Menneisyys
02-04-2007, 07:45 PM
I’ve been pretty busy lately: on Thursday, I attended a conference on embedded systems with particular emphasis on Microsoft’s WindowsCE. The following is a very short report on the conference; as soon as I receive the slides and information on whether they are confidential, I publish a lot more information.
The conference was (partly) sponsored by Arrow (http://www.arrowne.com/microsoft/), a well-known player in the embedded business, with some co-sponsors (and lecturers) like Intel (thanks for one of their prizes I was able to win in the ending quiz, the Intel jug :) ) There were several lectures; from Microsoft, Intel, Freescale, Sharp and so on.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/0201ConferenceMain.jpg
(the Microsoft WindowsCE 6.0 embedded lecture)
While some of the lecturers were definitely biased, particularly that of Intel, who stated the ARM architecture (that is, the PDA market) has absolutely no future because now that Intel will (in 2008) start producing x86-based CPU’s with the 45nm technology (http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/45nm_technology.htm) and everyone will go for UMPC’s instead of PDA’s or high(er)-end PPC Phone Edition devices. I just couldn’t get rid of the “sore grapes” feeling – after all, Intel has lost most of the (current) PPC Phone Edition market to Samsung and TI. It’s like Toshiba’s calling the entire PDA scene (including PDA smartphones) dead back in some three years ago – we all know the outcome.
Also, the SHARP representative called the OLED technology, which is successfully used in some well-known PDA’s like the excellent Palm OS-based Sony VZ-90 pretty useless and, which is even more important, unreliable, which, at least taken the example of the Sony VZ-90, isn’t really correct. (Sharp doesn’t produce any kind of OLED screens.)
Nevertheless, the SHARP screens shows were pretty nice. I’ve always known SHARP is able to produce really high-end screens in any size; for example, it’s well-known that one of the most important drivers behind the SL-C Zaurus series was the absolutely killer screen not seen on any other device, Pocket PC and Palm alike, before. SHARP had a real advantage in here: it was only some 1.5 years after the release of the first SL-C series Zaurus, the SL-C700, that the first VGA Pocket PC’s, the Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 and the HP iPAQ hx4700, hit the shelves with the well-known, high-quality Sony screens that were the first screens to closely match the quality of the SHARP screens used in the Zaurus series. Later, this has been followed by later VGA Fujitsu-Siemens devices and the HTC Universal. (Unfortunately, other VGA models, particularly the Dell Axim x50v/ x51v and the Toshiba e800/e830, have a much inferior screen, which in no way can be compared to those used in the Zaurus line.)
Of the exhibited screens, it was definitely the k3650 that dragged the most admirers – including me. Its rendering of red / warm colors was remarkable, was capable of a much higher maximal backlight than, say, the HTC Universal. I’d say it’s even better than the already-remarkable Zaurus SL-C760 screen. The following shots can’t really show its quality as I didn’t have the time to make shots with controlled color balance. Note that you can click most images for a much bigger one.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/1s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/1.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/2s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/2.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/3s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/3.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/4s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/4.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/5s.jpg
The Microsoft XP/CE Embedded lectures didn’t really tell me anything I hadn’t known before (let me point out that I know a LOT about Windows XP Embedded and the entire thin client industry / technology. This is why I didn’t find the XP Embedded lecture particularly interesting.) as most of the information has already been published (for example, the different, and, fortunately, hugely improved process model of WinCE 6.0). Of course, that’s only me, who know Microsoft’s OS’es, mobile, desktop and server versions alike, like the palm of my hand; others must have definitely found these lectures full of new info.
The lecture of Freescale (http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/homepage.jsp?nodeId=02XPgQ82172973) was probably the most interesting for us PDA geeks. We have been introduced to the pretty remarkable, ARM-based i.MX range (http://www.freescale.com/files/wireless_comm/doc/brochure/BR1904IMX.pdf) of Freescale. Extensive comparisons have been made to Intel’s XScale. Of course, as with some other lecturers, the Freescale guys haven’t really been unbiased either; for example, we haven’t been told the FULL truth about the power consumption difference between Intel XScale and i.MX CPU’s. It’s true when the former runs at full clock speed, the Amperage it alone requires is around 200 mA’s as has also been measured by me in my well-known Pocket PC & Smartphone Magazine article Maximize Battery Life by Minimizing Power Consumption! (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_archives/aug06/battery.aspx) and, for example, Pocket PC Thoughts-frontpaged Some new power consumption measurements (Dell Axim x51v, HP iPAQ hx4700, Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720, HTC Universal, HTC Wizard) (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1219&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1). It, however, only applies to the full-clock (for example, 624 MHz) idle mode; when the CPU automatically switches down to, say, 104 MHz, the power consumption dramatically decreases. This, for anyone well-versed in current CPU technology, well-known fact wasn’t at all mentioned.
An example shot of their hardware, showing an example board housing the i.MX31, connected to a rather low-quality, old, reflective, dark LCD screen and running Windows Media Player on the WindowsCE / Palm-size PC operating system.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/6s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/6.jpg)
What do YOU think of the widespread use of these CPU’s in Pocket PC’s? They are already pretty common in today’s PMP’s (Portable Media Players). Their hardware capabilities, however, would really beneficial in “traditional” PDA’s too, particularly when it comes to multimedia playback. (Let’s not forget that they, for example, have in-CPU MP3 decoding, which is mostly done in software on the Intel CPU as can also be seen in the MP3 Playback Power Consumption Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1656&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)). They aren’t particularly expensive either; over 1000 pieces, they “only” cost some $17...20 according to this chart (http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX31#orderables).
The conference was (partly) sponsored by Arrow (http://www.arrowne.com/microsoft/), a well-known player in the embedded business, with some co-sponsors (and lecturers) like Intel (thanks for one of their prizes I was able to win in the ending quiz, the Intel jug :) ) There were several lectures; from Microsoft, Intel, Freescale, Sharp and so on.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/0201ConferenceMain.jpg
(the Microsoft WindowsCE 6.0 embedded lecture)
While some of the lecturers were definitely biased, particularly that of Intel, who stated the ARM architecture (that is, the PDA market) has absolutely no future because now that Intel will (in 2008) start producing x86-based CPU’s with the 45nm technology (http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/45nm_technology.htm) and everyone will go for UMPC’s instead of PDA’s or high(er)-end PPC Phone Edition devices. I just couldn’t get rid of the “sore grapes” feeling – after all, Intel has lost most of the (current) PPC Phone Edition market to Samsung and TI. It’s like Toshiba’s calling the entire PDA scene (including PDA smartphones) dead back in some three years ago – we all know the outcome.
Also, the SHARP representative called the OLED technology, which is successfully used in some well-known PDA’s like the excellent Palm OS-based Sony VZ-90 pretty useless and, which is even more important, unreliable, which, at least taken the example of the Sony VZ-90, isn’t really correct. (Sharp doesn’t produce any kind of OLED screens.)
Nevertheless, the SHARP screens shows were pretty nice. I’ve always known SHARP is able to produce really high-end screens in any size; for example, it’s well-known that one of the most important drivers behind the SL-C Zaurus series was the absolutely killer screen not seen on any other device, Pocket PC and Palm alike, before. SHARP had a real advantage in here: it was only some 1.5 years after the release of the first SL-C series Zaurus, the SL-C700, that the first VGA Pocket PC’s, the Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 and the HP iPAQ hx4700, hit the shelves with the well-known, high-quality Sony screens that were the first screens to closely match the quality of the SHARP screens used in the Zaurus series. Later, this has been followed by later VGA Fujitsu-Siemens devices and the HTC Universal. (Unfortunately, other VGA models, particularly the Dell Axim x50v/ x51v and the Toshiba e800/e830, have a much inferior screen, which in no way can be compared to those used in the Zaurus line.)
Of the exhibited screens, it was definitely the k3650 that dragged the most admirers – including me. Its rendering of red / warm colors was remarkable, was capable of a much higher maximal backlight than, say, the HTC Universal. I’d say it’s even better than the already-remarkable Zaurus SL-C760 screen. The following shots can’t really show its quality as I didn’t have the time to make shots with controlled color balance. Note that you can click most images for a much bigger one.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/1s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/1.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/2s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/2.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/3s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/3.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/4s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/4.jpg)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/5s.jpg
The Microsoft XP/CE Embedded lectures didn’t really tell me anything I hadn’t known before (let me point out that I know a LOT about Windows XP Embedded and the entire thin client industry / technology. This is why I didn’t find the XP Embedded lecture particularly interesting.) as most of the information has already been published (for example, the different, and, fortunately, hugely improved process model of WinCE 6.0). Of course, that’s only me, who know Microsoft’s OS’es, mobile, desktop and server versions alike, like the palm of my hand; others must have definitely found these lectures full of new info.
The lecture of Freescale (http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/homepage.jsp?nodeId=02XPgQ82172973) was probably the most interesting for us PDA geeks. We have been introduced to the pretty remarkable, ARM-based i.MX range (http://www.freescale.com/files/wireless_comm/doc/brochure/BR1904IMX.pdf) of Freescale. Extensive comparisons have been made to Intel’s XScale. Of course, as with some other lecturers, the Freescale guys haven’t really been unbiased either; for example, we haven’t been told the FULL truth about the power consumption difference between Intel XScale and i.MX CPU’s. It’s true when the former runs at full clock speed, the Amperage it alone requires is around 200 mA’s as has also been measured by me in my well-known Pocket PC & Smartphone Magazine article Maximize Battery Life by Minimizing Power Consumption! (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_archives/aug06/battery.aspx) and, for example, Pocket PC Thoughts-frontpaged Some new power consumption measurements (Dell Axim x51v, HP iPAQ hx4700, Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720, HTC Universal, HTC Wizard) (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1219&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1). It, however, only applies to the full-clock (for example, 624 MHz) idle mode; when the CPU automatically switches down to, say, 104 MHz, the power consumption dramatically decreases. This, for anyone well-versed in current CPU technology, well-known fact wasn’t at all mentioned.
An example shot of their hardware, showing an example board housing the i.MX31, connected to a rather low-quality, old, reflective, dark LCD screen and running Windows Media Player on the WindowsCE / Palm-size PC operating system.
http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/6s.jpg (http://www.winmobiletech.com/022007WinCEEmbeddedConference/6.jpg)
What do YOU think of the widespread use of these CPU’s in Pocket PC’s? They are already pretty common in today’s PMP’s (Portable Media Players). Their hardware capabilities, however, would really beneficial in “traditional” PDA’s too, particularly when it comes to multimedia playback. (Let’s not forget that they, for example, have in-CPU MP3 decoding, which is mostly done in software on the Intel CPU as can also be seen in the MP3 Playback Power Consumption Bible (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1656&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)). They aren’t particularly expensive either; over 1000 pieces, they “only” cost some $17...20 according to this chart (http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX31#orderables).