Comments on: TI Unveils Next Generation OMAP 2 Chips

Texas Instruments today announced their new OMAP 2 mobile chip architecture. TI says the chips enable high-quality 3D gaming, 4+ megapixel cameras, digital camcorders, TV output and more.

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Wow.

dona83 @ 2/24/2004 6:15:11 PM #

Could the deadness of PIC since Palm OS Cobalt was released be a sign that PalmOne already past its glory, Tungsten T3, and it's all downhill from here? This CPU is a great thing... package a 480x320 screen with Palm Cobalt 5, bluetooth, and the new OMAP 2 processors and price it at $300 and it's a good buy, and PalmOne's focus should be to utilize existing PDAs, and get the prices down, rather than developing PDAs with more power than anyone in their right minds will ever need. I think the T3's 400mhz XScale processors should be tha cap, the OMAP2s should be put at 200mhz-300 tops. Sony's succeeding with a mere 126mhz handheld engine with a good DSP. These OMAP 2s could be the ultimate solution to give performance similar to the T3s with a lot less power usage. Hopefully...

Donald

RE: Wow.

Massman82 @ 2/24/2004 7:00:03 PM #

I am a little confused with your pessimism. PIC's quiteness cannot portend palmOne's downfall.

The TT3 is selling like hotcakes, why should they stop using fast processors???

The faster processor is always better, as long as the battery life is similar.

-------------
Roman
Clie NX60 - Massman82@PDArcade.com

RE: Wow.

n1e4k @ 2/24/2004 9:24:07 PM #

Having recently upgraded to a T|E from the m500 series, I was amazed at the speed of 126 mhz. However, I can already see where 400+ mhz is necessary for video, multitasking (I can't play games while playing mp3's), and high-power Docs to Go usage (spell check for instance).

Although I agree that there's more to improve besides raw CPU.

RE: Wow.

abosco @ 2/24/2004 11:16:18 PM #

Deadness of PIC? Where is this coming from? There have been three news items today as well as two yesterday. Try the forums. There's plenty of talk about Cobalt there if that's what you're interested in. There's just not much else to discuss until we get our hands on it.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: Wow.

ankers @ 2/25/2004 2:12:59 AM #

Great features but it will suck without better battery life. I am on the verge of downgrading from T3 to T1 for this reason alone. Future palms need swappable batteries.

Dave

a Brit in Clogland

RE: Wow.

hotpaw4 @ 2/25/2004 3:04:02 AM #

The T3 has an Intel XScale CPU. The T|T and T2 use TI OMAP's.

RE: Wow.

Altema @ 2/25/2004 1:31:29 PM #

"Great features but it will suck without better battery life. I am on the verge of downgrading from T3 to T1 for this reason alone. Future palms need swappable batteries."

Although it has already been mentioned that the T1 and T3 use different processors, you are right in that we need to work on this area. A one hour Palm? Forget it!

I will mention though, that I get the same battery life out of my T3 that I did with my T1, perhaps even a little better in some cases. Did you do the ROM update? I get between 4 and 6 hours run time (same as 8 to 12 days use) on mine since the update.

RE: Wow.

Dural @ 2/25/2004 3:56:16 PM #

I posted this below, but will also post here, so people don't miss that clock rate is going to start at 330 MHz and possibly go as high as 1 GHz.

A PDF at TI's website says: "ARM11 architecture from 330 MHz to 1 GHz"

and for the OMAP2410 processor:
"ARM1136 processor operating at 330 MHz and TMS320C55x™ DSP operating at 220 MHz"

and no clock rate is mentioned for the OMAP2420 processor.

So as you can see clock rates are going to start out at 330 MHz which is quite high, and can go up to 1 GHz for the ARM CPU.

Awesome new processors from TI!

Only one complaint. Still no USB2?

RE: Wow.

Calroth @ 2/25/2004 4:08:18 PM #

I never figured out why you need a powerful processor for a spell-checker.

As far as I am concerned, word processors haven't come very far in the last 10 years. MacWrite Pro on my Mac Performa 400 (16MHz 68030) took only seconds to spell-check reasonably sized documents (say 5000 words). Why should it be so much harder for a Palm to run a spell-checker?

(Yes, I know that Palms have slow memory access, etc. etc. etc. But we're not talking rocket science; this was a 16MHz Mac.)

RE: Wow.

RhinoSteve @ 2/25/2004 5:22:09 PM #

The guy that started this thread would bitch about Christ looking like crap as He died for our sins. Frankly, I don't consider his opinion worth much.

The OMAP 2 ia a good improvement and response to the Intel XScale and Motorola MX1 ARM processors. I'm sure the deals are being done now over what the PalmOne Cobalt machine will run.

While the T3 is sexy, there have been issues. I just hope you cna do Raw IR on this OMAP. A lot of apps were burned from that incompatibility.

RE: Wow.

helf @ 2/25/2004 5:50:27 PM #

cobalt 5? wtf are you talking about? :P

RE: Wow.

hotpaw4 @ 2/25/2004 6:09:58 PM #

These new TI OMAP chips appear to include larger caches, similar in size to those of the Intel XScale chips, and a media-DSP and dynamic voltage management, similar to features found in the Sony HHE (look at the mp3 playing battery life of the TH55 for an example of the benefits of this combo). One of the new OMAP's also appears to include enough internal memory for a full VGA size frame buffer, which should help save a noticeable amount of power refreshing hires LCD displays.

RE: Wow.

dona83 @ 2/26/2004 1:33:29 AM #

I don't know if I meant to be incomprehensive. =)

I just want my Palm to have better battery life.

Hopefully the OMAP2s can deliver it.

Donald

Whoa.

Hal2000 @ 2/24/2004 6:50:34 PM #

Can't wait for the devices.

Zodiac2/T616
1.128 gigs under the hood.

IrDA-only IR hardware?

dchev @ 2/25/2004 9:10:33 AM #

Anyone know if the OMAP2 will allow us to bypass the IrDA framing hardware? ie. direct connection between UART and IrDA pulse generator?

But will PalmOne use them?

Fuzzillogic @ 2/25/2004 11:47:30 AM #

I'd rather see OMAPs than MHz-happy XScales in PDA's. But I guess PalmOne will go for the big-MHz-numbers, to lure customers :(

Really too bad, the OMAP1510 CPU's found in the T|T and T|T2 also have a built-in DSP, but Palm never released API's for them. Now they're only used to mix some soundstreams. What a waste :(

Morale of the story: these CPU are as powerful as the software that drives them.

RE: But will PalmOne use them?

Dural @ 2/25/2004 3:32:56 PM #

A PDF at TI's website says: "ARM11 architecture from 330 MHz to 1 GHz"

and for the OMAP2410 processor:
"ARM1136 processor operating at 330 MHz and TMS320C55x™ DSP operating at 220 MHz"

and no clock rate is mentioned for the OMAP2420 processor.

So as you can see clock rates are going to start out at 330 MHz which is quite high, and can go up to 1 GHz for the ARM CPU.

RE: But will PalmOne use them?

helf @ 2/25/2004 11:11:58 PM #

yeah, i hope they use them too and not teh crappy intel cpus

wrong way! :-(

T.W.G @ 2/26/2004 5:20:03 AM #

Hi together,

super, another high end cpu with feat. like the max. 6 MP digitalcamera etc.

Hey guys:
I want a handheld. Did you know what it is? It SHOULD be a small little machine like the III or Vx that I can carry around for weeks before charging.
Modern Vx:
- m515 housing
- Tungsten T Navpad (the best one)
- Bluetooth
- HighRes+ Display with integrated Landscape support
- replacable Battery!
- SD-Slot
- 12-15 hous battery life!
- could be as "big" as a IIIx or s.th.

And what do we get?
600MHz monsters with WLAN, BT etc. and 3 hous of battery life plus a nonuser replacable battery that's programmed to die after 2 years :-(

think about it...

Greetings from Germany

Thomas

T.W.G www.twgmusic.de

Palm Powered Handheld Reviews from T.W.G at: www.pdaforum.de

RE: wrong way! :-(

mikecane @ 2/26/2004 8:58:25 AM #

Guess what? Even when the battery *is* replaceable, do you really think they'll keep manufacturing them after the run of the product? You might be using your handheld for five years, scrambling for used batteries on ebay because they stopped making the battery after *two* years.

A replaceable battery would help, but it's not going to be the panacea you think it will be.