TI and AMD team on next-generation mobile
Texas Instruments (TI) Tuesday announced a deal with AMD that could propel it into the heady world of third-generation (3G) mobile phones. TI and AMD will collaborate on a 3G architecture, incorporating TI's processors and AMD's Flash memory, that the companies say will make it easier to develop gadgets using Bluetooth, global positioning system (GPS) and other high-tech add-ons.
Mobile phones are set to transform themselves into high-speed Internet and entertainment terminals in the next couple of years, with wireless providers rushing to buy 3G spectrum licences and some research firms predicting huge growth in m-commerce. But the advances will mean making room for lots of high-tech wizardry in tiny devices.
That is why TI and AMD hope their mobile platform will strike a chord with developers. "These planned solutions will... deliver to wireless appliance developers unprecedented data processing and battery life in an Internet-enabled, next generation (3G) device that can easily fit in the palm of the hand," the companies said in a statement.
The architecture will use TI's Open Multimedia Application Platform (OMAP) processors, based on digital signal processors (DSP), and AMD's Flash memory products, which are used by gadget makers such as Fujitsu-Siemens. TI claims that by using its package technology more space will be made available for new technologies, while grouping the different components in one package will reduce power consumption -- important for tiny, portable devices.
"The convergence of communications and broadband-enabled applications like video streaming, Internet audio, and wireless digital photography requires that mobile systems deliver enhanced performance and battery life, while remaining small enough for consumers to use anytime and anywhere," said Gilles Delfassy, vice president of Texas Instruments' Worldwide Wireless Communications Unit, in a statement.
"TI is exploring yet another new and complementary avenue to deliver the best performing, longest lasting wireless solutions for current and next generation wireless communications devices."
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