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Android users consume more data than users of Apple's iPhone, RIM's BlackBerry, or any other smartphone, according to network management specialist Arieso. The bulk of the bandwidth is going not to voice calls, but to applications, says the report.
Intel has quietly formed a business unit dubbed “the Netbook and Tablet Group.” To be headed by Douglas L. Davis, previously in charge of the chipmaker's Embedded and Communications Group, the unit will apparently focus on heading off competition in the growing market for PC offshoots, according to The New York Times.
Imperas released open source simulations of ARM'S Cortex-M series of cores on its associated Open Virtual Platforms (OVP) site, with models for other ARM Cortex models expected to follow in the coming months. Imperas also announced that Cadence Design Systems is using Cortex-M and other Imperas and OVP models in some of its system design tools.
Texas Instruments (TI) has responded to growing competition in the mobile processor market by goosing the clock speeds of its ARM Cortex-A9 SoCs (system on chips). The dual cores on the OMAP4430 and OMAP4440 will run at 1GHz and 1.5GHz respectively, allowing devices based on them to support dual cameras taking stereoscopic 3D video, the company says.
The Linux Foundation (LF) announced that nine major Linux distros have been certified to Linux Standard Base 4.0 (LSB 4.0), said to confer application portability. While announcing LBS 4.0 registrations for Canonical, Kylin, Linpus, Mandriva, Neoshine, Novell, Oracle, Red Flag, and Red Hat, the LF also released a beta of LSB 4.1.
Google's eBooks service could shake up the Amazon-dominated ebook market if Google creates an ad-supported media cloud storefront with tie-ins to Google TV and the upcoming Google Music, say analysts. Announced on Monday, Google eBooks lets Android and Apple iOS users access some three million paid and free titles via the Google search engine's cloud computing model.
LG and VMware say they are teaming up to bring virtualization technology to smartphones based on VMware's MVP (mobile virtualization platform) software. Operating system support was not specified, but the technology appears likely to be headed for some of LG's Android phones in 2011.
Renesas Electronics says one version of its newly announced, downsized ARM Cortex A9 SoC (system on chip) will sport onboard DRAM. Aimed at multimedia players, e-readers, and networked TVs, the EMMA Mobile EV0 devices support 1080p HD video playback and are one-third smaller than their predecessors, the company adds.
Google announced more details about its web-centric Chrome OS operating system, including a new 12.1-inch “Cr-48” reference notebook that will be provided to beta testers. The first commercial Chrome OS notebooks will ship in mid-2011 from Acer and Samsung, and will be available with free cellular connectivity provided by Verizon, the company added.
Google's Android creator Andy Rubin has shown off a prototype of an upcoming Motorola tablet running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”) and a new 3D version of Google Maps on a dual-core Nvidia processor. Meanwhile, Motorola has confirmed that it is working on both a seven- and 10-inch Android tablet for release in the first half of 2011.
Opengear has begun shipping a line of “smart” Linux-based cellular routers. The ACM5004-G routers support remote management via 3G, offering console server functionality and control of devices with serial, USB, Ethernet and digital I/O interfaces.
Imagination Technologies, a supplier of graphics IP to Intel as well as a variety of ARM licensees, announced a new version of its software. The company also said Renesas will use Imagination IP in a new SoC (system on chip), offering “levels of mobile and embedded graphics performance over five times that of the best current-generation devices.”
GE Intelligent Platforms announced a rugged, Linux-ready 6U VME single board computer (SBC) based on Freescale Semiconductor's QorIQ P4080 processor, which offers eight PowerPC cores clocked to 1.5GHz. The PowerXtreme PPC10A is equipped with up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, plus dual XMC/PMC sites, an AFIX expansion site, five ruggedization levels, gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, and SATA connectivity.
Along with today's reveal of Android 2.3 (“Gingerbread”), Google announced a developer-focused phone that will run the operating system upgrade without any carrier-specific add-ons. Based on Samsung's Galaxy S platform, the “Nexus S” features a four-inch AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode) display, quad-band GSM, NFC (near field communication), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and other typical smartphone “must-haves,” the company says.
[Updated, 1:00p.m.] — Google announced Android 2.3, touting a new user interface, support for front-facing cameras, and enhanced gaming performance. “Gingerbread” offers compatibility with Near Field Communication (NFC), SIP/VOIP, and the VP8 and WebM video formats, the company says.