In the beginning, there was nothing -- which exploded - Terry Pratchett
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Nokia picks ST-Ericsson chips for 12 Windows Phone devices
FLOUNDERING SMARTPHONE VENDOR Nokia will use chips made by ST-Ericsson in its upcoming Windows Phone devices.
As the world still tries to grapple with Nokia's decision to opt for Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system on its future smartphones, Carlo Bozotti, the CEO of ST Microelectronics let the cat out of the bag and said that Nokia will be using ST-Ericsson chips. That marks a significant change from the current Windows Phone 7 (WP7) devices that require handset manufacturers to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor.
Bozotti told Forbes that his firm ST-Ericsson, a joint venture by ST Microelectronics and Ericsson, will be one of two chip suppliers for Nokia. Bozotti said that the firm's U8500 chip will be the first to appear on Nokia's Windows Phone devices, though did not mention what the other chip vendor might be.
ST-Ericsson's U8500 chip is a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 unit, which has a Mali 400 GPU built in. There's HSPA connectivity and the ability to support multiple display outputs and even HD 1080p video capture, but none of those are particularly exclusive features so it leaves the field wide open for many other ARM chip vendors.
Microsoft previously said that it planned to open up Windows Phone design to various different component vendors. Bozotti said that Nokia will produce 12 devices with its chips, though all of them will appear in 2012. With 12 devices carrying ST-Ericsson chips, the question arises, how many devices will the second chip vendor feature in? Bozotti did not say.
Bozotti's comments will likely serve to generate interest, at least among chip vendors if not customers. After all ST-Ericsson might be a player in the system-on-chip market but consumers are more likely to make a purchasing decision based on factors such as the handset design, operating system, features and pricing.
Judging by the latest set of figures from Gartner, WP7 devices are not selling all that well, meaning that Nokia will have to play a blinder on handset design and pricing in order to attract many consumers to buy its devices. µ
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There is almost zero developer interest (except paid ones) for Windows Phone. Zero community, zero media support. As these chips are nothing exclusive, they won't have 'wow' factor too.
Symbian high end owners already hate Nokia and natural selection for them is Android for its relative freedom and desktop like features.
I am trying to say, just wait for first Nokia windows phone. It may really force a SJobs or IBM like shake-up in MS paradigm.
The U8500 is an impressive platform first seen with Meego on them & has good graphics capabilities. I thought the next Meego phone will be based on U8500 but that's so 2010.
If I am not wrong the U8500 is a dual-processor architecture (symmetric multi-processing) & not dual core (two cores one chip). This is different than the current offerings on the market.