Tag: Tegra 3

HTC One X: A Big Win for Nvidia’s Tegra 3

At this years Mobile World Congress HTC made an announcement that I found interesting. They announced that their latest and greatest smart phone the One X will run Nvidia’s latest processor named Tegra 3. Granted, Tegra has been making news winning a number of handset and tablet OEMs but the news that HTC has chosen Tegra 3 is of particular interest. The reason is because HTC has largely been extremely loyal to Qualcomm. HTC has been one of Qualcomm’s most loyal customers, launching all their flagship top tier devices with Qualcomm silicon. Taylor Wimberly at AndroidAndMe asks a similar question in his post called “Is Qualcomm losing their strongman grip on HTC.”

HTC choosing Nvidia’s latest Tegra chip is a testament to the quality of the Tegra 3 architecture. As I pointed out in my my column, The Arm Wrestling Match, both Qualcomm and Nvidia have different approaches with their multi-core strategies. Both companies have viable strategies when it comes to their approach to multi-core and both are gaining design wins all over the industry. However, for Nvidia and Tegra, winning an HTC design was the first in many key strategic steps for Nvidia to get their silicon into a wider portfolio of OEMs.

For Nvidia, and Tegra in particular, winning the HTC One X is a big win. It is a testament to the Tegra 3 multi-core architecture and something that I believe signals the breadth and depth of not only Nvidia chips in 2012 but that quad-core is the new dual-core in smart phones and tablets in 2012.

Nvidia still has work to do however, they are working to build LTE support into Tegra 3, which we expect to be finalized in devices in the second half of 2012. LTE support into Qualcomm’s S4 is still an advantage for Qualcomm since modem technology is core to Qualcomm’s heritage. This is why it will be very interesting to see how Nvidia integrates their Icera acquisition into the Tegra roadmap.

For Nvidia Tegra has always had the advantage as a solution for tablets in terms of performance and won many tablet design wins. I have been waiting to see how Tegra and in particular now Tegra 3 generates broader support with smart phones. It looks as though the win of the HTC One X may signal the upwards trend for Tegra 3 in smart phones.

However we slice the fascinating competition between Nvidia’s Tegra and Qualcomm’s SnapDragon chipsets the main point remains clear–Quad core chipsets will invade devices of all shapes and sizes in 2012 and beyond.

The Verge’s Vlad Savov recently interviews Nvidia’s Tegra GM Mike Rayfield on Tegra 3. I encourage you to read that interview here. Also Fierce Wireless had a great interview with HTC lead product designer on the decision to use Tegra 3 in the One X, you can read that here.

MWC 2012: Clear Android Differentiation and Other Trends

I suspect that each MWC will be better than the last. This show, I believe, is quickly becoming the leading industry conference for mobile smart device technologies. Therefore, Mobile World Congress will be one of the shows were we can expect to dig into the trends of our mobile computing tomorrow. On that point, this year a few things stand out.

Android Differentiation
Bloggers, journalists, some pundits, etc, mostly seem to believe the world would be a better place if Google’s OEM partners simply did not change Android and just shipped a stock OS the likes of the Nexus line of devices. Unfortunately in that reality hardware companies go out of business. Therefore differentiation is key if pure hardware players hope to stay in business.

Related Column: Dear Industry Dare to Differentiate

After seeing many of the Android device announcements from the leaders like Samsung and HTC, it is clear they are fully marching down the path of strategically differentiating from the pack. This I believe is a good thing all together.

Samsung for example is taking a stab with their Galaxy Note line of products at differentiating their device experience by pairing it with a companion pen experience. HTC did something similar with the Flyer but has seemed to have abandoned that path for now. For Samsung however, including the pen as an accessory (which is where it belongs) has opened the door to bundling exclusive and proprietary software in order to enhance the pen experience. Samsung is shipping with the Galaxy Note Phone (I refuse to support the Phablet term), and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, Adobe’s touch suite of products like Photoshop and Ideas. Samsung is also including their own S Note application for note taking and other useful pen experiences. Samsung is wisely using this strategy as a key differentiator and if you watch any screen media you will see their marketing is fully committed to this direction.

HTC has also been going down this path and has now furthered their strategy even more with the new Sense 4.0 UI.

Beyond Samsung, pen accessories at large seem to be a trend around Android tablets. LG announced their Optimus VU with a pen accessory and I expect pen accessories to continue to be used as a differentiator for the time being.

It is clear at this point there will be no stock Android prioritized devices by the OEMs, thus I question the market at all for Nexus devices. Throw on top of that the fact that the stock Android devices running the latest release take over a year to roll out in any large fashion. John Gruber makes a great observation:

Best to think of today’s Ice Cream Sandwich as a developer preview of next year’s mass market Android phones.

Focus on Device Family Brands
The other trend I am noticing, which is also a positive sign, is that HTC and Samsung for example are focusing more on family lines of devices. Peter Chou of HTC during their press conference announced that HTC intends to streamline their roadmap and focus HTC innovations. HTC kicked this off by releasing a new family line of devices called the One “series.” Their flagship product is the HTC One X which sports the latest Tegra 3 chipset from NVIDIA.

Samsung also is heading this direction with the Galaxy S series, Tab family and now with the Galaxy Note. Motorola also hopefully continues this direction with the Razr family. And Nokia as well with their Lumia line of devices. This direction is needed within the industry in order to stop the absurd device naming syndrome that has plagued many OEMs. When you have dozens of devices in channel all with different names and marketing material blitzing consumers with dozens of device names etc, the landscape can look incredibly confusing.

By focusing on a family line of devices, OEMs can differentiation and then position those differentiating features within a family line of devices for their appropriate target audience.

All in all, I am seeing some positive trends coming out of MWC 2012 that encourages me about the state of healthy competition within the mobile smart devices landscape.

NVIDIA’S Tegra 3 Leading the Way for Smartphone Modularity

I have been an advocate of modularity before it became popular to do so. The theory seems straight-forward to me, in that if the capabilities of a smartphone were outpacing the usage model drivers of a rich client PC, then consumers someday could use their own smartphone as a PC.  Large displays, keyboards and mice still exist in this usage model, but the primary intelligence is in the smartphone then combined with wireless peripherals.  At this year’s Mobile World Congress, NVIDIA took us one step closer to this reality with their partners and the formal announcement of Tegra 3 based smartphones.

Tegra 3 for Smartphones

Tegra 3 is NVIDIA’s latest and greatest SOC for smartphones, “superphones“,  and tablets.  It has four ARM A9- based high performance, 1.5 GHz cores and one “battery saver” core that operates when the lowest power is required.  The fifth core comes in handy when the system is idling or when the phone is checking for messages.  Tegra 3 also includes a very high performance graphics subsystem for games and watching HD video, much more powerful than Qualcomm’s current Adreno 2XX hardware and software implementation.

clip_image004NVIDIA announced five major Tegra 3 designs at Mobile World Congress; the HTC One X, LG Optimus 4X HD, ZTE Era, Fujitsu’s “ultra high spec smartphone” and the K-Touch Treasure V8.  These wins were in what NVIDIA coins as “superphones” as they have the largest screens, the highest resolutions, the best audio, etc.  You get the idea.  For example, the HTC One X sports a 4.7″ 720P HD display, the latest Android 4.0 OS, Beats audio, NFC (Near Field Communication), and its own image processor with a 28mm lens to take great pictures at extremely low light.  You get the idea.

There is a lot of goodness in the package, but that doesn’t remove the challenge of communicating the benefits of four cores on a 5 inch screen device.

Quad Core Phone Challenge

As I wrote previously, NVIDIA needs to overcome the challenge of leveraging four cores beyond the spec on the retail tear clip_image002pad.  It’s a two part challenge, the first to actually make sure there is a real benefit, then to articulately and simply communicate that.  These are similar challenges PC manufacturers had to deal with.  The difference is that PC makers had 20 years of dual socket machines to establish an ecosystem and a messaging system.  Quad core tablets are an easier challenge and quad core convertibles are even easier in that you can readily spot places where 4 cores matter like web browsing and multitasking. Smartphones is a different situation in that due to screen size limitations, multitab browsing and multitasking rarely pegs a phone to its limits.  One major exception is in a modular environment where NVIDIA shines the most.

Tegra 3 Shines the Most in Modular Usage Models

Modularity, simply put, is extending the smartphone beyond the built-in limitations. Those limitations are in the display, audio, and input mechanisms.  When the smartphone breaks the barriers of itself, this is where NVIDIA Tegra 3 shines the most.  I want to be clear; Tegra 3 is a competitive and differentiated smartphone and tablet SOC without modularity, but is most differentiated when it breaks free from its limited environment.

NVIDIA has done a much better job showing the vision of modularity but its partners could do a better job actually delivering it.  On the positive side, partners are showing some levels of modularity. HTC just announced the HTC Link for the HTC One X, software and hardware solution that plugs into an HDTV where you can wirelessly mirror what is on the phone’s display.  It’s like Apple’s AirPlay but better in some ways like being able to project a video on the large display and do something different on the phone display, like surfing the web.  Details are a bit sketchy specifically for the HTC One X and HTC Link, but I am hopeful they will roll out some useful modular features in the future for usage models. Apple already supports wireless mirroring supporting games so in this way, HTC Link is behind.

What NVIDIA Tegra 3 Should Do

What NVIDIA’s partners need to create is a game console and digital media adapter solution that eliminates the need to buy an XBOX, PlayStation, Wii, Roku, or Apple TV.  The partners then need to attack that.  All of the base clip_image006software and hardware is already there and what HTC, ZTE, or LG needs to do now is package it to make it more convenient for gaming. This Tegra 3 “phone-console” should have a simple base near the TV providing it power, wired LAN, HDMI, and USB.  This way, someone could connect a wireless game controller and play games like the recently announced Tegra 3 optimized games in great resolutions with rich audio. The user would have the ability to send phone calls to voice mail or even to a Bluetooth headset.  Notifications can be muted if desired as well.  And of course, if you want to watch Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon movies it’s all there, too.  The alternative to this scenario is for a Wi-Fi Direct implementation that doesn’t require a base where the user can utilize the phone as a multi-axis game controller with force feedback.  The challenge here is battery life but the user can pause the game or movie and pick up phone calls and messages. This usage model isn’t for everyone, but think for a moment about a teenager or college bound guy who loves gaming, wants a cool phone, and doesn’t have the cash to buy everything.  You know the type.

Other types of modularity that NVIDIA’s partners must develop are around productivity, where the phone drives a laptop shell, similar to Motorola’s Lapdock implementations as I analyzed here. Neither the software, hardware, or price made the Lapdock a good solution, but many of the technologies now exist to change that.  NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 would be a great start in that it enables real multitasking when using the Lapdock in clamshell PC mode.  Android 4.0 provides a much more modular computing environment to properly display applications on a 5″ and 11″ display including scaling the fonts and reorienting windows.  The Motorola Lapdock used two environments, one Android Gingerbread a a different one for PC mode.  Unsurprisingly, it was a good start but very rough one too, with room to improve.

NVIDIA, the Silicon Modularity Leader with Tegra 3

NVIDIA with its Tegra 3 solution is clearly the current silicon leader to support future modular use cases.  They are ahead of the pack with their modularity vision, patiently waiting for their partners to catch up.  This was the most evident at CES where NVIDIA showed an ASUS Transformer Prime connected to an XBOX controller and an HDTV playing high quality games. They also demoed the Prime playing high end PC games through remote desktop. Now that is different.

The opportunity for HTC, ZTE, LG and potentially new customers like Sony, RIM, and Nokia is there, and the only question remains is if they see the future well enough to capitalize on it.  With all the complaints from handset vendors on differentiation and profitability with Android, I continue to be puzzled by their lack of aggression.  An aggressive handset maker will jump on this opportunity in the next two years and make a lot of money doing in the process.

Quad Core Smartphones: What it Will Take to Become Relevant

hedgeThere has been a lot of industry discussion on multi-core smartphones in the past year, and the dialog has increased with NVIDIA’s launch of Tegra 3, a quad core SOC targeted to phones and tablets. The big question lingering with all of these implementations particularly with phones is, what will end users do with all those general purpose compute units that provide significant incremental benefit? In the end, it’s all about the improved experience that’s relevant, unique, demonstrable, and easily marketable.

Multi-Core Background

Before we talk usage models, we first have to get grounded on some of the technology basics. First, whether it’s a multi-core server, PC, tablet or phone, many these things must exist to fully take advantage of more than one general purpose computing core in any platform:

  • operating system that efficiently supports multiple cores, multitasking across cores, and mullti-threaded apps
  • applications that efficiently take advantage of multiple cores
  • intelligent energy efficiency tradeoffs

Once those elements get into place, you have an environment where multiple cores can be leveraged. The next step is to optimize the platform for energy efficiency. All of the hardware and software platform elements, even down to transistors, must be optimized for low power when you need it and high performance when you need it. The Tegra 3 utilizes a fifth core, which NVIDIA says initiates when extremely low power state is required.

Assuming all the criteria above are met, then it comes down to what an end user can actually do with a phone with four cores.

Modularity Could Be the Key

Quad core phones could potentially add value in “modular” usage environments. While there have been a lot of attempts at driving widespread modularity, most haven’t been a big hit. I personally participated on the Device Bay Consortium when I was at Compaq, along with Intel and Microsoft. It didn’t end up materializing into anything, but the concept at the time from an end user perspective was solid.

Today and beyond, smartphone modularity is quite different than Device Bay’s “modules”. The smartphone concept is simple; use a high powered smartphone which can then extend to different physical environments. These environments span entertainment to productivity. Here are just a few of today’s examples of modularity in use today:

These are all forms of today’s modularity with different levels of interest, penetration, and adoption.

So what could quad core potentially add to the mix? Here are some potential improved usages:

  • Modular video and photo editing. These apps have historically always been multithreaded and could leverage a clamshell “dock” similar to the Lapdock or Multimedia Dock.
  • Modular multi-tab web browsing. Active browser tabs require a lot of performance and overhead. Just use Chrome PC browser and check your performance monitor. iOS5 actually halts the tab when moving to another tab forcing the user to reload the tab.
  • Modular games that heavily utilize a general purpose processor. Caveat here is that most of the games leverage the GPU a lot more than a general purpose CPU. It all depends on how the game is written, extent of AI use, UI complexity, where physics are done, and how the resources are programmed.
  • Modular natural user interface. While plugged in and “docked” at the desk or living room, the smartphone could power interfaces like improved voice control and “air” gestures. This may sound like science fiction, but the XBOX 360 is doing it today with Kinect.
  • Multitasking: Given enough memory and memory bandwidth, more cores typically means better multitasking.

Will It Be Relevant?

Many things need to materialize before anyone can deem a quad core smartphone a good idea or just a marketing idea for advanced users. First, smartphones actually need to ship with quad cores and a modular-capable OS. The HTC Edge is rumored to be the first. Then apps and usage models outlined above need to be tested by users and with benchmarks. Users will have to first “get” the modularity concept and notice an experiential difference. Moving from standard phone to modular experience must be seamless, something that Android 4.0 has the potential to deliver. Finally, some segments of users like enthusiasts will need to see the benchmarks to be swayed to pay more over a dual core phone.

There is a lot of proving to do on quad core smartphones before relevance can be established with any market segment beyond enthusiasts. Enthusiast will always want the biggest and baddest spec phone on the block but marketing to different segments, even if it provides an improved experience, will be a challenge.