We're thrilled about the news that Google just issued - check it out here. Google shared its vision for the mobile computing market, and foreshadowed some revolutionary advancements to come - especially for netbooks - with its Chrome browser based implementation. Google reiterated the importance of speed, simplicity and security in the mobile computing environment, all of which our team of TI engineers is passionate about driving.
With strong support for the mobile computing and netbook markets, TI stands as an active participant in this Google initiative. Our proven and commercially shipping OMAPTM 3 hardware and software platforms inspire the industry's most passionate developers in the open source community. TI leads the way in open source contributions from ARM-based applications processor vendors, and netbook products like those from ECS, Always Innovating and other yet-to-be-announced customers are strong testimony to what can be achieved by way of an open software philosophy.
Mobile computing appliances like netbooks are the tip of the iceberg in this rapidly evolving segment. A crucial aspect of such platforms is an integrated Linux software stack, which simplifies development and user usage models while still delivering a rich experience. Google's initiatives, especially with today's Chrome news, ease the challenges associated with creating this software stack. They also reiterate the browser's important role in this revolution - a role that will spawn a whole ecosystem of application developers to simplify our lives with new products that revolutionize the way we communicate and interact with other humans and with machines.
Embedded applications processors like our OMAP products - woven with a complex fabric of TI's sophisticated power management framework - have long thrived in this software environment, delivering all-day user experiences with high performance. Though netbook batteries are larger in size and capacity than those in smartphones, netbook usage models demand heavy-weight applications like HD video and rich user interfaces, all delivered on a large display (9+"). It is unreasonable to solve this problem with more MHz at the risk of being downgraded to the most common gripe with traditional PC's/notebooks - the battery just cannot keep up. At the end of the day, it is all about delivering the ultimate all-day mobile experience. With the pace of software innovation in this segment, the user will eventually not care about the type of processor in his/her machine.
A glimpse at what we see on the horizon with these advancements Imagine a world where everyone is equipped with an absolutely sleek and light-weight (our guess would be 500-700 grams maximum) machine with enough computing performance and an always-available network connection. You breeze through hotspots, you walk from building to building in your corporate headquarters - always connected, the machine comes to life as soon as you pop open the lid, or, as soon as you swipe your thumb on a secure-sensing device. What does this all mean?
If you think that these products are still in the distant future, think again. OMAP processors deliver this experience TODAY. With TI's efforts in this space and new initiatives like the one Google announced today, we urge you to salivate for everything that you can build - and we can deliver.
Above thoughts provided by Ramesh Iyer, TI's head of worldwide business development for mobile computing.