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posted by
LaminatorX
on Monday February 24 2014, @12:30PM
from the Can-I-get-some-dips-with-that? dept.
from the Can-I-get-some-dips-with-that? dept.
Rashek writes:
"Intel and Qualcomm just announced their roadmaps for mobile System on a Chip at this year's Mobile World Congress.
Intel presented performance numbers of their Merrifield SoC, a dual-core Silvermont based SoC that's effectively the phone version of Bay Trail, with some carefully chosen benchmarks that compared it to Apple's A7 SoC and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 series. Meanwhile, Qualcomm revealed future 64-bit Snapdragons for its mid-tier Snapdragon series. The Snapdragon 610 and 615 will arrive in Android smartphones in Q4 of this year and are four and eight core implementations of ARM's Cortex A53."
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Intel and Qualcomm announce their new SoCs at MWC
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I'm not a robot like you. I don't like having disks crammed into me... unless they're Oreos, and then only in the mouth.
-- Fry
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Open4D on Monday February 24 2014, @02:00PM
Battery life wouldn't be an issue for me, if only manufacturers would make it easy & cheap to have multiple batteries that can be swapped out during the day.
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My manifesto:
The AA battery [wikipedia.org] and the other standardized battery types have been a major boon for mankind. And now we need to add a new type, designed so that 2 (or more) fit fairly efficiently inside a phone (so they probably wouldn't be cylindrical like the AA). These 2 cells are independent. The phone depletes 1 cell, then switches to the other cell, and notifies you that you have 4 hours (or whatever), to replace the depleted cell.
Because they are standardized, normal battery chargers can charge them. You have dozens of them. You carry a few in your pockets in a (standardized) protective case, have a few at the office, a few in the car, etc.. If you're ever caught short, you can always borrow one from a friend or buy a pre-charged one from any shop / vending machine / cafe / bar.
I have no expertise in any of these technologies. But isn't this the way forward? And couldn't it be done right now?
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Obviously any new standard would be at risk of quickly becoming outdated compared to the latest in battery technology, but you would try to design in some future-proofing. And the whole point of this would be that you don't need to envy the guy with a brand new 20% longer-lasting 20% smaller battery, because your own batteries are a conveient commodity and it's so easy for you to swap them out.
(Score: 1) by dotdotdot on Monday February 24 2014, @02:09PM
I think the form factors of handhelds are changing too quickly for an idea like that to materialize.
(Score: 2) by Open4D on Monday February 24 2014, @02:44PM
I agree that's a major concern, but the standard battery wouldn't have to fit perfectly snugly into every phone. The aim is that it should be such a convenient system that you don't mind swapping out a commodity battery every 4 hours, even if a custom battery that filled every inch of space in the device would last 6 hours. And larger devices would take 3 or more of these commodity batteries.
Also, I think there's a fair chance we've arrived at a form factor that will last a while. I wouldn't be surprised if I've still got a 13cm x 6cm x 0.8cm device in 15 years time. It seems quite well suited to the human hand and the trouser pocket. Unless Google Glass takes over, or direct brain interfaces become available, or something else lures us away from the smartphone.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by dilbert on Monday February 24 2014, @02:12PM
Of COURSE it could be done right now, but that isn't the point. Corporations aren't here to make your life easier, they're here to make a profit, and they'll make a bigger profit if you have to buy non-standard replacement batteries from them instead of a generic one-size-fits-all battery from an ebay reseller.
It's the same story between micro usb/mini usb/thunderbolt connectors. Corporations will tell you their tech is the best, but really they just want you to have to buy from them.
(Score: 2, Informative) by petecox on Tuesday February 25 2014, @01:48AM
A phone charger on your desk at work, a phone charger in your car's cigarette lighter socket, a phone charger at home. There's no incentive for manufacturers here.
On the other hand, my battery is always dying on public transport or when I'm travelling and using the phone as a camera.
One can order an external battery online from China for around $US20 that charges said phone via microUSB or the iConnectors.