Qualcomm wins Microsoft tablet with integrated LTE support over Nividia

Surface RT tablets to feature Qualcomm processors

 

By Shona Ghosh

Posted on 19 Jun 2013 at 13:28

Microsoft will switch to Qualcomm processors for a forthcoming refresh of the Surface RT, potentially giving the tablet a mobile broadband connection for the first time.

According to sources speaking to Bloomberg, Microsoft will replace the Surface RT’s current quad-core Tegra 3 chipset from Nvidia with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 processors. The chips come with integrated LTE support, meaning the new Surface RT might offer a data connection. Current models are Wi-Fi only.

Qualcomm has already stated that its new chips will power some upcoming Windows 8.1 RT tablets in the second half of the year, but didn’t say which.

It’s possible that new tablets from HTC and Nokia will also run on Snapdragon 800 processors.

Nvidia will continue to supply chips for some versions of the Surface RT, according to Bloomberg’s sources, suggesting there might be multiple versions of a new Surface RT. Nvidia said in May that it was "very committed" to the Windows RT platform.

Read more: Surface RT tablets to feature Qualcomm processors | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/382525/surface-rt-tablets-to-feature-qualcomm-processors#ixzz2XsX6EaUv

With electronics show set to open, Gates heralds new digital decade

7 Jan 2008

The world's largest consumer electronics trade show will officially open here Monday, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates heralding the onset of a new "digital decade".
The Consumer Electronics Show features for the first time a "Sustainable TechZone" dedicated to "pioneering technologies that benefit the environment and sustainability of the global economy."
Innovations in the TechZone will include voltaic solar-power generating backpacks and messenger bags made from recycled plastic soda bottles.
Control4 and other firms specializing in automating homes will display computerized systems that reduce the amount of energy wasted in cooling, heating or lighting residences or by televisions and other entertainment electronics.
In his last keynote speech late Sunday, Gates predicted the coming 10 years will deliver great technological changes.
"The first digital decade has been a great success," Gates told an overflow audience in a ballroom at the Venetian hotel and casino.
"This is just the beginning. There is nothing holding us back from going much faster and further in the second digital decade."
There are more than a billion personal computers in use in the world and more than 40 percent of people on the planet have mobile telephones, according to Gates.
The new digital decade will be increasingly "user-centric" and the trend is for media and entertainment to be software driven, Gates said.
"The second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people," he continued. "Those applications will run on the Internet, in the cloud as we say, and use the best of software services."
The comment came as an admission that the market is moving away from Microsoft's longtime core money-maker, packaged software that people install on their own machines.
Gates said high-definition video experiences "will be everywhere," from televisions to wall projections and even built into desks or tables.
People will roam in increasingly realist three-dimensional virtual worlds, tending to business, shopping and other aspects of daily life, he contends.
Electronics will be increasingly linked to the degree that people will eventually take for granted getting their data whenever and where ever they want, according to Gates.
"You will take getting your data for granted," Gates said. "No longer will users have to bridge between devices and remember what is where."
While the first digital decade was marked by the keyboard and the computer mouse, the new decade will be marked by "natural user interfaces" such as touch screens and gesture controls, according to Gates.
Consumer electronics trends, opportunities and creations will be highlighted at the show and scrutinized in more than a score of "TechZones," and industry experts will discuss hot topics in conference sessions continuing until the show ends January 10.
"This is where the gadgets are, and the people that like gadgets," said Nate Nelson of Zagg Inc., which is among the exhibitors at the event.
Electronics makers vying for the CES spotlight will tout new products and resort to the time-proven tactic of bringing in actors, musicians, magicians, comedians or sports stars.
The event offers a vault of high-tech marvels from the last in flat-panel television sets and mobile telephones to computer controlled homes and cars.
Gates has spoken 11 times at annual CES events. He steps down from his full time job as chief technology officer at Microsoft in July and will refocus his efforts to the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"This is the first time since I was 17 that I won't have my full time Microsoft job," Gates said. "I don't know what that last day will be like; it could be strange."

Global smartphone shipments to top 195 million units in 2008

6 Dec, 2007

Global shipments of smartphones are expected to top 195 million units in 2008, accounting for 16% of total global handset shipments, compared to shipments of 149 million units and a ratio of 13% projected for 2007, according to an estimate by Digitimes Research.
With the increasing market size in Asia, Symbian and Microsoft both will target China and Japan to further boost their market shares in the region, said Digitimes.
According to Symbian, nine out of the 15 Symbian-based handsets launched by its handset partners in the third quarter of this year were targeting markets in Japan and China.
Accumulated sales of Symbian-based handsets in Japan have surpassed 30 million units, accounting for 72% of Japan's smartphone segment, Symbian said.
Symbian, which has set up a global R&D center in Beijing, said that 12% of global production of Symbian handsets is currently shipped to China, with Symbian-based models now accounting for 60% of China's smartphone market.
On the other hand, Microsoft is planning to set up a chain of 35 "Windows Mobile-concept" shops to promote its mobile handset solutions in China, according to market sources.
China-based Huawei Technologies and ZTE both plan to enter design-in process for the production of Windows Mobile-based smartphones in addition to Amoi Electronics, TechFaith Wireless and Lenovo who have already built up business relationships with Microsoft, the sources noted.
A total of 12 Windows Mobile-based smartphones are currently available in Japan's handset market compared to only one model in 2005, Microsoft said.

Explosive smartphone growth driven by new features and ease of use, says IMS Research

2 Nov, 2007

The smartphone segment of the handset market is forecast to experience strong growth, increasing from just over 10% of the market in 2007, to more than 25% of the market by 2012, according to IMS Research.
The growth in the smartphone market is being driven by a new breed of smartphones, which are decidedly more consumer friendly, noted the research firm. Historically, new technologies have been positioned as a unique selling point for the handset, as was the case with digital music players and cameras. These are attractive to customers, but have offered limited operator revenues returns to date.
The next generation of smartphones will see greater uptake from a wider range of consumers by utilizing the latest technologies to remove the key barriers to revenues generating services and applications, including enhanced appearance, usability, and functionality. Manufacturers and operators have learned from past missteps in this area, and are now targeting technologies not just for their unique selling points, but also for their ability to drive revenues. These technologies include GPS/ location-based services (LBS), capacitive touch screens, enhanced voice applications, and redesigned graphical user interfaces.
"Developers and manufacturers are designing glossy, manageable systems that allow end-users to easily access the desired applications – they are now beginning to look like they were designed by designers, not by engineers," stated mobile technologies director John Devlin in the October edition of IMS Research's Mobile Insights.
Capacitive touch screens, sensors, advanced speech technologies, and significantly improved graphical user interfaces are all seeing growth in smartphones, helping to drive consumer uptake and enabling increased operator average revenues per user (ARPU). These technological advancements in input technologies not only flatten the menu to encourage the user to try applications and search out new features, but also provide innovative new input methods. The input technologies section of Mobile Insights forecasts the speech I/O market to increase five fold over the next four years and touch screens (both resistive and capacitive) to account for 45% of the smartphone market by 2012.
In the GPS/LBS section, Mobile Insights also discusses the combination of speech technologies, GPS and mobile search to enhance the user experience and drive adoption. "These technologies will make mobile Internet search easily accessible and relevant. The experience will be different to a PC, information can be filtered by location and time" according to analyst Patrick Connolly in Mobile Insights. "Leading Internet search companies, like Google and Microsoft, are spending a lot of money on acquisitions and research, relating to this concept. By leveraging their experience in advertising, the revenues potential is huge."
"These developments lead us to believe that the smartphone market will continue to return higher than average growth than the market as a whole," stated Devlin. "In fact, IMS Research's Online Cellular Database shows that in 2012 more than one in four handsets will be a smartphone with more than 1.5 billion being sold. With the higher margins associated with such top-end products, it's no surprise that the gold rush is already underway."