Google Working on "Smart Charging" Software for Electric Cars

With 14 billion processors shipped to date, a whopping 4 billion of them in 2008, ARM is a silent giant in the computer industry. When a company that ships 90 processors a second wants to talk, I'm willing to at least hear them out. ARM has traditionally focused on the low-power mobile arena, but the company has come to realize that the same chips that decode Flash videos for cell phones can also do so on netbooks, set-top boxes, HDTVs, UMPCs, and so on. But ARM cores can't run Windows…or can they? And Linux-based OSes can't succeed on netbooks, right? Where will ARM chips play in the future of mobile computing?

I had a lengthy conversation with company executives earlier this week, who made a strong case for a transformation of the netbook market. They pointed out that processors like the Intel Atom have overshot the needs of the average consumer—that the rest of the system needs to catch up. And that's arguably true; in terms of performance, a Pentium CPU can surf the Web just fine, thank you very much. And in spite of efforts towards efficiency and battery life, most Atom-based netbooks just don't last that long, while ARM claims Cortex-A8 silicon can last through playback of three 2-hour movies or more than 9 hours of web browsing. That's impressive.

ARM argues that a 65-nm, 600-MHz Cortex-A8—that's the brains behind chips in the Palm Pre (a TI OMAP 3430) and the Amazon Kindle (a Freescale IMX31LVKN5C)—can render pages in less than 5 seconds, comparable to a 45-nm, 800-MHz Intel Atom. "In 2009/2010, the 45-nm Cortex-A9 will render pages in less than 3 seconds, faster than an Intel Atom at 1.6 GHz," claimed company documents.

But the company's real advantage lies in the dramatically reduced power consumption of its chips, which run cooler in the same space. When its 45-nm chips come out, ARM hopes for dramatically lessened power consumption. But what about Intel? The company isn't standing still, especially on the power consumption front, and Moorestown might be just what it needs. The next-gen Atom platform integrates GPU and memory controller onto the main die, while the I/O hub will be a separate chip. At Computex, Intel publicly stated that it's shooting for a 50-fold improvement in idle power over the current Menlow device. Not too shabby. ARM argues that "Cortex-A8 SoCs today in 65-nm are even 50x more efficient than Moorestown (45nm) on standby power."

The other big issue centers on the concept that Competition Is Good, spawning innovation and bringing down prices. There's really just a single hardware platform in the netbook world today—Intel Atom. But ARM-based chips come from six semiconductor partners: TI, Freescale, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Marvell. Let them compete for business and prices could really come down--ARM talked about $199 unsubsidized models, and maybe even $150 netbooks.

Hardware aside, netbooks famously struggled at first due to the Linux operating system. That's why today's netbooks run predominately Windows XP. But in our testing, Windows 7 runs just fine on these things, and delivers a darn fine experience. Won't people and companies start adopting it? The challenge hardware manufacturers have been wrestling with is convincing consumers that netbooks are really just appliances, devices to surf the Web, e-mail, and do little else. Win 7 practically begs you to install a few programs, and when you realize how slow Outlook runs on it...

I couldn't pin down ARM on whether its chips will run Windows; the closest execs would come is to state that there aren't any technical limitations to it happening. With Intel's close partnership with Microsoft, I wouldn't count on seeing compatibility any time soon. But ARM likes working in close partnership with software developers anyway, and it's already a part of Google's Open Handset Alliance. It likes Chrome OS already.

What's really going to determine whether Chrome succeeds is the look of the darn thing. Does it act like a cell phone, presenting merely the four or so functions it's optimized for? Or does it act like a Linux operating system, inviting you to install new programs that won't run very effectively? That user interface is what's really going to spell out for consumers the difference between this type of device and a laptop, and will determine its success, more so even than price.

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Aircraft that can fold up its wings and drive down the road is set for test flight By Sharon Gaudin January 13, 2009 (Computerworld) While it may seem like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, the flying car might soon become a reality. A Massachusetts company founded four years ago by MIT graduates is getting ready to take its flying car -- or drivable aircraft -- on its first test flight either later this month or early in February. Richard Gersh, a vice president at Woburn, Mass.-based Terrafugia Inc., told Computerworld today that the company is preparing to take a prototype of the vehicle, dubbed The Transition, to an airport in upstate New York for its initial flight. "We are very excited," said Gersh. "We are all very energized. To actually have it fly is a dream come true. I'm not sure it's up there with the Wright brothers but it's awfully close." The two-seater vehicle fits into the light sport aircraft category and has an anticipated price tag of $148,000. Gersh said that the company so far has received more than 40 orders for The Transition. He hopes the first one will be in a customer's hands by next year. Gersh noted that in the past several months the vehicle has been driven under its own power in on-road test drives and in tests of its taxiing capability at the Lawrence Municipal Airport in North Andover, Mass. Then in December, The Transition was transported to upstate New York where it underwent high-speed taxiing tests, meaning that it was driven at higher speeds by its own propeller. Now, Gersh Terrafugia said that Terrafugia has a test pilot lined up for the initial flight. "We're not going to have a flying car, as people think of it, for a while," said Anna Dietrich, Terrafugia's chief operating officer, in a previous interview. "I would never say it's not going to happen, but today the infrastructure is not there, nor is the training, nor are the avionics that would make the training unnecessary. What makes sense right now is a 'roadable' aircraft." Dietrich said the idea of a such a vehicle is what fired up the imaginations of Terrafugia's founders and pushed them to launch the company. The problem, however, is that the U.S. doesn't have the infrastructure to support vehicles that regularly fly and travel on surface roads. Unlike runways, roads pass in front of houses, grocery stores and office buildings. And a sky filled with people who don't have pilot's licenses could be problematic, to say the least. "You have to be a pilot to fly The Transition," said Dietrich. "And we just really don't have the technology to have an autopilot built in so people can just get in it and say, 'Fly me to the grocery store.' It's an airplane designed to be flown by a pilot in the infrastructure we already have, which is the airports." She added that there are about 6,000 public airports in the U.S., and most people are, on average, within 20 miles of one. The idea, she said, is to take advantage of this underutilized infrastructure. With a drivable aircraft, a pilot could fly into a small airport and, instead of getting a rental car or waiting for a taxi, he could simply fold up the wings on the plane and drive off. Foldable wings, though, may not make some passengers feel safe in the sky. Dietrich said making sure the wings stay erect while in flight was one of Terrafugia's biggest engineering challenges. "We tackled that one first," she added. "There are a number of interlocks in place -- some electrical, some mechanical. To activate the mechanism that folds or deploys the wings, you have to be on the ground."

Brian Caulfield, 01.08.09, 05:30 PM EST Struggling smart-phone company introduces new handset, operating system. LAS VEGAS--Ever since Apple Chief Steve Jobs unleashed the iPhone two years ago--in a now legendary demo--the world has been scrambling to catch up with Apple's sleek, touch-screen gizmo. Two years later, someone has finally advanced the conversation. Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) on Thursday introduced a new handset, dubbed Pre, and new software, Web OS, that finally adds some fresh thinking to the ideas showcased in today's iPhone knockoffs. Pre will certainly steal some sales away from Apple's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) so-called Jesus phone when it goes on sale. Palm's shares soared 33.64%, or $1.11, to $4.41 Thursday as details of its new products reached investors. Web OS, which will be showcased in the Pre, will suck in software from around the Internet--whether it's a Web-based e-mail account or a workplace calendar--and serve it up via applications that users can flip between with a flick of the thumb, like a deck of cards. The phone's slick, multi-tasking software allows for tricks that can't be attempted with today's iPhone. For example, users can check their colleagues' calendars while on a call with them and then send them e-mail invites to a follow up meeting, via e-mail, before hanging up. The user interface is another advance. It allows users to pop open a new application with a thumb swipe, toss them to the side and slide right back to them when needed. There is no need to close boxes or drag handles, and there are no window panes. Users will never have to push a "save" button, either, since a user's work is saved automatically. "This platform is going to be the basis for innovation at Palm for a decade to come," Palm Chief Executive Ed Colligan said. The curved device incorporates a touch screen and a slide-out keyboard, like many iPhone knockoffs. The phone supports EVDO, wi-fi, GPS and Bluetooth version 2.1 with stereo support. It also boasts 8 GB of on-board storage, a 3.1-inch touch-sensitive display and Texas Instrument's new OMAP 3430 processor. Real-Time Quotes 01/08/2009 4:00PM ET PALM$4.4534.85% AAPL$92.701.86% GOOG$325.190.99% RIMM$46.50-0.41% S$2.588.40% Get Quote BATS Real-Time Market Data by Xignite Those specifications, coupled with Palm's new software, allow the 4.8-ounce handset to perform some nifty tricks. For example rather than just being useful for jamming out e-mail, the keyboard can be used to instantly dip into information on the phone, or any of the online services it's linked to. Start typing the name of, say, the Blue Man Group, and the application will start by looking for information in a user's contacts and calendar starting with the letters b, l, and u. But as the user keeps typing and it's clear the information needed isn't in, say, a user's contact list, the phone narrows down the options, allowing a user to look up information on the Blue Man group via Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) with just a touch. While Pre will grab headlines, Web OS was the real news. The new software dumps information from separate accounts into a messaging and calendaring application that will make the gizmo a valuable organizer.

By Stephen Shankland (CNET) -- Yahoo and Intel built their success upon widespread use of personal computers, but the two companies hope products to be shown at next week's Consumer Electronics Show will mark the beginning of their Internet-fueled expansion to the world of TV as well. Yahoo and Intel hope next week's CES show will mark the beginning of their expansion to the world of TV. The two companies have attracted several significant manufacturing and content allies in the attempt to bring new smarts and interactivity to a part of the electronics world that has remained a more passive part of people's digital lives. Intel and Yahoo showed off Net-enabled TV prototypes in August, but the companies' technology will be presented in more finished form at the electronics show within products by Samsung, Toshiba, and a number of new partners that have signed on since the debut. What exactly are they trying to achieve? For Yahoo, it's establishment of the Widget Channel, a software foundation that can house programs for browsing photos, using the Internet's abundant socially connected services, watching YouTube videos, or digging deeper into TV shows -- and through which Yahoo will be able to show advertisements. For Intel, it's a foothold in an industry whose microprocessors have typically been cheaper, less powerful, and less power-hungry. Yahoo is confident the products will catch on, in part because it's set "very low" licensing requirements, said Patrick Barry, vice president of Yahoo's Connected TV initiative. Don't Miss CNET News image galleries More technology news from CNET Latest CNET News videos "We do not see it as a niche offering in a few high-end models. We see this as moving into the mainstream. In 2009 we're going to see good penetration into the product lineups of the consumer electronics companies," Barry said. "Beginning in 2010, I think, you're going to see Internet-connected consumer electronics devices dominating the lineup." But for both companies, TVs are terra incognita. "We emerged from the ocean of the PC," Barry said. An anthropologist's view Despite years of effort, the idea to put media-centric PCs in the living room hasn't caught on widely. But Intel, stung by its poorly received Viiv brand, has been taking the challenge seriously. It even dispatched its top anthropologist--yes, the chipmaker employs anthropologists--to carefully study how people use TVs. In other words, Intel is trying to adapt to reality, not foist its ideas on an unwilling market. Some people like to watch TV, but anthropologist Genevieve Bell, director of user experience for Intel, likes to watch people watching TV. Specifically, Intel concluded that unlike the PC, TVs are social. People watch it together, and what they watch turns into what they talk about. Another difference from PCs: it must be simple and reliable, she said. When bringing the Internet to the TV, "You couldn't just turn it into a PC," she said. And it's pretty obvious why those not in the TV market would be angling for a piece of the action. People in the U.S. spend about 5 times more time watching TV than using a computer, Bell said. Globally, it's a factor of 25; unusually, the TV and PC time is at parity in Israel, perhaps because of communication habits, she added. More ads For decades, people have been accustomed to advertising-supported television. The Widget Channel technology opens up some new horizons for Yahoo, though Barry said the company isn't going to rush to plaster sponsorships over the new interface. "We have a lot of support from the advertising community, but we're focused on the consumer now," Barry said. "What you'll see initially is us trying to fall all over ourselves trying to make the consumer happy. The advertisers understand that." He wouldn't comment on when advertising will be launched with the technology. Although Yahoo will eventually show ads, it won't have a lock on them. Barry said: "We are not going to be locking down anything from a walled garden perspective, including monetization. We get a nice advantage, knowing the ins and outs, but we will not limit the platform to being addressable by us." There are many opportunities for ads, including the dock that can be shown across the bottom of the TV screen and in pages that fill the screen. The Widget Channel technology is based on the Widget Engine software Yahoo got in 2005 with its acquisition of Konfabulator, and it lets programmers write a wide variety of applications. Course corrections Intel learned from initial testing of the TV technology, Bell said. For one thing, the company found that people didn't like the Widget Channel controls appearing on the left edge of the screen, one option the companies had demonstrated. Instead, people prefer the bottom, where they're accustomed to seeing text already. For another, she said, people expressed a powerful desire for a big button to make the software go away in one fell swoop--no menus or arrow keys or complication--so they could get back to watching TV when they wanted. That big button is also used to activate the Widget Channel. And nobody wanted yet another remote control. To help chart its long-term course, Intel gauged consumer sentiment in part by asking what people thought the future of TV would look like. People's answers generally fit into a few categories: • Something that would provide relevant information in real time, such as the weather right before heading to a sporting event. • Something that would connect them to other people they care about, a variation of social networking. • Something that would let them participate more with what they're watching, for example by figuring out where a show's cast members already had acted, or finding, rating, and sorting content. Few, though, wanted a full-on Web browser, nor a keyboard to clutter up the room. Yahoo sees the same fallow ground as Intel in the market. TV innovations that have succeeded focused on screen size, image fidelity, and flat-screen technology, Barry said. "But the consumer electronics industry has not really explored the...connectivity that the Internet provides." E-mail to a friend | Mixx it | Share © 2008 CBS INTERACTIVE INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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