Intel's Robson Technology Utilizes NAND Flash RAM to Cut PC Boot Time

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051018-5446.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...51018-5446.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Intel showed off its new Robson cache technology yesterday, when it gave a demonstration using a laptop that booted up almost immediately. The laptop in the question was equipped with a nice chunk of NAND flash RAM, which made the super-speedy startup time possible. As part of the demonstration, Intel also launched several applications from the flash drive, including Adobe Reader in 0.4 seconds and Quicken in 2.9 seconds."</i><br /><br />This is pretty awesome! This technology brings PCs much closer to the "instant-on" capability that has separated PDAs from handheld PCs. To take this idea a step further, many of you already know that there have been major steps over the past couple of years to bring miniaturized PCs to market (Darius' prior post on the Intel Ruby prototype is a great example). If you could tote around an OQO or Intel Ruby-type of unit with instant-on capability, you'd essentially have a laptop replacement that also could replace (and even enhance) anything a PDA can do. What do you think?

[Robb Bates]

A wise man once said...

A laptop is good because you can take it with you...

but a Pocket PC is BETTER, because you WILL take it with you.


Until someone comes out with a handheld PC that I can carry on my belt or in my pocket (regular jeans/business slacks type pocket), I'll stick with my Pocket PC.

Robb

[MG]

I am for anything that can take weight off my shoulder when travelling. My laptop is a boat anchor.

Mark

[ecard]

At the end of September, I went to a conference in Boston, and Microsoft had their new device "DualCor", running both WinXP and Windows Mobile. That was a sweet device. A bit bigger than my Dell x50v:

Here the specs:

- Dual Windows XP and Windows Mobile (XP, TabletPC, Vista and WM5)
- 2.0 GHz DualCor Architecture
- 802.11, Bluetooth, 3G Enabled
- Power - 300 hours standby, 8hrs talk time, computing, web &amp; email
- 5", 262K color, 800, 480 display
- 40 GB Internal Hard Drive
- 1 GB DDR2 RAM / 1GB NAND
- USB 2.0 (2-Type A, 1-Type B)
- Actual Size 6.5 x 3.3 x 1.2 inches

It suppose to come out in Jan and will sell for 1,500$US

I saw it running, and it was very nice :ppclove:

[Sven Johannsen]

I said ditch both, but the poll didn't take my Smartphone into account. I still take my laptop because I have a hard time running Visio and other essential (to me) apps on my PPC. Right now I still carry my PPC for quick reference, because the darn SP has a camera and I can't take it numerous places. Honestly, a Smartphone with decent data capability and no camera, and currently available light laptops would do it for me.

[Lex]

A couple of additional questions might have been included. The focus on 'carry' vs. 'use' makes the choice more difficult. I might -use- all three given their advantages in certain settings. And I'd never travel to LA to smack ya'. (The tickets are too expensive.) :D

[ricksfiona]

At the end of September, I went to a conference in Boston, and Microsoft had their new device "DualCor", running both WinXP and Windows Mobile. That was a sweet device. A bit bigger than my Dell x50v:

Here the specs:

- Dual Windows XP and Windows Mobile (XP, TabletPC, Vista and WM5)
- 2.0 GHz DualCor Architecture
- 802.11, Bluetooth, 3G Enabled
- Power - 300 hours standby, 8hrs talk time, computing, web &amp; email
- 5", 262K color, 800, 480 display
- 40 GB Internal Hard Drive
- 1 GB DDR2 RAM / 1GB NAND
- USB 2.0 (2-Type A, 1-Type B)
- Actual Size 6.5 x 3.3 x 1.2 inches

It suppose to come out in Jan and will sell for 1,500$US

I saw it running, and it was very nice :ppclove:

Yup, there was even a posting here about that some time ago. I'm totally looking at that puppy. They are right on schedule. If it comes out in January, I will probably buy one. It will make things much easier on the eyes.

It would make justifying a Pocket PC Phone Edition with this other unit a little harder. I'd probably end up getting a lower end PPC PE and this device.

We'll see and I'll be waiting :wink:

[ecard]

Yup, there was even a posting here about that some time ago. I'm totally looking at that puppy. They are right on schedule. If it comes out in January, I will probably buy one. It will make things much easier on the eyes.

It would make justifying a Pocket PC Phone Edition with this other unit a little harder. I'd probably end up getting a lower end PPC PE and this device.

We'll see and I'll be waiting :wink:

It even had a docking station, that let you use as a full PC (external monitor, kb, mouse, etc).

Eric

[Mark Kenepp]

I can't see this changing the way I handle me mobile computing needs at present but it looks like it would give me more options.

Instant on is an important feature but I think when traveling, battery life might be higher on my list.

BTW, are you worried Ekkie?

It looks like a fair percentage of voters whould like to fly to LA and smack you upside the head :bangin:

Would that be Orange County or LAX?

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I said ditch both, but the poll didn't take my Smartphone into account.
Yeah. I actually did consider that when I first started putting the poll together, but then I was worried that I was creating too many extra options based around various possibilities, so I just cut it down to keep the real-estate required to a minimum.

BTW, are you worried Ekkie?
It looks like a fair percentage of voters whould like to fly to LA and smack you upside the head :bangin:
Actually... I think that's Darius rigging the poll! ;)

I know the rest of y'all love me, right?

Uhhh... right? :worried:

[MG]

Well I was able to vote twice, once from work and again from home. The good news was that after further reflection, I decided to not vote to fly to CA again! :D

Mark

[Darius Wey]

Actually... I think that's Darius rigging the poll! ;)

I know the rest of y'all love me, right?

Uhhh... right? :worried:

Are you kidding? I literally just woke up and saw this poll. :lol:

[Jason Dunn]

Yup, there was even a posting here about that some time ago. I'm totally looking at that puppy. They are right on schedule. If it comes out in January, I will probably buy one. It will make things much easier on the eyes.

Are you guys talking about Ultra Mobile 2007? I could only find a couple of very obscure references on DualCor... :?

[Typhoon]

Same here... Anyone know where I can find pictures of this "DualCor"?

[Mark Johnson]

I'm seriously interested in finding a way to replace my Axim with something where I can run REAL Access databases (and a handful of other applications) on it.

1) Even when you have "Pocket versions" of apps like Word, the crummy "round-trip" formatting capabilites make it impractical to use one document on both desktop and mobile platforms.

2) There are still so many missing holes as far as application support goes, I'm convinced XP will "shrink to your pocket" (through better/smaller hardware) decades before Windows Mobile will "grow to the capabilites" of a desktop.

My vote is let's stop flogging the platform and just put a bullet in the handful of issues keeping us from having a reasonably priced OQO. This "instant on" issue really is the major showstopper, so I'm really happy to see it going away.

Ultimately, I hope the "PocketPC" will be just like the "TabletPC" - based on an XP core with particular extensions apropriate for the form factor. (And I certainly DO NOT think that just making a really small TabletPC is a complete solution. You'd use a 10oz 3.5" VGA implementation of XP quite differently than a 2lb 12" SXGA version. There WILL still need to be a "PocketPC Platform" as well as a "TabletPC Platform" for each need. I just would love a common code base.

Just my $0.02

[Rob Alexander]

To replace my PDA, it would need to be similar in size and have instant on. If such a device could run XP, it would be a major improvement for me because there are many things I can't do with my PPC that I'd like to.

To replace my laptop, it would have to be fast enough to really compare to the laptop in actually program execution. Not some 1gh Transmeta thing that runs like a 286, but something that really runs well. Then I could definitely see myself setting up a docking station at work and at home and carrying my computer everywhere I went.

[Cybrid]

I know the rest of y'all love me, right? Uhhh... right? :worried:

I voted smack....simply to satisfy your masochistic needs of placing that option in the poll. :devilboy:

***massive quoting deleted by moderator JD***