Leaderboard

Nvidia seems to finally be getting some traction in the mobile CPU game. The Tegra 2 chip will be in several phones and tablets in the next few months, and is the first dual-core mobile processor available. In response Texas Instruments, maker of the popular OMAP mobile chips, is talking up their own upcoming OMAP4 cores. With all this talk of clock speeds, some important details of mobile processing get lost in the shuffle. When we talk about OMAP, Snapdragon, Tegra, or Hummingbird, we're really talking about a system-on-a-chip (SoC). There's more to it than just the clock speed. Stick with us so we can clue you in on the important details of the major platforms so you'll know what to look for. Samsung Hummingbird Samsung's Hummingbird SoC first debuted in the Galaxy S Android phone. The Hummingbird uses 45nm ARM Cortex A8 architecture at its heart with the ARMv7 instruction set. This part of the SoC is sometimes called the application processor. The 45nm manufacturing tech means that more transistors can fit on the die than in previous generations. But, the ARM architecture is just the starting point for chip design. Samsung (along with partner Intrinsity) had to build out some other features to differentiate the part. Intrinsity changed the logic design of the standard A8 allowing certain binary operations to be run with fewer total instructions. That means the same processes are completed, but in less time. When all is said and done, the Hummingbird is estimated to gain 5-10% over ARM's original tech. Samsung emphasizes power management while maintaining a high operating clock. Most Hummingbird cores are clocked at 1GHz, but the upcoming Infuse 4G will be clocked at 1.2GHz. Hummingbird also packs 32KB of both data and instruction cache, a variable-size L2 memory cache, and the ARM NEONmultimedia extension. This last feature is a real advantage for Samsung. With NEON, the Hummingbird is capable of better hardware video encoding and decoding, high quality graphics, and better sound processing. The A4 comes from Intrinsity, and is very similar to the Hummingbird. Another element of the SoC is it's GPU. The Samsung chip uses the PowerVR SGX540 GPU. In raw numbers, the Hummingbird is capable of rendering over 90 million triangles per second. This is a very powerful graphics unit that easily outclassed the Snapdragons when it was released, though the new generation Snapdragons have caught up somewhat. Qualcomm Snapdragon The Snapdragon CPU was the first SoC that people could buy that was factory clocked at 1GHz. The first generation Snapdragons were found in phones like the HD2, Nexus One, and Evo 4G. Now a new generation of Snapdragon chips have stepped things up. Unlike the Hummingbird, the Snapdragon does not use an ARM-designed application processor. Rather Qualcomm designed the core (called Scorpion) to have many features similar to the ARM Cortex-A8 architecture, but it does still use the ARMv7 instruction set. Going this route means an slight increase in instructions per clock cycle over the standard Coretex-A8. The last generation Snapdragon chips from the Nexus One era were using the 65nm process tech. Now phones like the Desire Z, Thunderbolt, and Desire HD are using new Snapdragons on 45nm technology. Just as with the Hummingbird, this means more transistors, and better performance. Even the G2 clocked at 800MHz can best a last gen Snapdragon at 1GHz. Qualcomm has chosen to go with Adreno GPU SoC elements (acquired from AMD). On phones like the Nexus One, the Snapdragon used the Adreno 200, which was a poor choice. It just couldn't stand up to the competition. The relative multimedia robustness of Scorpion was able to carry this SoC over the finish line, but just barely. The current generation Snapdragon uses Adreno 205 GPUs. This GPU is just as fast as the Hummingbird, if not faster. We applaud Qualcomm for realizing there was an issue, and fixing it. Qualcomm also adds both GPS and cellular antennas to their SoC. This is not necessarily the standard practice in the industry. This allows phones to be designed and built more easily, and with slimmer designs since additional components are in one package. It explains why we see so many manufacturers working with Qualcomm. Although, the differences mean a lot of model numbers to keep track of. If you want to look up a phone's specs, make sure to use the whole code. Texas Instruments OMAP The OMAP really kicked off the Android spec war when it was found residing at the heart of the Motorola Droid in late 2009. Like Samsung, Texas Instruments licenses the Cortex-A8 from ARM, but they do not do as much modification to the core as Samsung does. Unlike other manufacturers, there are a number of modelsout for the OMAP SoCs. That can make it hard to know just what's inside. The OMAP34x series are made using the older 65nm process, the OMAP36x use the newer 45nm technology. TI has added a few interesting elements to the package to go with these cores, some more useful than others. There is an IVA 2 imaging accelerator that supports hardware encoding of camera sensor data. This is paired with an integrated signal processor (ISP) that handles all the data crunching for image and video capture. The result is better battery performance and (hopefully) faster image capture. All OMAP SoCs in the 3-series use the PowerVR SGX530 GPU. This is capable part, but is starting to look a little slow compared to the GPU in the Hummingbird or new Snapdragon. To put things in perspective, this is very similar to the GPU in the iPhone 3GS (announced in June 2009). OMAP also has the advantage of using the NEON ARM instruction set to boost multimedia performance. TI has already been working hard to get the OMAP4 ready to go, and they expect the chips to begin showing up in devices later this year. One device of note expected to have the chip is the BlackBerry Playbook. These chips will have the newer PowerVR SGX540 GPU, a faster IVA 3 image accelerator, and oh yeah - dual Cortex-A9 1GHz cores. This chip will be a competitor to Nvidia Tegra 2, but it's still in production. Nvidia Tegra 2 Nvidia was going nowhere fast with the Tegra until recently. The only notable Tegra devices we could think of were the Kin and the Zune HD. It wasn't looking great, but now the Tegra 2 platform is about to explode all over Android. This SoC uses dual ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 1GHz. It uses the ARMv7 instruction set as well. That alone makes it notable. It will be found in devices like the Motorola Atrix phone and Xoom tablet. The Cortex-A9 architecture uses a 40nm manufacturing process, so the transistor density is higher on this chip than the other A8-based chips. Power to the cores can be very closely monitored and controlled by the system, but both cores must be at the same power level (i.e. no individual control). Each core has 64KB of total cache, the same as individual A8 cores. Tegra 2 also uses dedicated ISPs that support up to 12MP camera sensors. The Tegra 2's other big trick is in the GPU department, just like you would expect from Nvidia. The GeForce Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) chip is called an 8 core GPU by Nvidia, but the truth is that these are not the standard shader cores from the desktop space. Half of the cores are for shaders, and half are for pixels. Still, the graphics performance is expected to be faster than the PowerVR SGX540. Tegra may pull ahead on battery use as well thanks to the multiple caches that can keep data readily accessible to the GPU. The GeForce GPU also allows for HDMI output support, and we expect more manufacturers take advantage of it like Motorola has with the Atrix. The world of mobile SoCs is a wild one. Each company has their own philosophy when it comes to putting out a chip. Some, like TI and Samsung, like to stick to the ARM architecture and design compelling packages around it. Qualcomm has designed a custom monster of a SoC, and their integrated designs have been a boon for manufacturers. Nvidia's Tegra 2 is the first of its kind. A consumer dual Cortex-A9 design with a killer GPU. We're excited to see how it can handle the daily grind regarding battery life. Dual-core SoCs from Qualcomm, Samsung, and TI are coming, but Tegra 2 looks like a tough act to follow. Source

MTNL Unlimited 3G Data Plan Now At Just Rs. 750 In an attempt to triggering another price war before the launch next generation 3G Mobile and Data service by private operators in Delhi telecom circle, India's first 3G Mobile service operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), today announced the launch of 3 new 3G Data Plan for its postpaid and prepaid subscribers. MTNL slashes the 3G Unlimited Data Plan cost up to 58% and introduced bucket of new 3G offers including Unlimited Prepaid/Postpaid Advance Rental/Payment Plans.With the launch of new 3G recharges now the Unlimited 3G Data Plan will effectively cost at just Rs. 750 per month for Home and Roam usage. MTNL Delhi introduces 2 new "Advance Rental Data Card Unlimited Plan" and with the Plan-4500, the effective cost of Unlimited 3G Data Downloads will be as low as Rs. 750/month. The new new 3G Data plan for Rs. 4500 comes with the validity of 180 days and provide Unlimited Free High Speed wireless Broadband 24×7 anywhere in India (Home and Roam). However Initially a data cap of 200 GB per month shall be placed in Unlimited Plans, however if any customer exceeds the usage, the excess charges can be waived off. MTNL 3G subscriber can enjoy Free data Roaming in more than 700 cities across India with BSNL 3G network. The new data coupons will be available through Etopup system and Promotional scheme shall be implemented for 90 days w.e.f 31.01.2011 to 30.04.2011. All the New 3G data Plans will be launched in Mumbai with in few days! Source: Telecomtalk

In the price war that we've been seeing around here ... I guess videocon is taking the deep plunge (similar to the One Plan that my company has launched in the UK (three.co.uk))... I've just taken a prepaid number, where a recharge of Rs. 395/- offers 3000 LOCAL calling minutes and Rs. 50/- usage time. add a 17Rs. Recharge - you get STD calls at 25ps/Min!!! That is practically unlimited calling local and tough to complete STD calls... along with free call conferencing (getting ideas ??) Internet speeds are bearably good Jot your thoughts! cheers karki

Official link http://mtnldelhi.in/3g_promo_310111.htm

Very good... I feel like buying a BB device, just to support RIM. But not happy about them conceding about Blackberry Messenger. But if what Karthik says above is true, then it is a matter of concern. Obviously things going on behind the scene, which will probably never be made public. RIM is obviously protecting its own business interests. They know customers use it because its supposed to be private.

Sorry if this is Why not something similar for voice and data calls too? ---- like max 10 minutes for voice (you will not get head cancer, throat cancer, ear cancer etc, this way you see) and 10 minutes for data (your fingers, eyes, brain, wallet etc will remain forever good) Similarly on RW, FB, etc etc also, we should have caps on max time spent, so that every one will get a chance to equal Kamalbhai's record of 6k+ posts (sorry kamalbhai, no offence meant)..... 3 cheers to whoever wants to implement this....

You've made the point of India that people stay in Voda/Airtel only due to compulsion and never by intent.

"If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride". Heard the proverb in kindergarten days. Refers to something which is impossible or day dreaming. Even today the Mobile Consumer in India is sort of a beggar for many just or necessary wishes. On the last day of the year 2010, Here is my Wish List For the Telecom Sector in 2011. Fellow Beggars…errrr….Fellow RIMweb members do contribute your wishes….. Indian Mobile User's Association The total mobile subscriber base as on 31st October 2010 is 706.69 Million. Assuming that even 50% of this number belong to non active or multiple connections, we have 353.34 Million Mobile users in the country, that's about 35 Crore Customers. AND We Have No Unified, Large Voice At all to represent our interests to Government, Regulatory Authorities or Telecom Operators. In India we have interest groups, associations, unions for every imaginable thing who protect their interests with unified representation but most of the time with coercion. Few Examples, -Some 50,000 Taxiwallas and 1,00,000 Rickshaw Owners keeps a city like Mumbai with 1.5 Crore population to ransom everytime they want a fare hike and gets it easily. -A few hundred ATC (Air Traffic Controllers) can halt entire Aviation Sector in India and get their demands met. -About a million or so Transport Operators gets their demands met (However unjustified) every time by halting their wheels for a few days. Imagine how powerful Indian Mobile User's Association can be with a strength of 35 Crore Members. And funding this can be pretty easy. For a Start if every mobile subscriber gives just Rs 20 as Lifetime Membership, Rs 700 Crore can be raised. With that type of money, this association can have countrywide offices, hire the best talent, can have their own call centers and many things more. For further funding and to meet year to year expenses, All fines levied to Telecom Operators can go to this body like all fines levied in Stock Markets goes to Investor Education Fund. Some of the innovative activities this body can do for members is, -Mobile Strikes-An operator not listening…Boycott them for a day or more and cause some serious revenue damage. -Gandhigiri Type Satyagrah-All avenues exhausted and still the operator not listening. Well All members of this body will simply stop paying their bills to the particular operator. Let them initiate crores of recovery suits….They will come to their senses sooner than you think. -Mandatory representation of this body in all telecom policy formulation and management. Think more and you will realize what can be done with unity and strength… Pesky Call/SMS Punishment For years we are suffering the agony but it took TRAI one pesky call received by Mr. Pranav Mukherjee while in a meeting to get all charged up and come up with the new Pesky Call/SMS regulations. Now from 1st January implementation, it is rolled back to February. Still even after will it be effective with all the enhanced fines, registration procedures and what not… I have a simple suggestion for ending this menace… -Whenever a Customer will receive a pesky call, he can just press a pre-defined 3 number combination on any handset and then the same call will be simultaneously routed to Prime Minister, Entire Council of Ministers, All MP's & MLA's and Leaders of all Political Parties. The system will be such that all of them will have to listen to the call in full and cannot cut it off. No other function will be possible on the phone till the call is completed. -Similarly for pesky SMS, again a pre-defined 3 number combination and it gets delivered to all the above. Again they will have to read it fully and only then the handset is available for any other function. TRAI don't try for lengthy regulation. Try the above. It will work wonders in ending this menace once and for all… Web Based Mobile Account Management-Pre Paid Included All Mobile Operators have varying degrees of Web Based Customer Account Management available but mostly for Post Paid. The irony here is that in India out of the total mobile customer base, nearly 90% is pre-paid. Even for Postpaid Customers, Web Based Account Management is not comprehensive. The Operator's excuse for not providing this services to Pre-paid customers is inability to manage such a large database on the web which is actually a lot of bull***. If all the following services are available to User Online for himself to manage, a lot of our pains and grouse can be avoided, -Switching to a different plan. -Activating and de-activating VAS services. -Managing Caller Tunes. -Activating and de-activating add on packs for Calls, SMS. -Recharge, Balance Management, Usage History. Mobile Coverage Check Tool Mandatory on Telecom Operators Websites It's a tough job deciding a network operator for coverage. For the same operator, one city may have excellent coverage and another very poor. This changes even within city areawise. As of today, the mobile consumer has no way to check what quality coverage he can expect within the areas most used by him other than word of mouth which can be really off the mark most of the time. As all operators network is basically managed by computers and data centers, why not to have a tool on each operators website which can graphically display the following information, -BTS Numbers and Location in a Particular Area. -Signal Strength, Congestion, Call Initiation, Completion, Call Drop rates in a particular area. With this the consumer will be able to choose the best network in the respective area. VOIP made legal for use within India We all make those dirt cheap VOIP calls abroad to Mobiles and Landlines. Why not make them legal for Calling within India to all mobiles and landlines. This one move can be the real game changer as far as tariffs go and will keep all telcos on their toes. Till now they have succeeded by lobbying against this but this is the change which is needed. Optical Fiber Data pipes, broadband connectivity and all infrastructure is already there. Just a policy move is needed. Reliance Infotel LTE Rollout Reliance Infotel's LTE High Speed Wireless Broadband Rollout this year should change the broadband sector in India quite dramatically. Hope is for a nationwide rollout with Economical Data Packages and Choice between various devices. But the biggest anticipation is that Mukesh Ambani will roll out this with Voice Capability also. Lets hope this wish comes out true. Economical 3G Hi-Speed Data Yes, Yes we all know you brainless 3G auction winners that you blew up thousands of crores in 3G Spectrum and now think that it was too costly perhaps. So you want to extract the same from 3G Customers. Reminds me of a drunken, gambler husband who will always blew up everything and will return to the helpless wife demanding more dowry. Usually the Pati Parmeshvar type Wife will toil hard and meet all the demands for years living in suffering and pain. But today's India is different. The other half is liberated, courageous and will not tolerate nonsense. The only way for Telcos to wriggle out from this is to have sensible 3G data tariffs so that there is widespread adoption which in turn generates the much needed revenue for them. Telcos should understand that the Consumer wants Economical Data Tariff which may not necessarily be cheap. There is a difference between the two. OMH Handsets Mandatory For CDMA When you buy a Car, is it legal for your manufacturer to demand that you can fill up the petrol from only Hindustan Petroleum OR can use only Apollo Tyres? Then why allow CDMA Operators to have network locked handsets particularly now when OMH Handset Technology is available. Make a law or regulation making it mandatory that any new CDMA handset launched henceforth has to be OMH handset so the consumer can freely use it on any CDMA network. Nationwide MNP Including Outside Circles We are still keeping the finger crossed whether the damn thing will happen or not on 20th January for the entire country. But even if it happens, it will be limited to switching within the same circle. Though assurances are given that Intra Circle switchover is the ultimate aim, this has to happen very soon. Technology is already there and this will be real freedom for the consumer. Right To Information Act Coverage of Even Pvt. Sector Telecom Cos. This one Act has really made a difference for helpless entity called aam aadmi in India. Most powerful and mighty have come down to earth with intelligent use of this powerful tool. But it is not applicable to Private Sector Companies. With Telecom such a vital sector having Crores of subscribers, isn't it in real Public Interest to extend Right to Information Act Coverage to All Telecom Companies. BSNL-MTNL Merger, Listing on Stock Exchange and Freedom From Babudom We have been hearing this since years and long overdue. The BSNL-MTNL merger and one entity nationwide can give some serious competition to Private Telcos and relief to millions of Customers who want BSNL Services but can't get it simply because they are in Mumbai and New Delhi which are incidently two cities with the largest mobile customers. BSNL disinvestment plans are also heard since ages but nothing done. Even with a 20% disinvestment (New Equity), BSNL can get critical fund infusion for exapansion and network enhancement. And Freedom from Babudom concerns BSNL/MTNL's equipment purchases. Everyone knows how this one simple factor delaying equipment purchases keeps BSNL/MTNL behind the Pvt. Telcos and dents its competitive advantage. "Agni Pariksha" For Spectrum Scamsters We have heard story in Ramayan when Bhagvan RAM subjected SITA Maiya for Agni-Pariksha before accepting her back. SITA Maiya walked the fire and came out without any hurt. While this was thousands of years back and in today's world, the idea of justice and punishment has changed… Still going by the chaos in the spectrum scam of a JPC, PAC, CBI, Supreme Court, Enquiry Commission…..endless delays….The Culprits are never going to be punished for years. Why not have "Agni Pariksha" for all Spectrum Scamsters? None of them will pass and burn out. Good riddance and swift justice.

Guys I came across this one, any chance of using it here?? Pantech UMW190 Specifications: Network: CDMA 1xEV–DO Rev. A/Rev. 0, GSM, GPRS/EDGE UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA Band : CDMA 800/1900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7625 Mobile Broadband and GlobalAccess capable Swivel Type A USB port compatibility 2–way Text Messaging capable VPN compatible; dial up; NDIS support with auto connect Dimensions: 2.8" (H) x 1.4" (W) x 0.6" (D), Weight: 1.4 oz Compatible with Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS X Pantech UMW190 is the dual-tecnology usb modem (CDMA, GSM) on multiple bands. You can choose which technology on your desire for the data connection