatforms we will be able to provide rich mobile experiences on an increasing number of accessible smartphones.' He added, 'bada will be Samsung's landmark, iconic new platform that brings an unprecedented opportunity for operators, developers and Samsung mobile phone users around the world.'
The official website (www.bada.com) will open on November 10th and will feature a range of information on bada including updates onproduct launches, features, and event notices. Samsung will also host an official launch event for bada in London, UK in December and will also unveil its bada software development kit (SDK) to developers for the first time on this date.

 [Gizmodo]

Portable scanner looks like a pen, is way more expensive

I've never needed to scan a document or photo while sitting in a plane seat, but if you ever have, there's a gadget for that. The unfortunately named DocuPen is a portable scanner made by PlanOn, about the size of one of Harry Potter's magic wands. Just roll the scanner along the document or photo you want to scan, and it'll capture it in JPEG format. Pretty impressive for something that weighs only a couple of ounces.
The DocuPen X-Series, new today, has 64GB of internal memory, which you can add to with a MicroSD card. You can transmit your scans via Bluetooth to your phone or a portable printer and it can capture color scans up to 600 dpi (true). A power-saving OLED display helps you navigate through wireless and USB transfers. We checked out one of the new DocuPens yesterday, and a JPEG photo scan looked surprisingly good, with detail on par with some desktop scanners.
I can see this being useful for mobile-business warriors or anyone who wants a scanner but doesn't have the desk space for a flatbed. But the price — $369 — is pretty insane. I realize there's a whole load of processing and storage in this micro scanner that doesn't exist in desktop models (since they rely on the PC for all that), but that's a lot of coin to part with for something you could lose between the couch cushions.
[DVICE via PlanOn]

Toshiba launches new BSI 14.6Mpix CMOS for mobile devices.

Toshiba today announced the launch of a new CMOS image sensor that will bring 14.6 million pixels to digital still cameras and to mobile phones supporting video imaging. The sensor, the latest addition to Toshiba’s “DynastronTM” line-up, is also the company’s first to integrate the enhanced sensitivity offered by backside illumination technology (BSI). Sampling of the new sensor will begin in December and mass production will follow from the third quarter of 2010 (July--September).

BSI brings new levels of responsiveness to CMOS imaging. Lenses are deployed on the rear of the sensor on the silicon substrate, not on the front, where wiring limits light absorption. This positioning boosts light sensitivity and absorption by 40% compared to existing Toshiba products, and allows formation of finer image pixels.


Toshiba has made full use of the advantages of BSI to realize image pixels with a pitch of 1.4 microns, and to pack 14.6 million of them into a 1/2.3-inch sensor that meets the high level imaging and processing requirement, and that will also bring a new level of image quality to mobile phones. Toshiba will use the new sensor to promote its full-scale entry to the digital camera market, and will continue to develop BSI products as a mainstream technology.

[Akihabaranews]

GE's New Ultra Small Ultrasound May Become as Ubiquitous as Stethoscope

Yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, GE showed off their new handheld ultrasound device.























The Vscan looks like a cross between an iPod and a cell phone, making it possibly the world's smallest ultrasound. Later today we'll be attending GE's healthymagination technology showcase in New York where further details and specs will hopefully become available.

For critical care clinicians, Vscan can offer an immediate look beyond patient vital signs with the potential to identify critical issues, like fluid around the heart, which could be a sign of congestive heart failure. And for cardiologists, Vscan provides a dependable visual evaluation of how well the heart is pumping at a glance, so they can treat patients more efficiently.

[Medgadget]

Android 2.0 First Look: Fresh Face, Sick Speed [Android]

While Android 1.6 is still writhing around in amniotic fluid, BGR had the nerve to publish shots of version 2.0 'Eclair,' which doesn't even have a formal due date yet. They look great. Sorry, 1.6: I'm already over you.
You're best off trudging through the entire gallery here, since not all the changes are all that visual, and BGR has annotated each shot with description. That said, here are some of the highlights (keep in mind that some of these could be subtle features of Donut, or handset manufacturer add-ons:
• The whole system feels much faster, especially the browser. Apparently it renders about as fast as the 3GS's, though part of that could be down to the hardware (What is it, BG?).
• The browser also gets double-tap-to-zoom (some ROMs already come with this)
• Facebook friends are integrated right into the contacts system
• Voice control has been scattered through the whole system, and even gets its own dedicated dashboard
• There's an upgraded version of Google Maps, with layer support
• Native MS Exchange support
• There's now a unified email inbox
• A YouTube homescreen widget, which enables two-click uploads
• A 'Car Home' app offers larger shortcuts for functions you might need while driving, as well as easy access to voice control
In any case, the earliest we can expect to see this on a phone is when Motorola's barely-not-mythical Sholes decides to materialize in store, which could be as soon as Christmas. More shots at [Gizmodo via BGR]

Unfurl The Rolltop (The Flexible OLED Display Laptop)! [Concept]

Holy crap, one day I could roll my laptop up just like my yoga mat?! I don't care if this is just a concept for now, Orkin Design's Rolltop is freaking awesome.
The video shows it all but the 'laptop' has a flexible OLED display that is also capable of multitouch. When rolled out it becomes a 17-inch flat screen but can also be folded into a 13-inch tablet of sorts. I'd like to think that by the time we see something like the Rolltop we will have wireless power, but the detachable stand stores the tablet's stylus, power adapter and USB ports. I will never look at my yoga mat the same way.

[Gizmodo via Orkin Design]

Mercury ups its 2.5″ external HDDs to 1TB

If you feel like riding the wave (and are made of money), look no further than the newest configuration of Mercury On-The-Go Pro, which is the first that I know of to put a 2.5″ 1TB HDD in a bus-powered enclosure. Sure, there are 1TB units already available (for under a hundy, even), but they use 3.5″ drives, making them bulky and rarely bus-powered. These Mercury ones are the only truly portable terabyte drives out there.
Problem is, they’re not exactly speedsters: 5200RPM means they’re sluggish even for HDDs, and if you want a fast interface you’ll be paying extra. In fact, even just USB will set you back $300, and if you want FireWire 800, you’re looking at an extra $60 on top of that.
It’s the early adopter tax, and I don’t know if it’s worth it when surely WD and Seagate and everyone else have theirs coming down the pipe. Still, I’ve always liked the clear enclosures, and it’s available now. That’s got to be worth something.
[CrunchGear]

Samsung Opens the Door to PC-Level Performance on Mobile Devices with 1GHz Low-power Application Processors

There is hope my friends, yes there is! Samsung announced today two new 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 application processors the S5PC110 and S5PV210 capable to able High Speed 3D graphic rendering video as well as support of both HD Videos and the possibility to output video with HDMI 1.3 interface…

These 2 new CPU are good news, finally HTC will be capable to propose less sluggish device from now on! If only they could focus on ROM optimization rather than wasting their time on UI Eyes candy.

Seoul September 22, 2009 -- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced two new 1GHz ARM® CORTEX™-A8 based application processors, the S5PC110 and S5PV210, for advanced mobile devices at the sixth annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum held at the Westin Taipei Hotel. The S5PC110 is targeted for small form-factor connected devices such as multimedia intensive smartphones, while the S5PV210 is aimed at portable computing devices such as netbooks that demand high performance and design flexibility.

“More and more, user generated contents currently accessed via the PC will be spread to mobile devices,” said Dr. Kwang Hyun Kim, senior vice president, strategic marketing team, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “PC-level performance with lower power consumption will become mainstream requirements for advanced mobile devices. Samsung developed S5PC110 and S5PV210 application processors to satisfy these conflicting requirements to enable a new level of user experience not previously possible.”



Both the S5PC110 and S5PV210 ensure longer battery life for mobile devices running on standard size batteries through a variety of low power technologies, including the use of a 45-nanometer (nm) Low Power fabrication process and intricate low power architectures. Each of these application processors comes with 32KB data and 32KB instruction caches, and is equipped with a 512KB L2 cache. With the 1GHz clock speed and large size L2 cache, these processors enable real-time applications such as web browsing and user interface (UI) to run smoothly with a fast response time.

High speed 3D graphics rendering and high resolution video support are two key differentiating features for advanced mobile devices. Both the S5PC110 and S5PV210 are equipped with a powerful built-in 3D graphics engine to support sophisticated 3D UI and high-caliber games. In addition, the two processors integrate a1080p full HD codec engine that supports 30fps full HD video playback and recording. A built-in HDMI1.3 interface allows output of captured or downloaded mobile multimedia contents to an external high definition digital display.

These two new application processors also feature a wide variety of interfaces and peripherals to maximize design flexibility and reduce system BOM cost of targeted mobile devices. In particular, a high speed USB 2.0 host interface is integrated for hosting various USB peripheral devices.

Targeted for small form factor mobile devices, the S5PC110 is housed in a 0.5mm pitch, 14X14mm2 FBGA package that allows package-on-package vertical stacking of low power, multiple chip package (MCP) memory such as OneDRAM™, mobile DDR and LP DDR2, greatly reducing the overall foot print of the memory and processor combo.

Designed for portable computing applications, the S5PV210 is packaged in a 0.65mm pitch, 17X17mm2 FBGA package with a high performance 2-channel 32-bit DDR2 memory interface that is essential for computing devices.

Customer samples of both products will be available in December, 2009. ...

Fancy cellphone runs Windows XP, now up for pre-order

Cellphones are evolving into pint-size PCs, and this xpPhone from Chinese company ITG is the latest extreme example. This Windows XP-running slider started out as a murky demo at a trade show, and now the company is offering it for preorder at an as-yet-undisclosed price.
Its 4.8-inch 800x480 touch screen is almost big enough to be a digital picture frame, and it has two drives — an 8GB solid-state drive and a 30GB spinning hard disk. The company tried to put everything into this AMD Super Mobile CPU-running phone, including Wi-Fi, connectivity to any US cell network, Bluetooth, VGA output and the ability to use it as an external hard disk.

Too bad it's heavy as an anvil, weighing 2 ounces shy of a pound. That's hefty enough to pull your pants down if you want to pocket the thing. Its stated battery life could be an exaggeration, boasting talk time of five hours. Wonder how long that 'Internet experience' will last with its lithium-ion battery.
Slim this down to about half its thickness and weight, and install Windows 7, and you could be looking at the phone/computer of the future.

ARM breaks 2GHz barrier with dual core Cortex-A9 processor

Great Neptune’s trousers!

ARM has just announced the development of a dual core mobile processor capable of breaking the 2GHz barrier. The 40nm Cortex-A9 CPU will use conventional silicon chips and each CPU core will consume less than 0.25 watts of power.

While ARM’s aiming the chip at “applications such as set-top boxes, DTVs, printers, and other feature-rich consumer and high-density enterprise applications,” the SmartBook and MID movements could probably make some waves by using dual-core 2GHz setups as well.

The technology will become available to hardware builders in Q4 of this year, although “the Cortex-A9 hard macros and the corresponding optimized physical IP used to develop the speed-optimized and power-optimized implementations are available for license today.”

Full press release:

ARM Announces 2GHz Capable Cortex-A9 Dual Core Processor Implementation

ARM Cortex processor technology and physical IP developed in unison to deliver high performance and low-power processing for consumer and enterprise markets

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Sept. 16, 2009 – ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMH)] announced today the development of two Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ hard macro implementations for the TSMC 40nm-G process, enabling silicon manufacturers to have a rapid and low-risk route to silicon for high-performance, low-power Cortex-A9 processor-based devices. The speed-optimized hard macro implementation will enable devices to operate at frequencies greater than 2GHz.

The dual core hard macro implementations are the result of ARM’s significant investment in advanced physical IP development in unison with processor and fabric IP technology, and leading-edge implementation flows from the EDA industry. Advanced physical IP techniques have enabled critical circuits within the design to be replaced with highly tuned logic cells and memories, increasing performance while lowering overall power consumption.

Speed Optimized

The Cortex-A9 speed-optimized hard macro implementation will provide system designers with an industry standard ARM® processor incorporating aggressive low-power techniques to further extend ARM’s performance leadership into high-margin consumer and enterprise devices within the power envelope necessary for compact, high-density and thermally constrained environments. This hard macro implementation operates in excess of 2GHz when selected from typical silicon and represents an ideal solution for high-margin performance-oriented applications.

Power Optimized

In many thermally constrained applications such as set-top boxes, DTVs, printers and other feature-rich consumer and high-density enterprise applications, energy efficiency is of paramount importance. The Cortex-A9 power-optimized hard macro implementation delivers its peak performance of 4000 DMIPS while consuming less than 250mW per CPU when selected from typical silicon.

The hard macro implementations include ARM AMBA®-compliant high performance system components to maximize data traffic speed and minimize power consumption and silicon area. Each Cortex-A9 hard macro implementation also includes the CoreSight™ Program Trace Macrocell (PTM) which provides full visibility into the processor’s instruction flow, enabling the software community to develop code for optimal performance.

“The Cortex-A9 MPCore processor has already been widely accepted as the processor of choice for high-performance embedded applications across a broad spectrum of demanding consumer and enterprise devices,” said Eric Schorn, VP marketing, Processor Division, ARM. “ARM’s parallel development of advanced, optimized physical IP components demonstrates a new level of collaborative differentiation while enabling our Partners to expand their penetration into high margin domains traditionally occupied by proprietary architectures.”

“ARM’s long-standing investment in low-power leadership and ability to develop such high-performance devices enables licensees to lower the cost and risk of entering the high-margin markets currently addressed with competing proprietary solutions,” said Will Strauss, principal analyst at Forward Concepts. “With single-thread performance capable of supporting very intensive workloads, the unprecedented level of power efficiency will enable licensees to introduce compelling new products.”

“ARM and TSMC have enjoyed a long standing relationship of collaboration to ensure the development and delivery of best-in-class products optimized for our manufacturing process,” said ST Juang, Sr. Director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division, TSMC. “This provides OEMs developing feature-rich consumer and enterprise devices access to TSMC’s manufacturing excellence and the power of ARM processor IP”

Both ARM dual core Cortex-A9 hard macros will share a common seven-power domain, dual-NEON™ technology configuration supporting SMP (symmetrical multiprocessing) operating systems with up to 8MB of Level2 cache memory and will be delivered with all scripts, vectors and libraries required to integrate the macro directly within any SoC device.

To enable the development of high-efficiency, low risk SoCs using other Cortex-A9 processor configurations, ARM also provides the silicon-proven SoC-level ARM Physical IP platform used to build these hard macros, and a range of AMBA-compliant system development components and tools.

In addition, the ARM Active Assist consulting service, developed in conjunction with the hard macros, enables ARM Partners to efficiently integrate the hardened macro into their SoC design to realize maximum system performance with lowest risk and fastest time-to-market.

Availability

The Cortex-A9 hard macros and the corresponding optimized physical IP used to develop the speed-optimized and power-optimized implementations are available for license today with delivery in the fourth quarter of 2009. ARM’s 40G physical IP platform is also available today at designstart.arm.com.

Opera Mini 5 Beta Out Now: Tabbed Browsing, Speed Dial Bookmarks [Mobile Browsers]

Unlike Opera Mobile, Opera Mini crunches pages a server for viewing on your Java phone or BlackBerry. The new beta has a snappier interface geared for touch or keypad control, and adds tabbed browsing, speed dial, and a password manager.

The idea is to mirror the desktop version as much as possible. Open a new tab and you'll see the visual speed dial thumbnails, which you can also customize based on your browsing history. The new version can also be set to store login details on your phone.
As with Opera 4.2, YouTube videos will play via your phone's native media player, and there's still no Flash support. What also sucks: This beta won't support Skins and Opera Link, though both should be reintroduced as development continues.
[Opera: Full Website | Mobile version]