Multicore penetrates mobile

Although multi-core processors are common today in notebook PCs, they are only beginning to become common place in other mobile devices, according to market research by In-Stat. In-Stat projects 2010 will be a key year for adoption of multi-core processors in netbooks and smartphones in 2010, while MIDs/UMPCs will see uptake in 2011, and CE devices will follow during 2012/2013.
The use of multiple cores is more common with the x86 architecture today due to it’s dominance in the notebook PC segment. However, the ARM architecture will see a higher growth rate as the architecture transitions to multi-core configurations. By 2013, almost 88% of the processors sold into the mobile market segment will be multi-core processors, says the report.
“Integration of graphics/multimedia acceleration is a key trend as well”, says Jim McGregor, In-Stat analyst. “While multi-core dominates in the high performance mobile computing segments, integration of graphics/multimedia acceleration favors the smartphone, MID/UMPC and mobile entertainment device segment.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- The mobile market for merchant processing solutions is expected to grow at a 22.3% CAGR through 2013. By 2013, the market is projected to grow to about 775 million units.
- The battle for the fast-growing mobile semiconductor market will intensify beginning in late 2009 and throughout 2010 with the introduction of new multi-core processors from each camp—ARM and x86.

Despite the weak economy taking its toll across most consumer markets, portable multimedia devices will thrive i teh next few years, says market researcher In-Stat.
Even the weak economy can’t overcome a broader migration to mobile and portable devices, as indicated by the proliferation of portable electronics categories, says a new report. Portable electronics device shipments will grow more than 10% in 2009 versus 2008. The category, which includes digital radio receivers, e-readers, edutainment toys, handheld game consoles, MP3 players, portable media players (PMPs), and personal navigation devices (PNDs), is expanding to over 400 million units in 2009. By 2013, it will approach 600 million units. While some segments, such as handheld game consoles and MP3 players, have hit maturity and peaked, other segments continue to emerge.
“We’re seeing significant growth in the e-reader segment, as it evolves from a nascent market,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “And while MP3 players have peaked, this represents more of a migration to video-capable devices, as shipments of PMPs continue to expand.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- Shipments of portable entertainment devices in Europe will be 157 million units in 2013. Shipments to Japan will be 58 million.
- Worldwide unit shipments for PNDs (navigation devices) will reach approximately 56 million units in 2012.
- Total worldwide shipments of PMP & MP3 players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia-Pacific representing the largest geographic market.
- Worldwide e-reader shipments are expected to grow from almost 1 million units in 2008 to nearly 30 million units in 2013.

Secrets of Google Goggles for visual search on Android

How it's done

>

Google has launched a visual search application on Android devices that allows users to search for objects using images rather than words. When you take a picture of an object with your camera phone, Google Goggles attempt to recognize the item, and returns relevant search results. Goggles is available in Android Market on devices with Android 1.6+ in US English.
Goggles lets users search for objects using images rather than words. Simply take a picture with the phone's camera, and if Goggles recognizes the item, it returns relevant search results. Right now Goggles identifies landmarks, works of art, and products (among other things) by:
* Sends the user's image to Google's datacentres
* Creates signatures of objects in the image using computer vision algorithms
* Compares signatures against all other known items in Google's image recognition databases; and
* Figures out how many matches exist; and
* Returns one or more search results, based on available meta data and ranking signals.

Something ELSE to take on the iPhone

Emblaze Mobile of Israel (now calling itself Else) is to launch a mobile phone to take on the iPhone. The First ELSE was previewed this week in London and has a 3.5in capacitative touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, A-GPS and Wi-Fi.
The ELSE uses a Linux mobile operating system platform called “ELSE Intuition” developed jointly between Emblaze and ACCESS of Japan, and the handset will be launched with its own apps store, hence the early preview to encourage developers to support it and the interface - it uses gesture control and opens applications by simply drawing one letter on the touch screen. If it can't get traction with developers then it will fail.
It will launch on 3 in the middle of next year.
Emblaze has slowly moved up the value chain, from developing mobile video codecs to applications processors (used by Samsung) and now the operating system, handset and apps.

Motorola Droid catches up with HTC in Android

Motorola's Droid handset is catching up with HTC's handsets in acessing Android applications, according to the October Mobile Metrics report from Admob. Instead of comparing smartphone platforms against each other, it looks inside each operating system at the distribution of requests coming from different handsets.
It is bullish on the Android platform, and the impact of the new devices launched in November is immediately apparent in the network data. On November 18th, the Droid already represented 24% of the traffic in our Android network and the Motorola CLIQ generated 6% of Android requests. Browsing statistics from Clicky, a web analytics firm, also show Droid traffic at similar levels as a percentage of Android browsing traffic.

iPhone detail breakdown

Found a very interesting pic of the breakdown of th iPhone 3GS from Semiconductor Insights to follow the iSuppli teardown.

Femtocell rollout chart

A useful roundup of the current state of rollouts of femtocells from the Femto Forum - miniature basestations in the home (in this case for 3G) that allow low cost calls or high speed data.
"The unique ability of femtocells to provide high-quality indoor coverage, major additional capacity and interesting new services for all mobile phones is driving enormous interest from mobile operators around the world - despite the challenging economic climate. The number of deployments has exceeded my expectations and this is attributable to increased clarity around the business case - thanks to in-depth research and modelling tools - and the progress made on standards," said Simon
Saunders, the Femto Forum's Chairman. "However, the rate of change in this industry introduces its own challenges and as such we are launching the first state of the market report to help the industry keep track of the latest developments."
The state of the market report is available at the Femto Forum website.

Bada emerges - an ironic challenge to Android?

Samsung Electronics will unveil its new open mobile platform, Bada, next month. Samsung seems to be following a trend of OSs that is “open” yet proprietary. The name
"Bada" is Korean for "ocean." The name was chosen "to convey the limitless variety of potential applications that can be created using the new platform," according to the company's statement.
Market research firm In-Stat believes the name is ironic as it highlights the almost limitless variety of mobile OSs as Bada joins Symbian, Android, Maemo, LiMo, WebOS, Windows Mobile, RIM, OSX, and Moblin to name a few. “Anything but Symbian” might have been another appropriate name as that seems to be the message coming from the major handset vendors, but “anything but Symbian” does not have the simplicity of the Bada moniker.
In-Stat believes the stakes are high. Gone are the days when the basis of competition was solely defined by hardware. The software is becoming the key in determining the user experience. Even within the software stack, however, the focus is shifting from the OS to the software and even more importantly, the applications. In fact, the new focus on enabling third party applications places very high stakes on these new OSs. If the growing army of professional and amateur software developers develop or port applications to a particular OS, the success of the handset platform and opportunity for the carrier could be high. If, however, a particular OS does not garner support from developers, then the result could be disastrous. So, is it a good idea to be introducing a new smartphone OS given the dominant position of Symbian or the momentum behind Android? In-Stat does not believe
that it is a good move at this time unless you can offer a compelling solution to the software developer, the carrier and the consumer.
“The momentum of alternative OSs is unmistakable and will continue to cut away at Symbian’s market share,” says In-Stat Vice President of Mobile research, Frank Dickson. “While it is difficult to forecast the future of new entrants like Bada, the market might of Samsung will give Bada life. In the short term, Android seems to have the strong momentum. 2010 will be the year of Android.”

Mobile broadband starts to boom

The rate of growth of HSPA Mobile Broadband connections has increased by nearly two thirds in the last year according to figures released by Wireless Intelligence, marking a major takeoff of the technology. There are now more than 9 million new HSPA connections being added globally every month, compared to 5.5 million a year ago. Europe and Asia Pacific each account for an estimated 3 million of these new connections, with North America contributing 1.3 million.
The rise in demand for Mobile Broadband will continue to accelerate, with a further 27 million HSPA connections forecast to be added by the end of 2009, with Africa, Eastern Europe and the Americas set to experience the strongest growth. There are currently 321 HSPA networks across 120 countries worldwide – 285 of these networks are commercially live, supporting more than 167.5 million connections. These networks are being served by more than 1,600 HSPA-enabled devices, such as smartphones, netbook and notebook PCs and dongles, for example, delivering Mobile Broadband connectivity to users around the world.

“HSPA technology continues its phenomenal growth as thousands of operators, vendors, application and service providers back the technology, ensuring the presence of a vibrant and competitive ecosystem,” said Dan Warren, Director of Technology at the GSMA. “This expanding ecosystem also encompasses the next generation of GSM technologies, HSPA+ and LTE. These next generation network technologies will continue to deliver increased data speeds and enable mobile operators to constantly improve service experience by delivering the latest, feature rich multimedia applications to their customers.”

Mobile operators around the world are seeing a huge growth in the amount of mobile data traffic across their networks. This trend is set to continue, with mobile devices predicted to send and receive more data in one month by 2014 than in all of 2008. Three quarters of this traffic will be attributed to Internet access, while nearly all the remainder will be due to audio and video streaming. This gives a clear indication of the significant changes that mobile broadband will be having on network usage over the coming years.

Evolution to HSPA+ and LTE

The sharp rise in demand for mobile broadband devices, services and applications is driving mobile operators to constantly evolve their network infrastructures and embrace the latest technologies. There are now 56 HSPA+ networks in existence globally, with 28 commercially live. Furthermore, 50 mobile operators worldwide have already committed to LTE plans, trials or deployments, with the first LTE networks expected to be rolled out next year. LTE is widely regarded as the de facto mobile broadband technology that will be adopted by the vast majority of mobile operators globally, says the GSMA (as opposed to WiMax or even sticking with HSPA+ and future variants).

Single mini USB for charging, audio and data

Freescale Semiconductor is introducing a mini USB interface IC that helps mobile device designers and manufacturers create smaller, sleeker consumer products by using a single mini USB connector for external accessories including chargers, headsets, microphones and audio/data connections.
In addition to saving valuable board space by eliminating the need for multiple connections, the MC34825 analog IC also lowers power consumption and extends battery life by supporting all-passive audio accessories such as stereo audio, microphone and cord remote control functionality.

“The MC34825 leverages Freescale’s 15 years of experience in delivering portable power management solutions that help our customers differentiate in competitive consumer electronics markets,” said Scott Ward, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Analog, Mixed-Signal & Power Division. “This IC helps consumer device manufacturers give consumers what they want – smaller form factors and a single connection that eliminates the need for multiple adapters and cords.”

The chip can be used in smartbooks, netbooks, eBooks, mobile phones, smartphones, portable media players, portable navigation devices, digital still cameras and camcorders.
It uses uses intelligent switching to identify up to 32 different accessory types, such as headsets, microphones and chargers. It automatically identifies the attachment and informs the host system, switching the signal or setting the charge current based on the plugged-in charger.
As a universal charging solution, the MC34825 supports multiple charger types including AC, DC and USB. The IC identifies the battery charger type and sets the charge current level accordingly. Additional battery charging features include up to 28V OVP for the VBUS power input, ultra low operating current (<10uA at standby), a power-save mode and automatic detachment detection.