Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Misplaced Canuck in Charleston SC
Posts: 257

I see on PDABuzz.com that Motorola's announced a couple of new chips including a souped up Dragonball VZ running at 66 MHz. Zoom zoom!

I wonder how long it will take for those to start showing up in new PDAs.

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Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

It would be cool to hear handspring annouce tommrow, that for no extra cost, that the Edge will now use them. And a new version of the Plainum and Prism will now use them.I f only that could be true..

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-miradu

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 201

News.com article on new MOT processors

Here's a link to a News.com article on the two new Motorola processors:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-20....html?tag=mn_hd

The gist:

quote:

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The Super VZ will run at 66MHz, more than twice as fast as the current VZ processors, and will cost $14 each in volume. The Super VZ will be a transition processor for manufacturers that don't want to switch over to ARM-based processors and do want to keep costs down.

The MX1 will run at 140MHz to 200MHz and will cost $19 each in volume. This chip will put Motorola on par with the performance of Intel's StrongARM processor, which is found in handhelds that run on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system.

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

I'm drooling already...

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

Only $5 more for practically 3x-4x the MHz

I can't wait, I wouldn't be surprised to see Handspring to be the first Palm OS maker to build a device around this, perhaps saving their real spectacular stuff for the new processor instead of trying to shoe-horn it in like Sony has done.

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Misplaced Canuck in Charleston SC
Posts: 257

quote:

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Originally posted by Matthew Nichols
Only $5 more for practically 3x-4x the MHz

I can't wait, I wouldn't be surprised to see Handspring to be the first Palm OS maker to build a device around this, perhaps saving their real spectacular stuff for the new processor instead of trying to shoe-horn it in like Sony has done.

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anybody know what the power consumption on the MX1 is? If I need to plug my PDA in every two hours to recharge, or swap out 4 AA batteries every day, that's going to be a bit of a pain.

Running PalmOS at 200 MHz is nice, but it's already optimized to run pretty fast at 33 MHz and lower. What benefits or new software do you want/expect that will take advantage of the faster speed?

Me, I'll be looking for more memory (although 8 has been more than enough for me so far), improved grafitti recognition (maybe even handwriting recognition ala Newton), improved graphics and maybe even a distributed.net client . I wonder if voice control would be feasible...

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

quote:

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Originally posted by imabug

Running PalmOS at 200 MHz is nice, but it's already optimized to run pretty fast at 33 MHz and lower. What benefits or new software do you want/expect that will take advantage of the faster speed?

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This is always the same question asked..
It's a bit of the chicken or the egg. The chicken (faster processor) has to come first on Palms, because programs that run like crap on current hardware wouldnt't sell or be popular at all. In the PC world, it's more of a game of leapfrog.

First thing that comes to my mind is games.
Fast processors open up a whole new can of worms.
Better video compression algoritms, full 3D games (entirely possible with such a small resolution), render GPS maps at blazing speed, maybe reading images from memory faster (this would probably require faster memory?)?, liberty emulator will run at full speed!, stronger encryption algoritms for securing personal data. but like I said, there are plenty of developers out there who will know what to do with the excess power

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: singapore
Posts: 14

windows CE ?

windows CE ?

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 380

quote:

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Originally posted by imabug

Running PalmOS at 200 MHz is nice, but it's already optimized to run pretty fast at 33 MHz and lower. What benefits or new software do you want/expect that will take advantage of the faster speed?

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Misplaced Canuck in Charleston SC
Posts: 257

Re: windows CE ?

quote:

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Originally posted by yunn
windows CE ?

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I don't know about anyone else, but I've always wondered why microsoft chose this designation for their portable windows. i mean, everybody always abbreviates it WinCE, which is what it makes me do everytime I try to use it.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

The main factor in battery consumption is not the processor, its that screen. Look at handhelds like the iPaq which run a much faster processor than the new Clie (for example) and yet still have roughly the same battery life.

I'm hoping for full multimedia, many say this is against what Palm stands for but how is this any different than storing an e-book, which tons of people do? Hey, want to watch a TV show but don't have enough time? Record it and watch it tomorrow on your commute, break, or whatever. Its like bringing TiVo to the next step. I'm also expecting greater audio features.

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Elkins Park, Pa
Posts: 577

Re: Re: windows CE ?

quote:

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Originally posted by imabug
I don't know about anyone else, but I've always wondered why microsoft chose this designation for their portable windows. i mean, everybody always abbreviates it WinCE, which is what it makes me do everytime I try to use it.

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LOL! And you probably already know that CE doesn't actually stand for anything.

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-Bernie

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.
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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

quote:

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Originally posted by Matthew Nichols

I'm hoping for full multimedia, many say this is against what Palm stands for but how is this any different than storing an e-book, which tons of people do? Hey, want to watch a TV show but don't have enough time? Record it and watch it tomorrow on your commute, break, or whatever. Its like bringing TiVo to the next step. I'm also expecting greater audio features.

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The day that I can plop my Handspring Visor Prism II into it's cradle and automatically get that day's programming subscription downloaded for viewing later (in 16-bit color, stereo sound), I will be a VERY happy guy.

Come on! Some developer take this idea and run with it!

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: The Matrix
Posts: 718

Re: Re: Re: windows CE ?

quote:

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Originally posted by ernieba1


LOL! And you probably already know that CE doesn't actually stand for anything.

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Actually CE is an intergral part of Microsofts plan to rule the world.

Windows CE/ME/NT

With a subliminal message within their products you just can't resist their line of Operating Systems.


Actually CE stands for Consumer Electronics.

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-Mikedemo
It's all about how you spend the money.