AMD Jumping on the Android Bandwagon

[exfileme]

AMD is recruiting software engineers to develop drivers for Google's Android OS.

AMD Jumping on the Android Bandwagon : Read more

 

[pelov]

Does this mean we'll get better drivers for all distros of linux, finally?

 

[sabot00]

This will be quite interesting, an excellent low-power x86 CPU with android.
[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]Is there a android bandwagon? I didnt think so.. Iphone FTW.[/citation]
You realize the Apple A4 chip in the iPhone 4 is already tons behind competitors right?
800Mhz vs Dual Core 1.2GHz
PowerVR SGX 535 vs SGX 540's, GeForce ULPs, and Adreno 220s.

 

[piesquared]

Tegra is ARM. AMD doesn't have an ARM architecture, they have x86. They are talking about driver development for X86 on Android. So it has nothing to do with NV as they don't have an x86 license. Apples and oranges, cats and dogs, night and day.

 

[NightLight]

move along AMD, nothing to see here... move along!

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]Is there a android bandwagon? I didnt think so.. Iphone FTW.[/citation]
Get your head out of your ***

 

[Parsian]

as usual, GO AMD!!!

 

[Guest]

Android will rule the world and leave nothing but applesauce behind.

 

[mosu]

AMD finally understood the world is moving towards mobility and I assume that's why they've changed the CEO.Better later than never!Also I think 40nm chips are not suitable for low power solutions, so wait till 28nm goes mainstream.

 

[pelov]

[citation][nom]piesquared[/nom]Tegra is ARM. AMD doesn't have an ARM architecture, they have x86. They are talking about driver development for X86 on Android. So it has nothing to do with NV as they don't have an x86 license. Apples and oranges, cats and dogs, night and day.[/citation]

Just do what everyone else does with ARM... pay somebody else for every chip you make ;P

I don't see x86 doing well in the phone/tablet market; at least not in the near future.

 

[ben850]

[citation][nom]sabot00[/nom]This will be quite interesting, an excellent low-power x86 CPU with android.You realize the Apple A4 chip in the iPhone 4 is already tons behind competitors right?800Mhz vs Dual Core 1.2GHzPowerVR SGX 535 vs SGX 540's, GeForce ULPs, and Adreno 220s.[/citation]

You must have forgotten about the iPhone 5 coming out this summer/fall. Either way, the iPhone can run smoother with less power. Yes it is a more controlled environment, but that is what I want in my personal phone.

Android phones are cool and all, with their beefy CPU's and (nearly) full customization, but only if you sit at home all day next to a wall charger.

tl;dr I'll take an efficient product over a raw/uncontained one any day.

 

[winner4455]

[citation][nom]ben850[/nom]You must have forgotten about the iPhone 5 coming out this summer/fall. Either way, the iPhone can run smoother with less power. Yes it is a more controlled environment, but that is what I want in my personal phone.Android phones are cool and all, with their beefy CPU's and (nearly) full customization, but only if you sit at home all day next to a wall charger.tl;dr I'll take an efficient product over a raw/uncontained one any day.[/citation]

Battery efficiency isn't related to how open the product is..

 

[Guest]

sheeple on both sides post here

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]You do realize the Iphone 5 will blow away anything and everything this Summer.[/citation]
It's true that the SGX543 in the A5 is considerably more powerful then what's offered in most other competing SOC's, including the Geforce ULP in Tegra 2. But the processor's are relatively similar, both SOC's integrating dual-core Cortex A9's running at 1GHz. Apple tends to integrate less RAM in their SOC's then the competition, 512MB in comparison to 1GB in most Tegra 2 devices. Apple also downclocked the Cortex A8 based A4 used in the the iphone4 to 800MHz in comparison to the 1Ghz clock seen in the ipad and many other competing A8 based smart phones, so a similar downclock may be used in the iphone5.

All things considered, Tegra 2 smartphones have been on the market for nearly a quarter now, while Apple's A5 based iphone5 won't be available for at least another quarter. That's potentially a 6 month gap right there. So taking this into consideration I think it's a little difficult to say that the iphone5 will "blow away" everything this summer when other similarly performing Android devices are on the market right now.

And on a side note, Nvidia's Tegra 3 "Kal-El", integrating a quadcore Cortex A9 and a considerably more robust GPU, is set for release in the 3rd quarter, with smartphones based on the new SOC coming to market 1st quarter 2012 (tablet availability in 4th quarter 2011). If everything goes as planned Andriod based devices would again beat Apple to the market with next-gen SOC tech.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]sabot00[/nom]You realize the Apple A4 chip in the iPhone 4 is already tons behind competitors right?800Mhz vs Dual Core 1.2GHz[/citation]
A valid point, although it's not just the clock speed, but the architecture as well. The Tegra 2 uses dualcore Cortex A9's, while the Apple A4 uses a single core A8. Even if both SOC's were single core and running at the same clockspeed, the efficiency optimizations in the A9 would still be quite obvious. Performance-per-clock is considerably higher on the Cortex A9 in comparison to the A8.

 

[znegval]

[citation][nom]winner4455[/nom]Battery efficiency isn't related to how open the product is..[/citation]

I might be wrong but I think it kinda is. I have to watch my ass constantly when running my Android apps because some of them are sucking my battery life away. By having a tight control over which apps you can buy Apple probably tries to guarantee that the app doesn't do stuff life this (or they'd be blamed for having a crappy battery).

But then again I could never afford an iPhone so I might be a little off on this one. Maybe the same thing happens but I would be surprised.

 

[aznguy0028]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]Is there a android bandwagon? I didnt think so.. Iphone FTW.[/citation]
Spoken like a true mac zealot. All hail prophet Jobs!

 

[sinfulpotato]

AMD has one small advantage. Global Foundries has already been pumping out the latest mobile chips. They have all the technology at there finger tips.

Now to enter the market legally. While AMD doesn't technically own Global Foundries, and they more or less own it... if that makes sense.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

who cares, these tablets are not going to sell well anyway. AMD are really wasting their time and effort here. Apple is the only company that can sell tablets that people will buy. there doesnt seem to be a real reason for apple being able to sell while others do not since they are lower specced and overpriced; the only reason is apple zombies. Its low powered smartphones they need to get into where android is becoming number one.

 

[fir_ser]

Better late than never.

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]Is there a android bandwagon? I didnt think so.. Iphone FTW.[/citation]
Are there still trolls? I didn't think so... Wait, here's one!

 

[one-shot]

[citation][nom]house70[/nom]Are there still trolls? I didn't think so... Wait, here's one![/citation]

That troll has been around for years hurling insults at anyone who doesn't believe what he believes.

 

[Guest]

Everyone please remind me what great games that Android has to offer. Anything with graphics on par with Infinity Blade, etc? I haven't seen anything android based that has comparable graphics. Note, I may be uninformed of some upcoming titles for Android, but who cares about having superior hardware when there's developers (eg. Epic) staying clear of Android. I know I may be biting my words with the release of the Sony Xperia and it's upcoming games, but we'll see.

 

[jalek]

PC's will never catch up with the advanced graphical interface of my Macintosh-II, no matter how many companies build clones.

That's about what this bickering sounds like..

 

[Marco925]

[citation][nom]mosu[/nom]AMD finally understood the world is moving towards mobility and I assume that's why they've changed the CEO.Better later than never!Also I think 40nm chips are not suitable for low power solutions, so wait till 28nm goes mainstream.[/citation]
Though i didn't think AMD had the resources to even look at that.