Gigahertz phone battle heats up, and Microsoft throws tablet in the mix
Published: 24 September, 2009
READ MORE: Acer | HTC | Microsoft | Handset
Most of the big handset makers have shown off their big launches for the fall, but the smaller, more nimble players continue to turn out tempting phones for the holiday season, while others are looking towards the next round of debuts - many for January's Consumer Electronics Show.
One key trend is to push high end phones - whether open OS or proprietary media phones - up the performance chain to hit the gigahertz level. As we have seen, Samsung's Hummingbird processor project is joining Qualcomm Snapdragon and Texas Instruments in challenging for this market, with the Freescale, Marvell and the PC chipmakers like Intel and Nvidia also in the wings. Toshiba sounded the starting gun on the handset side with TG01 and will be joined by a range of 1GHz superphones over the coming months.
Acer and HTC are both set to announce models to challenge the TG01 soon, while several ODMs, better known for netbooks, such as Asustek, are also planning to use Snapdragon to push into the smartphone arena.
Acer, HTC and an updated TG01 will all run Windows Mobile 6.5, indicating the continuing symbiosis between Windows and superfast processors, though Samsung still generally uses its own operating systems on its high end mediaphones. This high margin, if fairly specialized, segment of the market will attract Android and Symbian too, and Qualcomm has demonstrated both on Snapdragon, though there are still some lurking question marks over how far Android in its current form is appropriate for such a blistering processor. Sony Ericsson, for one, wants to wait for the next iteration of the Google OS because of its current weakness in key multimedia areas like video support. SEMC is expected to launch its first Android phone in Q1 next year (variously known as Rachael or Xperia X3), and this is likely to run on a 1GHz Snapdragon too.
Running Windows, the Acer F1 will hit the European markets on October 6, to coincide with the unveiling of WinMo 6.5. It features a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen with 480 x 800 resolution, plus quad-band GSM/triband HSPA, 5-megapixel camera with in-built autofocus and LED flash, and up to 32Gb in microSD cards. Other attributes include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, plus an accelerometer and a 3.5mm audio jack. The product ships in Europe priced at £295 or $500 (well priced for its high end feature set), though no carrier deals announced as yet.
Over at HTC, the Leo will sport a a 4.3-inch capacitive multitouch panel and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with multisensors for speeds, light and distance. This phone is likely to launch with AT&T in October or November.
The gigahertz processor will also find its way into the emerging category of mobile tablets. Always innovative Archos has already previewed a Snapdragon/Android tablet but the real disruption in this new form factor could come from Microsoft, which has shown off a prototype, Courier, that could go commercial at CES - stealing the thunder from the long awaited Apple 'iTablet'.
Pages: 1 | 2
Related Stories
More ACER News
More HTC News
More MICROSOFT News
COMMENTS
Digital Money: The Convergence of Contactless Card and Mobile Payments
This report examines the emergence of digital money from the perspective of the convergence of card-based proximity payments to the...
Cloudbooks: Market Analysis and Forecasts
This report is based on interviews with device OEMs, retailers and resellers and provides a comprehensive analysis of the new cloudbook...
Satellite Phones: Will Dual Mode Help the Phoenix Rise from the Ashes?
Satellite phones have followed an arduous path since their much-hyped launch more than a decade ago. The hype was followed by an e...
