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Posts: 4,783 | Thanked: 1,253 times | Joined on Aug 2007 @ norway
#9
Originally Posted by Peet View Post
According to the Ars Technica article Laughing Man is probably referring to, these Cortex A5 chips won't be out until 2011, i.e. they're 1½-2. years away.

If I understand this correctly they are sort of poor man's A8 which can run the visual fluff most system development is heading towards, but only barely. Something like Mer (poor man's Maemo 5, maybe even Maemo 6) might work well on these A5's, if only Mer was more actively developed and pushed to/adopted by ODMs other than Nokia (who've already moved on...).

Too bad NVIDIA (with their Tegra, and generally with their proprietary approach) is too deep in microsoft's pocket to promote the open platforms the low-cost and low-power ARM CPUs like the Cortex A5 would be ideal for: better (in terms of size, cost and power requirements) than N8x0 class companion devices.

Off topic perhaps, but I find it unfortunate that Nokia stopped pursuing the (mobile phone) companion device strategy, which would have played into their strengths (inexpensive entry to market -> creation of bigger Maemo ecosystem, handsets & batteries etc.). Nokia's Maemo 5+ may be cool, but Android is being pushed by a growing number of manufacturers.
i suspect nokia listened to the number of people that wanted a single device to carry, rather then 2+ (even if the right setup of protocols, radios and wires could allow one to carry multiple devices with one set of headphones and data connection).

i guess our basic problem right now is that our fashion have not kept up with our technology. As long as it seen as unfashionable for a guy to carry a bag, and we do not have clothes of the rack that makes it easy to carry multiple devices without looking like one is going to war/wilderness, convergence will stay king (and i suspect the marketing deps loves it also, as extra hardware features are a easier upsell then software features).
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