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New ARM chips headed for iPhone, Palm Pre?

ARM, the company that designs chips for the world's smartphones, said handset makers will deliver the first models using more than one processor core next year, as high-end mobile phones begin to mimic the hardware attributes of PCs.

And that means top smartphone suppliers such as Apple and Palm, which both use ARM-based processors, will likely deliver models packing at least two cores inside the main processor--referred to as an application (or applications) processor.

This is a natural progression for high-end smartphones like the iPhone and Palm Pre as the software those phones run gets increasingly sophisticated.

"You'll definitely see handsets shipping with a dual-core A9 in 2010," James Bruce, wireless segment manager for ARM, said in a phone interview earlier this week, referring to the next-generation Cortex-A9 processor from ARM.

The Palm Pre uses a processor based on the current-generation Cortex A8. The iPhone also uses an Apple-branded chip that is based on an ARM design.

"The A8 is just a single core while the A9 will be dual-core, all the way up to quad-core to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost," Bruce said.

He said the move to dual-core phones should happen relatively quickly. "It's very aggressive. It's only going to be in a year's time that you're going to get these phones," he said.

And what about power consumption, a critical concern for smartphones looking to deliver all-day battery life? "What we've done on the A9 is actually make it more power efficient than the A8. The dual-core A9 will be coming out on 45-nanometer rather than the (current) 65-nanometer process," Bruce said. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power-efficient the processor is.

Bruce continued. "With the dual-core running at maximum load there's probably going to be an increase of about 10 to 20 percent in power consumption but in general day to day use you're actually going to see better battery life." … Read more

TI chips power Palm Pre, sales growth

Texas Instruments raised its outlook for the second quarter Monday, as analog chips and processors for high-end smartphones like the Palm Pre drive sales.

In a "scheduled update" to its business outlook for the second quarter of 2009, TI said Monday that it expects revenue of between $2.30 and $2.50 billion, compared with the prior estimate of between $1.95 and $2.40 billion. Earnings per share is now expected to be between $0.14 to $0.22, compared with the previous estimate of between $0.01 and $0.15.

Though analog chips are the biggest … Read more

EchoStar says appeals court stays ruling on DVR workaround

Less than 24 hours after a federal judge found EchoStar in contempt in its long-running patent dispute with TiVo, another judge issued a temporary stay Wednesday, according to EchoStar.

"We are pleased that the Federal Appeals Court in Washington temporarily stayed the district court's order in the TiVo litigation. Dish Network customers can continue using their DVRs. We believe that we have strong grounds for appeal," the company said in a statement.

The temporary stay drags out even further a legal contest that is now five years old. It seemed like it had come close to reaching … Read more

Court orders Dish to pay $103 million to TiVo

A federal court has awarded TiVo $103 million plus interest in its long-running patent dispute with EchoStar Communications and ordered EchoStar to disable infringing features found on its subscribers' digital video recorders.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom on Tuesday also found EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction by reprogramming millions of DVRs with a new "workaround."

"The harm caused to TiVo by EchoStar's contempt is substantial," Folsom wrote. "EchoStar has gained millions of customers since this court's injunction was issued, customers … Read more

TiVo loses $4 million

This post was updated at 3:45 p.m PT with information from the earnings call.

TiVo on Wednesday reported a loss of $4.1 million, or 4 cents per share, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010.

It's a letdown for TiVo, which a year ago recorded a $3.6 million profit. The Alviso, Calif.-based maker of digital video recorders had been anticipating a $6 million to $8 million loss for the quarter ended April 30.

The company's technology and service revenue was $48.5 million, down just more than 12 percent from last year'… Read more

Give your DVR a storage boost

Ever since I wrote about Apricorn's DVR Xpander, I've received many e-mails from readers asking about a similar unit for their TiVos. Today I have the answer.

Western Digital announced Wednesday its TiVo-verified My DVR Expander, which offers up to 1TB of storage capacity. The unit is designed to work with TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD digital video recorders. Apart from TiVo, it has also been tested to work with Scientific Atlanta's Explorer 8300 series DVRs, which includes the 8300, 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR models.

The new expander allows you to instantly and … Read more

Amazon Video on Demand goes high-def

It's been a long time in coming, but Amazon Video on Demand is finally available in high-def. Owners of TiVo HD/Series 3 DVRs, the Roku Digital Video Player, the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link, and Panasonic VieraCast TVs (and, presumably, VieraCast-enabled Blu-ray players) will be the first to enjoy Amazon's content in HD (software updates to enable HD viewing on those products should be available imminently). Likewise, Windows and Mac users will also get access to HD video content via Amazon's Web site.

As with competing services, HD movie rentals will cost $3.99 to $4.… Read more

Teach your iPhone five cool TiVo tricks

TiVo and iPhone, the gadget superpowers of home and pocket. Don't you think it's time they joined forces?

As it happens, your iPhone can perform all kinds of nifty TiVo tricks. Here are my five favorites:

i.TV Forgot to set your TiVo to record the big game/new show/classic "Simpsons" episode? No problem. Just find the listing in i.TV's guide and tap the TiVo icon. You can even choose which TiVo to use (if you have more than one) and tweak the recording settings. Hard to believe this handy app is a … Read more

3D-based Captchas become reality

I wrote a blog about a new way of creating Captchas by using 3D images that Taylor Hayward, a blogger, came up with and thought it would be really cool when implemented. Now, 3D Captchas seem to have become a reality--however, not from Hayward.

Incidentally, the folks at YUNiTi.com, a social Web site, have been working on the same idea for a few weeks and have implemented the method on their Web site.

The site announced Wednesday that it has created a 3D Captcha method that is unbreakable by current computer technology, yet much easier for humans to identify. … Read more

Blockbuster OnDemand coming to TiVo DVRs

Blockbuster will become the latest Internet video-on-demand service to appear on TiVo DVRs.

The two companies announced late Tuesday that they are working to make Blockbuster's service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.

The announcement marks the first non-PC device to support both Blockbuster OnDemand and its archrival, Netflix. TiVo DVRs also support Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Jaman, and some Disney movies via CinemaNow.

In addition to Blockbuster's online video service being available on TiVo, Blockbuster will sell TiVo hardware at its … Read more