Rumor: Next-Gen Palm Handheld to Use OMAP1510

Posted By: Ed Wednesday, July 17, 2002 11:45:13 AM

According to an anonymous source in a position to know, Palm's next-generation handheld code-named Oslo will use a Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor. This combines into a single chip an ARM-compliant processor with a DSP for multimedia capabilities. It runs at 175 MHz.

Palm announced at the beginning of this year that it would be using TI chips in its handhelds that run Palm OS 5 so it seems entirely probable that the OMAP1510 could be at the heart of the Oslo, or whatever its final name is.

The OMAP1510 processor has a dual-core architecture that combines the command and control capabilities of the ARM 925 processor with the high-performance and low power capabilities of the TMS320C55x DSP core.

ARM 925
The TI-enhanced ARM 925 core will handle command and control functions and user interface applications. It is an implementation of the ARM RISC architecture that operates at 175 MHz.

ARM 925 core includes a memory management unit (MMU) for virtual-to-physical memory translation and task-to-task memory protection as well as a 16KB instruction cache, an 8KB data cache and a 17 word write buffer. There is 1.5 Mb of internal SRAM.

Also included in the core is the ARM CP15 coprocessor and protection module.

C55x DSP
A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) works alongside the CPU handling the multimedia functions and allowing the CPU to handle other tasks. This reduces the amount of power used, as well.

The C55x DSP core has a highly optimized architecture for multimedia applications, including core level extensions for real-time, low-power processing of streaming video and audio.

It includes 32 kwords of internal dual-access SRAM, 48 kwords of internal single access SRAM, and a 12 kword instruction cache. It has an MMU as well as a dual layer interrupt handler and a direct memory access (DMA) unit.

Other
The OMAP1510 has a wide variety of other features. It has a built-in LCD controller and support for USB, Bluetooth, IrDA, and SD/MMC. It has serial ports for digital audio input and output.

Palm OS 5
The major feature of Palm OS 5 is that it makes the switch from supporting only Motorola Dragonball processors to supporting several types of ARM-based processors, including ones from TI. This will significantly increase the capabilities of the Palm platform without sacrificing backwards compatibility with current apps.

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How Much?

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 12:07:09 PM #
Ed:

Does your trusted source have any idea how much it will cost? How much RAM it has? Screen resolution?

RE: How Much?
Ed @ 7/17/2002 12:39:20 PM #
I'm tapping all my sources and putting together another article with more info on the Oslo. It should be ready in a day or so depending on what I can find out.

I'm not trying to turn the site into Palm Rumorcenter but until the new OS 5 devices are officially announced, you can expect to see a lot of rumors on them.

---
News Editor

RE: How Much?
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 1:07:54 PM #
Ed,

Great job.

I think lots of people care about the price and
battery life of the new OS5 machines.
If you can find some info, that will be great.

A guess price range like $299-399 is good enough.

Again, thanks for your work.

ted

RE: How Much?
atrizzah @ 7/17/2002 2:53:52 PM #
Wow, this is a great article, keep up the good work Ed.

Peace Out
Alan
RE: How Much?
sandbuck @ 7/17/2002 6:48:37 PM #
Keep your nose to the ground Ed!

RE: How Much?
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 9:46:33 PM #
$299 ~ $399? Be realistic. Palm will never set the introductory price of a brand new model so low. It is the best time (for Palm) to kill people's wallet...

... my guess would be somewhere around $450, but won't be surprised to see $499. under my current situation, I probably have to stick with my T615 for quite a while...

RE: How Much?
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 11:21:37 PM #
What I meant is finding out the estimated price range.

I know the price won't be this low.It should be
above $400. But I guess the exact price is
hard to find. So a range will satisfy lots of people's
interest.

ted

Good stuff

sandbuck @ 7/17/2002 12:22:04 PM #
Can't wait.

RE: Good stuff
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 3:44:50 PM #
Yes, I can't wait either. Exciting stuff is glimmering on the horizon.......

Damned if you do....

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 12:45:58 PM #
I know this is what a lot of Palm users have been asking for and I think it's a step in the right direction.

It remains to be seen, but I hope this won't kill battery life too, too much. I use a Clie NR series and while its battery life is not quite what say an m515 is, it's good enough for me. If they can duplicate that at 175mhz, great. Anything less however and we're getting down into Pocket PC levels, egad!

RE: Damned if you do....
Ed @ 7/17/2002 1:09:23 PM #
Don't worry too much. A Motorola spokesperson told ZDnet UK in May that the Palm OS 5 handhelds will use roughly half the power as Pocket PC handhelds running the same hardware.

www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=3514

---
News Editor

RE: Damned if you do....
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 2:41:04 PM #
I do remember seeing that statement and certainly believe it possible (it's all we have to go on anyway). The cynic in me however is anxiously awaiting seeing this proven. I just hope the statement wasn't marketing speak.
RE: Damned if you do....
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 3:09:54 AM #
Actually the T series and the NR series IS BELOW the 3950 in battery life at comparible brightness settings and maybe slightly WORSE than the 3850 and well below the HP568. Actually the only Palm device to have great battery life is the N760c and every color Sony since had PPC battery life. The Prism and the IIIc had pretty lame battery life as well.
RE: Damned if you do....
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 8:20:15 AM #
RE: Damned if you do....
Posted by: I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 3:09:54 AM

Actually the T series and the NR series IS BELOW the 3950 in battery life at comparible brightness settings and maybe slightly WORSE than the 3850 and well below the HP568. Actually the only Palm device to have great battery life is the N760c and every color Sony since had PPC battery life. The Prism and the IIIc had pretty lame battery life as well.

------------------------------------

OS 5 NOT OS4 MACHINES WILL BE BETTER THAN PPC MACHINES RUNNING THE SAME HARDWARE!
OR ARE YOU BLIND?

But, when? WHEEEEN????????

Foo Fighter @ 7/17/2002 1:06:00 PM #
When will this retractable wonder hit the market? I'm getting itchy palms. My old M505 is getting....well, old. And I'm starting to crave multimedia frills.

Any clues, Ed?

RE: But, when? WHEEEEN????????
Ed @ 7/17/2002 1:13:15 PM #
All I can say is what everyone else has heard: within 60 days.

---
News Editor
RE: But, when? WHEEEEN????????
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 2:05:13 PM #
If you want multimedia, you don't have to wait. Go out and get Sony NR70 or T665.

You would be amazed at MP3, Video, and Photo (NR-70V)

RE: But, when? WHEEEEN????????
Foo Fighter @ 7/17/2002 3:00:19 PM #
>"If you want multimedia, you don't have to wait. Go out and get Sony NR70 or T665."

No thanks. I'll wait for OS5/ARM based hardware to hit the market. The OSLO looks very innovative, with the exception of Palm's stubborn resistance to software-Graffiti area. :-(

Can't wait!!!

RE: But, when? WHEEEEN????????
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 4:23:05 PM #
"I'll wait for OS5/ARM based hardware to hit the market."

"Can't wait!!!"

Make up your mind allready!! lol


RE: But, when? WHEEEEN????????
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 3:14:15 AM #
I'll wait for Sony to do a REAL multimedia Palm with OS5 -- should be out within a month or two....

Multimedia?

Foo Fighter @ 7/17/2002 4:26:38 PM #
I really hope Palm delivers on its multimedia promise. PalmOS needs to become more competitive with PPC quality audio and video, and say goodbye to hackware such as TealMovie and Kinomi.

Who knows...maybe we will one day see RealPlayer for PalmOS...or WinAMP..or MusicMatch...QuickTime...or, dare I say it, Windows Media Player! :-)

RE: Multimedia?
Midknyte @ 7/17/2002 4:53:36 PM #
Huh? I've not seen anywhere where Palm has promissed to market a unit with multimedia capabilities... Only that they have incorporated multimedia hooks/api's in the OS so that other manufactures may choose to do so more easily.

I would say that hoping for a Palm branded multimedia handheld is wishfull thinking, but I won't considering that they long denied that OS5 would offer anything at all in the way of multimedia. I'd sooner bet that they are trying to keep it under wraps - but will not be surprised or dismayed either way...

RE: Multimedia?
Foo Fighter @ 7/17/2002 5:04:57 PM #
>"Huh? I've not seen anywhere where Palm has prommissed to market a unit with multimedia capabilities... "

Eric Benhamou was interviewed by CNET a couple months ago. During the discussion he said that multimedia and digital audio were coming to Palm's handhelds. He also said that PalmOS devices would offer features and hardware on par with PocketPC.

Take that for what it's worth.

RE: Multimedia?
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 7:19:59 PM #
With a seperate DSP running the audio, I wonder if this incarnation of OS 5 will do multimedia natively. Is it just a Palm with an mp3 player glued on it?
RE: Multimedia?
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 10:08:28 PM #
Glued on? Who cares! If the APIs can use it what difference does it make?

Does your computer suck because your CPU does have a built-in 3D graphics engine? It's more efficient to have separate purpose-built modules. The Amiga had a "slow CPU" but it had separate chips to run the other stuff and was the greatest multi-media personal computer of its time.

I'd like to play MP3s and video not get a hit on the CPU.

RE: Multimedia?
clevewaterman @ 7/18/2002 12:23:28 AM #
My "home office" company develops interactive educational multimedia. I can do this now on PPC, but there's no point in developing educational software for that platform. A DSP that does nothing but passive playback is of no use.

RE: Multimedia?
Foo Fighter @ 7/18/2002 1:15:06 AM #
>"I can do this now on PPC, but there's no point in developing educational software for that platform."

Why not? Just curious to know your reasons.

The real questions is when will Sony come out with something

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 4:37:25 PM #
I know that this Palm is looking pretty good and all, but when will Sony release an NR series clie that runs OS5 and a better processor. Thats what I'm waiting on.
RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with something
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 10:29:03 PM #
Right on. I've got a N760 that I love. But when Sony comes out with an ARM-chip Clie, I'm there...

RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with something
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 6:27:20 AM #
seconded.
RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with somet
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 9:42:06 AM #
Count me in too!

And I hope 256 and 512 MB Memsticks come out soon

I want to take a full movie with me! :-)
(thanks, Kinoma)

RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with something
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 9:57:29 AM #
With Sony's track record, I'd say, wait for 2-3 weeks and see Sony's OS5 units. =D
RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with something
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 11:53:56 AM #
Yes, isn't Sony due for a new model any day now?
RE: The real questions is when will Sony come out with something
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/18/2002 1:23:28 PM #
This is exactly what I want to say.
It feels a little strange that Sony hasn't anounced
a new Clie for a while. :-)

I'm so confused

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 5:23:33 PM #
OK, the OMAP platform was designed with Smartphones in mind, right? Palm has stated they will have a Smartphone running OS5 out this fall, that is one of the few confirmed facts.

Where does Oslo fit into the equation? Is it the Smartphone Palm talks about or a separate line of machines altogether? Palm has placed a huge order with ASUStek for Palms running XScale processors due out Q1 2003 so what is Oslo's niche?

Its very confusing....

RE: I'm so confused
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 7:22:04 PM #
Was a Smartphone that was promisd or a wireless device (as was my understanding)? The OMAP CPU certainly handles a number of wireless standards ...
RE: I'm so confused
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 8:18:29 PM #
IIRC, it's a smartphone focused on data but capable of making voice calls.
RE: I'm so confused
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 11:36:40 PM #
Not all of the OMAP platform was built for smartphones. The OMAP710 is T-I's best smartphone chip cause it has a DSP-based GSM/GPRS modem subsystem. The OMAP1510 is for other PDAs.

Palm said in June that they will put out a smartphone this fall. Look for it to have the 710 in it.

Performance?

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/17/2002 8:45:41 PM #
Ok before anyone goes wild because its "175mhz", what are the performance specs for this puppy? SpecINT/SpecFP... Compare it to the ARM cpu's used in PPC and the old Dragonballs. Assuming that PalmOS run with the same cpu latency/overhead what kind of speed increase are we talking about?

RE: Performance?
ardiri @ 7/17/2002 9:07:34 PM #
if you went to PalmSource 2002 - you would know the answer to this question.

Palm was demonstrating their ARM environment using a 66 and 75Mhz CPUs. information on what PalmOS 5.0 is and how it works internally was made available then. when a real unit is made available is when the full details of what is inside it can be stated. rumors are rumors - but, you can make very good educated guesses if you know what your looking for. time will tell i guess :)

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/
http://www.mobilewizardry.com/

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