Those days are over, and the business has shifted. Now it’s Qualcomm and Samsung that supply the main processing engine in most of the world’s smartphones not made by Apple. And Apple designs its own chips.

Despite having landed its chips in devices such as the Motorola Droid and Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, TI has now admitted something of defeat.

The company just announced that it will re-focus its OMAP chip business on a wider set of “embedded markets” — chip industry code for things that aren’t personal computers or in this case wireless phones. The move, it says, offers greater business potential over the long term. Design cycles for the smartphone business are pretty harsh and costly — and incredibly competitive.

As part of the move, it says it will cut nearly 1,700 jobs, amounting to about 5 percent of its work force, which it says will reduce annual costs by $450 million by the end of next year.

TI execs hinted at the change two months ago, saying they planned to shift the company’s R&D resources toward developing chips for the automotive, industrial and other non-consumer markets.

As part of the change, TI says it expects to take a $325 million charge that it will record this quarter.

Here’s TI’s original announcement:

TI to reduce costs in Wireless business; OMAP™ processors and wireless connectivity solutions will focus on embedded markets

DALLAS, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Consistent with previously stated strategic plans, Texas Instruments (TI) (TXN) announced today it will reduce costs and focus investments in its Wireless business on embedded markets with greater potential for sustainable growth. Cost reductions include the elimination of about 1,700 jobs worldwide.

TI previously outlined intentions to focus its OMAP processors and wireless connectivity solutions on a broader set of embedded applications with long life cycles, instead of its historical focus on the mobile market where large customers are increasingly developing their own custom chips. These changes require fewer resources and less investment.

“We have a great opportunity to reshape our OMAP processor and wireless connectivity product lines to concentrate on embedded markets. Momentum is already building with new embedded applications and a broad set of customers, and we are accelerating our efforts in these areas,” said Greg Delagi, senior vice president of Embedded Processing. “These job reductions are something we do with a heavy heart because they impact people we care deeply about. We will work closely with all employees affected by these changes to provide a range of assistance related to compensation, benefits and job search.”

As a result of these actions, the company expects annualized savings of about $450 million by the end of 2013. Total charges will be about $325 million, most of which will be accounted for in the current quarter. TI’s fourth-quarter outlook, published on October 22, did not comprehend these restructuring charges.

“You see physically the difference,” CEO Paul Jacobs said Wednesday during a meeting with a handful of reporters. “It’s not a theoretical thing. It’s right there in your face. This one over there has a fan and it’s thicker and it has this battery life and this one is thinner.”

If anything, Jacobs said, he is more convinced after seeing the first crop of Intel-based Windows 8 tablets.

Computers running both new flavors of Windows go on sale Friday, with Microsoft’s Surface PC the best known Windows RT machine, though it uses a chip from Nvidia. Qualcomm has designs with Samsung and Dell, though the ETA on Samsung’s model is unclear.

The biggest issue with Windows RT, Jacobs concedes, is the availability of apps, since, with the exception of Office, Windows RT runs only apps designed for the new-style Windows.

“Everybody knows it,” Jacobs said. “We’ve been focused on it. Microsoft has been focused on it.”

For his part, Jacobs said he is pretty happy with the app selection, though he concedes he personally wants a program for watching live ESPN programming.

“Yeah, I want WatchESPN,” Jacobs said.

Qualcomm has sponsored a contest to encourage developers to write Windows RT apps as well as, in some cases, help to fund their development. Jacobs said that Microsoft isn’t really being given the benefit of the doubt here, despite its long track record of attracting developers.

And over time, Jacobs said, all big software makers will have to rewrite their apps to have modern attributes such as touch support and the ability to remain connected to the network while using only a small amount of power.

Jacobs said that people should not assume a lack of interest in Windows RT just because there are only a handful of devices.

“There’s a lot of people waiting in the wings,” Jacobs said, but noted that Microsoft is still limiting the number of hardware makers that any one chip firm can work with. Qualcomm, for example, is working with Dell and Samsung.

“To be fair, they are trying to manage their resources,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs also doesn’t believe too many PC makers will be scared away from Windows RT just because Microsoft is doing its own tablet with Surface.

“I would say the manufacturers are already dealing with an environment in which some form of verticalization is happening,” Jacobs said. “I think it is probably fair to say some of it is driven by Apple’s success.”

Google, he notes, bought Motorola, so Android device makers have the same sort of issues.

For Qualcomm, it’s an opportunity to be in a place it has wanted to be for ages — inside PCs and tablets.

“We’ve talked to Microsoft for many, many years about ‘what do you guys think about porting Windows to ARM,’” Jacobs said. “I think the growth of the tablet market actually caused them [to make] the decision.”

While last week’s earnings warning added evidence to the notion that a post-PC world has dawned, the chipmakers in Santa Clara insist that the personal computer will continue to defy its critics.

At a developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Intel will offer details on two new chip families designed to allow lower-power computers and hybrid tablets that can do the full work of a PC.

One of the chips, code-named Haswell, is the next evolution of the company’s mainstay “Core” line of processors. That chip is due out in the second half of next year.

The other is a chip added only recently to Intel’s roadmap, and it is aimed at a new generation of computers that can act as both tablet and PC. While some such models will debut this year with Windows 8, it is this new chip — due out in the first half of 2013 — that will enable designs thin and light enough to really be attractive to mainstream consumers.

It’s all part of an effort for Intel to remake itself and its product line over the next 12 months, Intel vice president Navin Shenoy said in an interview.

“We are going to reinvent the PC,” Shenoy told AllThingsD. “We are going to start with our own technology.”

Intel will also encourage developers to use the computer’s ever-increasing horsepower to enable new methods of interaction, including voice and gesture. The company will unveil a software development kit that includes support for speech (developed along with Nuance) and support for a new type of 3-D camera.

And while the death of the PC has been forecast before, the difference this time around is that technology buyers really do seem to be delaying computer purchases in favor of buying other electronics, including tablets, smartphones and e-readers.

Intel is also looking to boost its presence in the smartphone arena, though those efforts have been slow to bear fruit. A few lesser-known players are building devices around an Intel-designed smartphone, while Motorola is due to unveil its first Intel-powered smartphone in London next week. China’s Lenovo and ZTE have also adopted Intel processors, in limited fashion, for their phones.

For his part, Shenoy says the distinction between PCs and post-PC devices is overblown.

“At the end of the day, we are a computing company, not a computer company,” he said. “Computing is going to take various form factors. I think that is good for the industry.”

But the distinction is more than just semantics. Intel can get hundreds of dollars for a mainstream computer processor, while those used in phones, tablets and other devices are typically measured in the tens of dollars.

Anand Chandrasekher, who had been most recently head of the ultra mobility unit at Intel, will serve as chief marketing officer — a new position at Qualcomm — and will report to company president Steve Mollenkopf. Chandrasekher left Intel in March.

“I am pleased to welcome Anand Chandrasekher as chief marketing officer,” Mollenkopf said in a statement. “His extensive experience in marketing and management makes Anand well-suited to help grow Qualcomm’s communications and marketing efforts across the world and to amplify our consumer offerings to new audiences.”

Chandrasekher has presided over a number of key efforts during his 25 years at Intel, including the company’s push to market Wi-Fi under the Centrino brand name, and more recently around the Atom processor.

Intel and Qualcomm, long competitors in certain markets, are increasingly butting heads in each other’s core business. Intel is aiming to expand its presence in the market for the chips that power Android cellphones and tablets, while Qualcomm is one of three companies whose ARM-based chips can be used to run Windows RT devices.

While names like Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia are the ones most often associated with Android devices, MediaTek has been a leader in the lowest end of the Android market. All told, the company shipped 550 million phone chipsets last year.

The new chips, MediaTek says pave the way for dual-core smartphones that can sell for $200 and below, unsubsidized.

The new chip is currently being designed into various phones, MediaTek said, with the first models due to start shipping in the third quarter.

One early customer is Rob Legato, the visual effects supervisor who won an Academy Award for his work on the Martin Scorsese-directed hit motion picture “Hugo.” Legato will be talking about ioFX with Fusion-io chief scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at a conference in Las Vegas next week.

Fusion does some cool stuff with flash memory. Here’s the part where I roll out the old metaphor that has served me so well: In pretty much any computer, you can think of the processor as a fast-moving, highly efficient, type-A personality, constantly in a hurry, and always waiting impatiently for the rest of the system to give it more work to do. The slowpoke in the deal is the hard drive, which, though it’s already spinning at a super fast rate, just can’t get data to the processor fast enough. So the processor sits around, tapping its foot and looking at its watch, waiting for the other parts of the system that feed it data to work to keep up.

In high-performance computing, where there’s more data to be crunched than in most average computing situations, this is sort of a big deal. You want the processor to be as busy as possible — mainly because the systems are so expensive, and you want to get your money’s worth out of them — but also because jobs get done faster.

So Fusion-io’s stock in trade is a series of insert cards that bring flash memory right up next to the processor. The flash chips grab great big armloads of data and hold on to it, handing it off to the processor in a way that keeps it happy and busy and not impatiently waiting — at least not so much.

We’ve seen the technology brought to bear at places like Credit Suisse, which added Fusion’s flash cards to its trading systems. And its technology is also used in data centers belonging to Facebook and Apple.

On top of that, Fusion has relationships with all the big server vendors: Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell and SuperMicro all sell systems with Fusion-io on board.

Workstations are essentially heavily tricked-out PCs that are used primarily in two professions: Animation and special-effects work for movies and TV and computer-assisted design and modeling, used by folks who design buildings and cars and planes and pretty much anything else you can think of. They have the same problem that servers have — agitated processors constantly waiting for the rest of the system to catch up with them.

At this point, none of the workstation vendors are offering the card as an option, but if you’ve got a professional workstation — like, say, an Apple Mac Pro, which has three PCI Express slots — you might add one of these cards and speed up your work. In the meantime, the company is working with workstation vendors to get the ioFX insert cards certified. My guess is there will be more than a few visual artists who won’t bother to wait.

Fusion-io shares are up almost 11 percent — or $2.64 — to $27.30, as of 11 am ET; not so much on this news — workstations are kind of a low-volume market — but on an analyst report from Piper Jaffray suggesting that Cisco Systems may be close to a deal to add Fusion-io’s flash technology to its Unified Computing System platform.

The report goes on to suggest that Cisco could, over the next three or four quarters, become one of Fusion’s bigger customers, along with Facebook and Apple, and could account for more than 10 percent of Fusion’s business — which could, in turn, lead to a doubling of revenue this year. For the record, sales were $197.2 million in Fusion’s fiscal 2011. Do the math.

The issue came, several months later, as it had lost that performance crown and yet wasn’t ready with its quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Indeed, slower than expected Tegra 2 sales were among the factors that led Nvidia to post disappointing December quarter results.

Nvidia executives concede now they just didn’t move fast enough to drive the chip into the mainstream of the market.

“We gapped out getting Tegra 2 from the top end to the mainstream,” mobile unit general manager Mike Rayfield said in an interview. “That was kind of our bad”

The company aims to change that, starting with a Tegra 2 design in a phone from China’s ZTE. The phone, aimed at the sub-$200 unsubsidized smartphone market packs the latest version of Android and other high-end features but is priced solidly at the mainstream. It’s due to arrive around the second quarter of the year.

“We’ve been in the high-end phones since the start,” Rayfield said. “As you’d imagine that’s where we’d start. We’re now working hard to push down into what is the mainstream.”

The ZTE phone is another milestone for Nvidia. It’s also the first phone to incorporate the Icera software modem that Nvidia acquired last year.

Meanwhile, for ZTE, the Mimosa X is the latest step in the company’s effort to broaden its reach. Earlier this month ZTE introduced its first U.S. tablet, the Optik for Sprint.

Inside, the phone is similar too, but there have been some strategic changes from one generation to the next that have important implications for Apple’s many suppliers. According to a teardown analysis conducted by the research firm IHS iSuppli, chipmaker Intel, which last year acquired the wireless operations of the German chip concern Infineon, has been almost entirely bounced out of the 4S in favor of a set of chips from Qualcomm. The shift to Qualcomm had been rumored as far back as last September.

Before Intel acquired its wireless unit, Infineon had previously supplied Apple with a chip known as a baseband processor that Apple had used in combination with chips from Skyworks and Triquint to work with wireless phone networks. “Qualcomm is the big winner here,” says Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with IHS iSuppli who conducted the teardown. “It is selling Apple a whole suite of chips that adds up to about $14 to $15 per iPhone.”

Intel spent $1.4 billion to acquire Infineon’s wireless chip operations last year in a move seen as meant to shore up its presence in the wireless phone industry overall. It has struggled to win business for its Atom line of microprocessors, which are aimed at mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

Infineon still has a small chip in the iPhone, but Rassweiler says it’s far less significant and a lot less costly than the one it supplied Apple before. “It’s almost like Apple threw them a bone with a 50-cent part after they lost a much more high profile chip that cost about $10,” he says. Intel had no comment.

ISuppli regularly conducts teardown studies of wireless phones and other consumer electronics devices in order to find out who a manufacturer’s vendors are — like most manufacturers, Apple prevents its suppliers from identifying themselves, much as they’d love to — but also to determine what each part costs. The combined cost of components — analysts check on the list prices of each part — is known as a bill-of-materials (BOM) estimate that gives a fair idea how much a manufacturer, in this case Apple, makes in gross margin on each device sold. Apple doesn’t disclose its gross margin on a per-product basis but when it reported its quarterly results yesterday it said its overall gross margin was 40.3 percent.

In the case of the iPhone 4S, Rassweiler estimates that the BOM cost ranges from $188 for the 16 gigabyte version of the iPhone 4S to $207 for the 32GB version and $245 for the 64GB version. Apple and its carrier partners sell the phones for $199, $299 and $399 respectively, typically with a two-year contract for wireless service that carriers use to subsidize the cost they pay Apple.

The costliest components are the ones that determine the price: Memory chips. Apple has been known in the past to rely mostly upon South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest supplier of memory, and from Japan’s Toshiba. In the phone that Rassweiler’s team tore down, the memory chips came from Samsung rival Hynix Semiconductor. “That struck us as a bit of a surprise,” Rassweiler says. It’s hard not to wonder if adding Hynix to the stable of iPhone memory suppliers is a partial response by Apple to the complicated patent fight it is waging with Samsung in courtrooms around the world.

Even so, Samsung appears to be have maintained its role as the manufacturer of the Apple-designed A5 processor that provides the iPhone 4S, and also the iPad 2, with most of its computing horsepower. Some published reports in recent months had suggested that because of the patent fight, Apple might end a relationship that dates back to the original iPhone and move its chip manufacturing contract to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the huge chip manufacturing foundry. Rassweiler says there’s no sign on the latest A5 chips that that has occurred. “The markings are the same as what we saw in the iPad 2,” he says. The estimated cost for the A5 chip is $15 each, he says.

Apple started designing its own chips for the iPhone and iPad products beginning in 2010 with the release of the first iPad. The chip is thought to have been designed by teams from PA Semi and Intrinsity, two privately held chip design firms that Apple acquired in 2008 and 2010 respectively.

However, it’s also clear that the A5 chip is taking on more of the heavy computing lifting inside the device than the previous A4 chip, Rassweiler says. For example: The iPhone 4 contains a chip from privately held Audience Semiconductor, based in Mountain View, Calif., that handled noise cancellation. There’s no such chip inside the iPhone 4S, Rassweiler says, so it appears that noise-cancellation duties may have been moved to the beefier A5 chip itself.

Triquint Semiconductor provided a set of chips that make up a wireless transmit module that works with the wireless phone networks. Triquint has traditionally been an iPhone supplier, Rassweiler says, but the value of what it supplies to Apple appears to have dropped. One wireless chip company that has seen the value of what it supplies to Apple increase is Avago Technologies. Like Triquint, it too has been an iPhone supplier, but the overall value of the chips it supplies has gone up in the 4S.

STMicroelectronics, the European chipmaker, maintained its role as the supplier of gyroscope chips that help determine the phone’s position and rotate the screen for playing games and displaying pictures and videos. AKM Semiconductor again supplied the compass chip. Texas Instruments continued in its role supplying the chip that controls the iPhone’s display, and an audio chip.

One vendor could not be identified. Rassweiler says that Apple appears to have taken pains to hide the identity of the company that supplies the parts that power the iPhone 4S’s highly regarded 8 megapixel camera. This is not new, and the candidates include Largan Precision Co., a Taiwanese supplier of camera modules to wireless phone companies, and Omnivision. “We don’t know exactly who makes it,” Rassweiler told me. Whoever the supplier is, Rassweiler estimates the camera added $17.60 to the cost to build the iPhone. And they’re likely to make a lot on the deal. IHS iSuppli is forecasting that Apple will sell 81 million iPhone 4Ss around the world next year.

Update: A few of you have written in saying that it was Sony who supplied the camera. Maybe. The folks at Chipworks dissected the camera module and found a Sony-made CMOS image sensor inside it. That doesn’t make the whole module a Sony’s however. It could be a Sony camera or it could be that whoever made the camera used a Sony sensor. And last week Barron’s reported on some debate among analysts over whether or not Apple has split the camera supply contract 50-50 between Omnivision and Sony.

ARM’s performance mimics that of others in the semiconductor space, including STMicroelectronics, which Tuesday reported that first-quarter earnings nearly tripled from a year earlier. Intel and Apple have also posted strong numbers over the past week on the back of strong demand.

The FTSE 100 company, which is trading at 50 times its earnings, posted a 10 percent rise in first quarter net profit to £21.5 million on the back of a 26% increase in revenue to £116 million. It secured 39 processor licenses in the quarter ended March 31 after signing 35 processor licenses in the previous quarter.

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It’s a question that nags the tech industry with almost every new advancement. But experts say the pitch for faster, more tricked-out technology has reached a new peak.

Here, in four categories, is what you need–and what you don’t.

Broadband. Most Internet service providers now offer different levels of high-speed connectivity. If you want to stream TV shows or movies, play games or download big files, you may need more juice. Ditto if you have an entire household that’s trying to get online after dinner. Before you change plans, however, make sure you’re actually getting the speed that your provider promised. You can assess the speed of your current connection via a free test website such as Speakeasy.net or Speedtest.net.

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The new Snapdragon processors feature the company’s Krait chip design aimed specifically at mobile phones and tablets. The company said that the new chips offer up to 12 times as much performance as the original Snapdragon processors and, because they use a new, thinner generation of wiring, can use as little as a quarter as much power as the originals.

“We’ve really taken performance to the next level,” Qualcomm Vice President Raj Talluri said in an interview at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where the chipmaker is announcing the new processors. Talluri said the chips will be particularly useful in gaming and augmented-reality applications and also support things such as recording 3-D video and playing back 3-D videos, without the need for glasses.

Talluri acknowledged that Qualcomm lost some ground in being later than Nvidia to move to dual-core chips, but said that the company expects 10 tablets using its processors to hit the market this year. HP plans to use a dual-core Qualcomm processor in its new webOS tablet.

“They got a couple,” Talluri said. “You’ll see a lot more from us.”

Qualcomm also benefits from two other industry moves–Nokia’s move to adopt Windows Phone 7 and Microsoft’s decision to enable full-blown Windows to run on ARM-based processors such as Snapdragon.

The Nokia move is noteworthy because Qualcomm has been at the heart of nearly all of the Windows Phone 7 designs thus far, giving it a huge opening to land Nokia–a company that thus far has not used much in the way of chips from Qualcomm.

“This one really provides a great opportunity for us,” Talluri said. “We can provide them a really quick time to market.”

As for the move to bring Windows to ARM-based chips, Talluri said that opens the door for Qualcomm to power whole new types of devices beyond phones and tablets.

“It extends our reach higher than phones,” he said. But, as with phones, Qualcomm will find plenty of competition as Nvidia and TI are also eager to give Intel a run for its money in the PC market.

The first signs of trouble came in the form of a cancellation of a media briefing scheduled by Hewlett-Packard for Feb. 15 in New York concerning a new batch of HP business notebooks. I’m now told the event will be rescheduled. (Update: See HP’s statement below.)

Meanwhile, Dell told Bloomberg News that four of its PCs are affected, all of them in the higher end of the lineup: XPS and Alienware, both gaming-oriented machines, and the Vostro line, aimed at businesses.

Update: Dell spokeswoman Elizabeth Shine just sent a statement.

“Dell and Intel are in communication regarding the design issue in the recently released Intel 6 Series support chip set, code-name Cougar Point. This affects four currently-available Dell products, the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R.3 and the Alienware Aurora R.3 as well as several other planned products including XPS 17 with 3D.

For customers impacted by this issue, Dell offers a couple of solutions. Customers experiencing issues will be supported under the warranty and service terms. Once we have new chip sets from Intel in early April, we will provide a motherboard replacement that corrects the design issue at no cost to our customers. Replacements will be provided at the customers’ location and convenience via authorized Dell service providers. Affected customers may also take advantage of the applicable return policy, which may vary by region.

We will provide further details as they become available.”

What’s not clear yet is whether any shipments at Apple will be affected. As usual, Apple’s product plans are shrouded in the mists of corporate secrecy. The company declined to give a statement, citing a policy of not commenting on future products. But if history is any judge, it’s about time for Apple to update the MacBook Pro. The last update, as the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide helpfully reminds us, was on April 13, 2010, or nearly 300 days ago. The average number of days between updates is closer to 200. Though even if Apple is running later than it would like to on introducing certain Macs, it would probably never admit it.

Intel, for its part, is now starting to help people who recently bought PCs to figure out if they’re affected by the problem. A page on its support Web site walks users through the process of determining whether they have the chipset in question and, if they do, directs them to contact the “place of purchase” or an Intel field sales rep.

Update 2:I just received a statement from HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak on the issue:

“HP is working with Intel and our distribution partners to address this industrywide issue. The issue relates to only a small fraction of HP PCs sold or ordered since on or about January 9 2011 when the Intel technology became available commercially. HP and Intel are working together to minimize any inconvenience to customers.

For HP, the issue is primarily limited to certain consumer notebooks and certain consumer desktops. One commercial desktop PC model marketed to small business customers in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region is affected. No other commercial desktop products currently shipping are affected. No HP commercial notebooks, ProLiant servers or workstations are affected.

To deliver a high-quality experience to our customers, on January 31 2011 HP stopped manufacturing products with the affected Intel technology and initiated a shipment hold on products in HP and channel inventory.

Customers can return their affected product and choose a comparable product or receive a refund. We will continue to work closely with Intel and our retail partners to address the needs of our customers.”

Intel didn’t say much about what he’ll actually do. Intel’s statement on the partnership says he will “collaborate with Intel on many creative and technology endeavors across the ‘compute continuum,’ which reaches across traditional notebooks and into smart phones and tablets.” It’s on those last two where Intel has tended to struggle with market penetration, mainly because most device manufacturers favor chips built around the ARM architecture.

The company did reveal that he’s already working on music for Intel. He did say in an Intel press release that “nearly everything I do involves processors and computers, and when I see an Intel chip I think of all the creative minds involved that help to amplify my own creativity.”

Meanwhile, it’s not Intel’s only promotional endeavor in the world of pop music. The company teamed up with the Korean girl-group sensation Girls’ Generation, which our friends at The Wall Street Journal profiled last week. The video below is supposedly inspired by Intel’s “Visibly Smart” 2nd Generation Core processors, and, if nothing else, you can hear the word “core” throughout the lyrics. However it’s worth watching if only for the last few seconds, when the group does its take on the well-known Intel chime from its TV commercials.

Sorry, joining slightly late. Jen-Hsun Huang is walking through Nvidia’s recent announcements.

And also some history. 1995 was important because the personal computer really became personal back then. (I assume this relates to a Windows release but not clear why.)

At the time, we thought we’d be a $300 million company in five years. But we got a lot bigger.

Ina Fried: You’re expanding beyond graphics, but how big is that business?

JH: We’ve shipped one billion GeForce processors. That’s a lot. We’re also doing Quadro processors for high-end processing. We’ve got the new Tesla business, where we use our GPU for general technical computing. It’s being used for the world’s fastest supercomputer.

Our newest business is the Tegra business. Using our expertise for a new class of mobile computing.

IF: Earlier versions of the Tegra were used in the Zune.

JH: And the Kin.

IF: I wasn’t going to mention the Kin.

Now JH is talking Intel. Which started with move into building chipsets, 12 years ago. Started with Xbox, then AMD platforms, then we wanted to scale out so we started talking about Intel. Now we’re in a dispute.

IF: So where do things stand with that?

JH: [More or less a non-answer here.]

IF: Okay, let’s talk about the future!

JH: Cool. 2011 is a big year, a year that computing is getting redefined because of these mobile products.

IF: That sounds like hyperbole, but I sort of agree. There’s some amazing stuff being shown off this year. But explain what’s different about this stuff.

JH: We like to call the new phones superphones. Time to do a demo.

JH is plugging in a new Android handset into a dock. It’s taking awhile. Complains about his vision. Okay, there we go. Showing off multitasking, apps, etc. Showing off 1080p video that looks cool. No audio, though. “This is a full-on computer.”

JH: We think these will really change things, because they can be laptops, or a media center, etc., simply based on where you dock it and the kind of accessories.

IF: So you have cellphones basically being able to replace a computer. But Microsoft is also announcing that Windows will run on ARM processors, including ones you make. How important is that?

JH: If you’re a software company of any kind, your primary focus is to target processors, anywhere. At this point, it’s a foregone conclusion that ARM will be the largest installed base of processors in the world.

Then the important thing is the operating systems: Andriod, iOS and RIM are incredibly important.

IF: So Windows is fourth most important?

JH: The most important CPU architecture going forward is likely to be ARM. At this point, you have to embrace ARM or you’re going to miss out on a very important market. Now they have a huge growth market that’s opened up to them.

IF: Again, explain the importance of Windows on ARM vs. Intel, etc.

JH: It’s huge!

Then he talks about energy dissipation, and that the designs are more elegant. He notes that the D staff backstage is using MacBooks and Airs “because they’re more elegant.”

And note that Steve Ballmer showed off a next gen of Windows running on Tegra 2/ARM. Office, too.

IF: But beyond Windows, what kind of software work has to be done to take advantage of ARM?

JH: Lots of work.

IF: Windows took a decade to catch up last time around. They can’t take this long this time.

JH: Right. That’s why we’re talking about this now, so when next gen of Windows is out, we’ll be ready.

A discussion about how the market shakes out between different chipsets.

JH: Next-gen Windows, by the time it shakes out, I don’t think it will matter what chipset you use if you’re a consumer. Enterprise will still run on x86, I think.

IF: Back to the cool stuff we’re seeing this year at CES, which seemed impossible a few years ago. What will we see in a few years that we can’t imagine now?

JH: Whatever expectation you have for game consoles, PCs, etc. will be “fully met by mobile devices in the next three to four years.”

And in the next three to four years this kind of device will likely exceed your expectations, because the supercomputer will be in the cloud.

IF: More future talk, please. 3-D on the phone?

JH: 3-D on the phone is a foregone conclusion. This kind of glass (on phone) is perfect for 3-D display. And it will work perfectly when you’re touching it. Long term, this device will have much better computer vision, so instead of taking a picture and sending it back, it might analyze the image and send a signal back, to reduce bandwidth.

IF: Except there are all kinds of problems with bandwidth. You had problems with wireless at your demo. Isn’t that a bigger problem going forward?

JH: The carriers finally have real incentive to invest in the pipe, because there’s a reason to use it, with all the hi-def video, etc. So we can take their promises seriously, finally.

Next year every phone will be a 4G phone.

IF: Talk about your fab-less approach to this business.

JH: In 1993, we couldn’t get a fab. We didn’t have a choice. And now ARM has democratized the CPU. It’s a big deal. [Missing the connection here, but perhaps it's my ignorance.]

Okay, that’s it! Thanks.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110107/live-nvidia-ceo-jen-hsun-huang-at-dces/feed/ 3 http://allthingsd.com/20110105/live-microsoft-talks-arm-at-ces/ http://allthingsd.com/20110105/live-microsoft-talks-arm-at-ces/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:19:00 +0000 Ina Fried http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/?p=1810 As expected, Microsoft on Thursday showed off Windows running on new kinds of processors, specifically those that use an ARM core.

“The next generation of Windows is going to evolve on new hardware,” said Windows unit President Steven Sinofsky.

Before the demo though, Sinofsky traced the history of Windows, noting that from 1992 through Windows Vista the system requirements increased significantly from one version to the next. With Windows 7, though, Microsoft held most technical requirements steady and even lowered some of them.

As for the demo of the new stuff, Sinofsky began with a few caveats.

“We are calling this a technology demonstration,” he said, cautioning it wouldn’t show any new user face stuff or address pricing, timing, etc.

Sinofsky said it is too soon to talk about what requirements will be for the next version of Windows, but said the company is keenly aware of the need to have Windows running on ever-smaller devices.

Update 1:25 pm Microsoft has three demos and it is saving Windows on ARM for last. It’s starting by hoeing off some new PCs running on the current version of Windows–Windows 7.

The second demo will be an update of touch input on Microsoft’s tabletop Surface computer, and the final one will show Windows running on ARM.

1:33 pm The next-generation Surface is thinner and uses infrared cameras inside the screen’s pixels instead of a big projector, allowing for devices that can be either a tabletop or mounted vertically. It will be cheaper as well, though Microsoft doesn’t say how much the machines will cost. First-generation Surface machines had a price tag in the thousands of dollars.

On to the chip demos.

Microsoft starts by showing a development board using a next-generation Intel design running Quicken.

Okay, nod to Intel complete.

Next up is Office running on an ARM chip. This demo is on Microsoft Word and has it printing to an Epson printer. Microsoft shows demos of chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments.

On the Nvidia machine, Microsoft shows hardware, accelerated browsing in IE9 running on a Tegra 2 processor, as well as running PowerPoint and an “Iron Man” movie preview.

1:48 pm Asked by Mobilized what work still needs to take place to make Windows on ARM a reality, Sinofsky says that it is the case that programs compiled for x86 processors won’t immediately run on ARM chips, but said the company isn’t ready to talk about the programming model. He does say it is unlikely Microsoft would use virtualization to make old programs, suggesting there will be some work for developers.

Sinfosky says that Microsoft has done the work to enable Windows to run and create a framework for third parties to build software and device drivers.

As for the timing, Sinofsky doesn’t give a date, but does reiterate that Microsoft these days aims to have a new release of Windows every 24 months to 36 months. “I don’t think it’s that long away,” he says. He notes some people want Windows releases faster while other large customers would rather have more time between releases. “Somewhere [around] 24 to 36 months between releases seems about right.”

The ARM compatibility will go into the next release of Windows, but Sinofsky takes time to point out to Mobilized that once again, he isn’t calling it Windows 8.

“This is the next generation of Windows,” he says.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110105/live-microsoft-talks-arm-at-ces/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/ http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:10:45 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://emoney.allthingsd.com/?p=1252 At Nvidia’s press conference today, CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang admitted this was going to be a promiscuous CES for the company.

Nvidia, which builds tiny computer processors to help devices display graphics, games, video and more on phones, will be found all over the show floor, demonstrating products in conjunction with wireless carriers, automotive makers, handset makers and others.

And for those looking for even more from Huang –and maybe a demo that works– he’ll be appearing on stage with my colleague Ina Fried at our own D at CES event on Friday.

The biggest partnership of all, however, was not announced–a rumored relationship with Microsoft that will likely be unveiled later today, Huang hinted. [Update: that news can be found here.]

What Nvidia was willing to talk about was its plans to build high-performance ARM-based CPU cores, designed to support future products ranging from personal computers and servers to workstations and supercomputers. Up until now, the project was code-named “Project Denver.”

However, Nvidia spent most of the time talking about its new Tegra 2 processor, which is designed to efficiently display Internet content and games–on par with the quality of a console–on a cellphone. That means a compact design that provides the same quality but helps preserve battery life.

Nvidia’s Huang demonstrated the capabilities of the chip with the help of LG, which made an appearance onstage to show off the new Optimus 2X, a new Android phone. Loaded with a Tegra 2, one of the head honchos from LG described the phone as “a beauty on the outside–a monster on the inside.”

Huang plugged the phone into a giant HDTV to demonstrate the chip’s capabilities. He played Angry Birds and navigated a few apps on the homescreen.

But one of the big pushes is in viewing Adobe Flash, and the demo gods were against them. The wireless network was slow, prompting Huang to ask the packed crowd of reporters to spare a bit of bandwidth for him.

“I feel like I am on 56K here,” Huang said. “Oh you guys suck,” he joked.

Huang said the company brought in technology to block others from hogging the bandwidth, but people were using it anyway. “You guys really suck,” he said to more laughs.

More demonstrations were made with videogames, and even other demos failed, including a video chat over Skype.

After it was all said and done, Nvidia served lunch.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101231/it-trends-in-2011-and-beyond-more-cloud-flash-and-virtualization/ http://allthingsd.com/20101231/it-trends-in-2011-and-beyond-more-cloud-flash-and-virtualization/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:38:13 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=1288 Gleacher analyst Brian Marshall is out with a short research note this morning summarizing a few trends he thinks will be important in IT in 2011. Companies he covers, which include VMware, NetApp, EMC, IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple collectively saw their shares grow by 40 percent this year, beating the S&P 500, which grew 13 percent. With enterprise IT companies roughly six quarters into a recovery period following the disaster that was 2009, he says 2010 is going to prove to be a difficult year to follow.

For 2011, he expects a continuation of a lot of trends you’ve already been hearing about. You probably already knew about the direction of the general trends, but Marshall has included some interesting figures around the size of various opportunities.

Cloud computing, he says, currently consumes only two percent of the global enterprise storage budget today, and he expects that to grow to between 15 and 20 percent within five years.

He says solid-state storage–which uses flash memory to enhance storage in servers by breaking up the bottlenecks that exist between processors that do the number crunching and hard drives that store the data–is “at a nascent stage,” and that solid-state use in enterprise applications will only get more important in 2011.

Finally, expect more virtualization in the data center. Currently, corporations virtualize about 30 percent of their servers and storage machines. Marshall thinks over five years, that will grow to about 70 percent, and if the conditions are right, 2011 could be a year where the growth rate could accelerate significantly.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101231/it-trends-in-2011-and-beyond-more-cloud-flash-and-virtualization/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101221/microsoft-plans-to-talk-windows-on-arm-at-ces-but-products-a-ways-off/ http://allthingsd.com/20101221/microsoft-plans-to-talk-windows-on-arm-at-ces-but-products-a-ways-off/#comments Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:42:02 +0000 Ina Fried http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/?p=1230 After many months of working in secret, Microsoft is nearly ready to start talking about its plans to bring Windows to ARM-based processors.

However, while the company is set to discuss the effort at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, there is still a lot that must be done before such products can hit the market.

Among the steps needed is for hardware makers to create ARM-compatible drivers, a time-consuming effort that explains in part why Microsoft is talking about the initiative well ahead of any products being ready.

It took Microsoft years, for instance, to move mainstream Windows users from 32-bit versions of the operating system to 64-bit versions, in large part because it took that long to get all of the necessary hardware drivers to enable the shift.

Microsoft has scheduled a press briefing for 1 pm PT on Jan. 5, ahead of Steve Ballmer’s keynote later that night. The event is expected to be the forum where Microsoft will discuss the ARM effort. A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the reported ARM move.

However, speculation about such a move has been increasing since the two companies signed an expanded licensing agreement back in July. Microsoft was deliberately vague at the time regarding the impact of the new agreement, making reference to then-existing efforts such as Windows Embedded and Windows Mobile.

“ARM is an important partner for Microsoft and we deliver multiple operating systems on the company’s architecture,” Microsoft general manager KD Hallman said in a July statement. “With closer access to the ARM technology we will be able to enhance our research and development activities for ARM-based products.”

Moving to ARM processors as an option for full-fledged Windows could pave the way for machines with significantly longer battery life–an issue that has become more important as competing mobile devices, especially tablets and smartphones, have been able to best the PC in that regard.

While much of the speculation regarding ARM-based Windows machines has centered on the impact this could have on tablets, the move is said to be as much about netbooks and low-power notebooks as it is about slates.

Though the Windows tie to Intel-architecture chips is legendary, it’s not the first time that Windows has run on chips other than the standard fare from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Windows once ran on chips from Digital Equipment, and Microsoft has also done server versions that supported Intel’s Itanium chip. However, such efforts are expensive and time-consuming. The fact that Microsoft is going ahead with the undertaking highlights the size of the threat posed by devices running on the lower-power-consuming ARM chips.

Although CES is an unusual venue to reach PC hardware makers, it does provide a big stage for Microsoft to reconfirm that it is serious about playing in the ultramobile device category.

Bloomberg first reported Microsoft’s plans to bring Windows to ARM earlier on Tuesday.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101221/microsoft-plans-to-talk-windows-on-arm-at-ces-but-products-a-ways-off/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101103/a-fall-guide-how-to-pick-your-next-computer/ http://allthingsd.com/20101103/a-fall-guide-how-to-pick-your-next-computer/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:05:08 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/?p=1603 If you’re shopping for a new computer this fall, you won’t find big surprises. But you’ll still have to juggle a lot of technobabble terminology and watch your budget. Perhaps the biggest question for some buyers will be whether to get a tablet or a laptop, now that Apple’s iPad is a proven hit and a flood of competitors is on the way.

So, here is my annual fall computer buyers’ guide, a simplified road map to the key decisions shoppers must make. I’ve focused on laptops—the most common purchase—but much of this advice also applies to desktops. As always, these tips are for average users doing the most common tasks. This advice doesn’t apply to businesses, to hard-core gamers, or to serious media producers.

Tablets vs. Laptops: If you’re looking for a light-duty, highly portable computer, it’s worth considering the iPad, which starts at $499, instead of a small laptop. This is especially true if you’re in the market for a secondary computer, or one mainly for use on the go. Many owners of iPads, including me, are finding it handily replaces a laptop for numerous tasks, such as Web browsing, email, social-networking, photos, video and music. It has superior battery life, lighter weight, and it starts instantly. I don’t recommend it for people who are creating long documents, especially spreadsheets and presentations, even though it is capable of those tasks. And I don’t recommend it for users who require, or prefer, a physical keyboard.

If you don’t like the iPad, there will soon be alternatives. For instance, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which has a 7-inch screen versus the iPad’s 10-inch display, and runs Google’s Android operating system, will be available this month from major wireless carriers. Sprint, for example, will offer it at $400 with a two-year contract. But some tablet buyers may want to wait till the first half of next year, when many more models will be available, and Apple will likely roll out the second-generation iPad.

Netbooks: These low-cost, low-powered little Windows computers are losing popularity, but are still available, typically for about $350 to $500. They are being hurt by the rise of tablets and by light but larger laptops. Some buyers also find the screens and keyboards are too cramped. But these are evolving. Some now have bigger screens and roomier keyboards. And Dell will soon introduce a sort of hybrid netbook-tablet. Called the Inspiron Duo, this model, starting at $499, has both a regular keyboard and a touch screen that flips around when the lid is closed to act like a tablet.

Windows vs. Mac: Windows laptops can be much less costly—and come in many more styles and varieties—than Mac laptops. The Macs start at $999, versus as little as $500 for a decently equipped Windows portable. Windows laptops are still dominant. But Apple laptops are stylish and reliable, and usually boot much faster than Windows machines, in my tests. Also, Apple scores high on surveys of customer support. Its latest models, like the new, light MacBook Airs, have extraordinarily good battery life. Macs also aren’t affected by the vast majority of malicious software, have much better built-in multimedia software and, at extra cost, can run Windows programs in cases where Mac equivalents aren’t available.

The light but speedy 13-inch Toshiba R705 offers good battery life.

Cost: Most of the popular consumer Windows laptops cost $500 to $800. You can get full-size laptops for as little as $280, but their processors and graphics are weak and some lack webcams. If you can afford it, a light but speedy 13-inch machine like the Toshiba R705 offers very good battery life for just under $800. All-in-one desktops typically cost around $1,000 and some, like the HP TouchSmart, offer touch screens with special touch software. Apple’s popular all-in-one iMac starts at $1,199.

Processors: The most promoted chips are Intel’s i3, i5, and i7 Core models, the latter two of which can turn on and off some of their functions to boost power or save energy. But there is nothing wrong with buying a PC that uses chips from rival AMD, which usually cost less. For average users, Intel’s older Core 2 Duo still works just fine, even with the latest software. Intel’s weaker Atom processor line powers most netbooks.

Graphics: Integrated graphics, which share the computer’s main memory, are fine for most common tasks, but costlier discrete graphics, which have dedicated memory, can speed things up by taking some of the load off the main processor. They also are better for games. Some computers have both and can switch among them.

Wireless: More and more laptops are coming with optional cellular modem chips in addition to Wi-Fi. These can be handy while traveling, but be warned that they require a cellular data contract, which can be costly.

Connections: If you plan to connect your laptop to a TV, look for a connector called an HDMI port, which is used on most high-definition TVs. Some laptops also come with a feature called Wireless Display, or Wi-Di, which, with an extra-cost adapter, can beam your laptop screen to a TV without a cable. There is a new, much faster USB port, called USB 3.0, but, so far, it’s on very few machines.

Memory: Aim for 4 gigabytes of memory, or RAM, on a new computer, and never settle for less than 2 gigabytes.

Hard disks: A 320 gigabyte hard disk should be the minimum on most PCs, though 250 gigabytes is OK if price is key, or if it’s your secondary machine. Solid-state disks, which lack moving parts and use flash memory like smartphones do, are faster and use less battery power. They cost much more, but are coming down in price fast. However, they typically offer much less capacity.

64-bit: Many models now use a 64-bit architecture, which allows properly written software to use more memory and run faster. If possible, buy 64-bit, which will become more and more important.

Touch: Some Windows 7 computers have touch capability built into the screen, though Windows wasn’t designed with touch as a core element and the combination isn’t ideal. Computer makers try to resolve this with special touch software, which you should try in a store. Apple laptops use huge touch pads as the multitouch surface, instead of the screen.

As always, don’t buy more machine than you need.

Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online at the All Things Digital website, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101103/a-fall-guide-how-to-pick-your-next-computer/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100824/amds-bulldozer-and-bobcat-ready-to-roll/ http://allthingsd.com/20100824/amds-bulldozer-and-bobcat-ready-to-roll/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:10:43 +0000 Voices http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=28649 At the Hot Chips conference this evening, Advanced Micro Devices will unveil details of two new processor designs, Bulldozer and Bobcat, aimed at pushing some of Intel’s market share in AMD’s direction. Bulldozer will be used in multiple-core server and desktop chips due out next year, while Bobcat will be a low-power core aimed at netbooks, tablets and other portable devices–a market where it will compete with Intel’s Atom.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100824/amds-bulldozer-and-bobcat-ready-to-roll/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100413/earnings-preview-watching-intel-for-clues-to-the-pc-sector/ http://allthingsd.com/20100413/earnings-preview-watching-intel-for-clues-to-the-pc-sector/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:00:48 +0000 Jennifer Valentino-DeVries http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=23864 Intel (INTC) reports first-quarter earnings after the market close Tuesday, and analysts will be closely watching what the chip maker says to get some indication of the global demand for PCs.

Intel is considered a bellwether for the tech sector because it provides the chips that go into most of the world’s computers. In January, Intel reported one of its most profitable quarters ever, and analysts are expecting strong processor demand in the first quarter of 2010. Compared with the same period in 2009, the semiconductor market is expected to show significant improvement–which shouldn’t be too difficult, given the dismal market amid the economic crisis last year. Specifically, most analysts are looking for confirmation of growth coming from corporate purchases, rather than just strong demand from consumers.

“Things Are Good in PC, but Don’t Tell Anyone”–the title of the pre-earnings report from Oppenheimer–sets the tone for analysts. Oppenheimer’s Rick Schafer writes that he is looking for “a strong PC cycle in 2010,” driven mainly by a rebound in business spending.

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