Intel and Arm wrestle it out at MWC

INTEL IS CURRENTLY making a lot of noise about Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and has thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to defining them. The firm claims only devices built on an Atom processor can really fall into the MID category. ARM and partners, however, beg to differ and it  both teams are gearing up for a showdown in the not too distant future.

MIDs, a cross between smartphones and netbooks [Dumb-books? Super-smart phonebooks?] are Intel's latest craze, with the chipmaker waxing lyrical at every opportunity about its relatively low-powered Atom microprocessor and bringing x86 architecture and a "full Internet experience" to users' pockets. According to spIntel, Only X86 architecture can do this properly, although ARM and Co. scoff at the very notion.

When the INQ visited Intel's MID stand at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona this week, we found ourselves peering at all sorts of ‘too-big-for-normal-pocket' type devices in various shapes and sizes from OEMs such as Compal, OQO, USI and Yukyung.

As we pressed our unimpressed faces up to the glass show cabinet, Intel spinners did their utmost to hype the platform, noting this was simply the beginning and the second generation Intel MID platform, Moorestown, would be a far bigger hit than the first, and guzzle far less power at that. This promised reduction in idle power is meant to really punch ARM in the face, as ARM's biggest selling point is the fact its chips are designed for very-low-power, 'always-on' devices.

Intel's boffins say they have reduced idle power consumption on Moorestown by a factor of 10 from Atom, attracting attention from OEMS like LG Electronics, which  announced it would be using the platform. Intel also boasted its new Linux-based Moblin v2.0 OS, with voice support and 3G connectivity - being built by Option and Ericsson - are also features turning OEM's heads away from ARMs chARMs.

But team ARM seems unperturbed by Chipzilla's chest pounding, smugly listing a plethora of companies building Systems-on-a-chip (SOCs) based on its own architecture. For instance Texas Instruments, which just unveiled its new ARM-based OMAP 4 mobile applications platform, capable of 1080p video record and playback, 20 megapixel imaging and up to a week of audio play time with a dual ARM Cortex A9 MP core. Or Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, which has literally been snapped up by Toshiba for its TG01 handset and Nvidia for its Android based Tegra platform. ST-Ericsson is also said to have developed a dual-core design and Freescale has the iMC.515.

In fact, Moorestown itself seems to mimic ARM architecture to an extent, in that it also uses a system-on-a-chip (SoC), Lincroft, rather than a standalone CPU. Lincroft, sports a 45nm Atom core, graphics, video and a memory controller.

This week at MWC, the INQ asked ARM what it thought of Intel's MID posturing and found James Bruce, the firm's wireless segment manager, happy to oblige us.

"Over the next year, you're going to see ARM-powered devices with full browsers such as Mozilla and also full plugin support such as Adobe flash player 10," said Bruce, laughing off the notion ARM chips couldn't bring the user a "full Internet experience".

In fact, he added, ARM and partners were actually, "trying to bring a more mobile internet experience" to the user than any experience Intel could offer. Bruce noted that in the Intel world, the experience was all about sitting down with a laptop or in front of a desktop and browsing on a browser, but that platforms like Android were now providing handset makers with what he called "another dimension".

"First of all they're bringing the context of a mobile device that's always with you and the context of location", said Bruce, explaining how a mobile experience could add interactivity to a user's passive experience. "For example, if you have a rich internet application, like social networking, running and some friends appear nearby, your phone could actually notify you of that," something, a classic Intel laptop or netbook can't do, according to Bruce. "You have to open it and then log in, whereas with a phone, it's always there".

Bruce poked a finger in Intel's eye by claiming another advantage of ARM device was that "they are just a lot smaller. They actually fit in your pocket without your clothes having to be specially tailored!"

With his arms folded across his chest, Bruce concluded: "Intel can't offer the sort of portable Internet the consumers want because they can't offer the solutions of the power profile and size profile the consumers need."

Bruce may well have a point and, as much as Intel would have us believe its platform is a winner, simply owing to the multitude of apps already written and compatible with it, ARM can just as easily point to Ubuntu and Xandros Linux, both of which have been specially optimised for the ARM platform. Also, as any one worth their sauce knows, for every closed source programme like Microsoft Office out there, there is an almost-as-good open source substitute like Open Office available.

Ultimately, if Intel can continue driving power usage down, it may stand a chance in ARM's mobile dominated arena, but Chipzilla should watch its back, because if Linux championing ARM continues innovating to the extent it's currently doing, it could well give rival Wintel a hard slap. µ