ARM delves further into computing

That’s essentially what Canonical has agreed to do: optimize the Ubuntu Desktop OS for the ARMv7 processor architecture. While Ubuntu may not seem like a significant win compared to, say, Windows or Mac, it is ideal for the hybrid computing space ARM is targeting. While Ubuntu leads the market for desktop Linux platforms, very few PCs are actually running native Linux operating systems. Linux, however, may become a key component in the netbook and ultra-mobile PC space. While many of those devices may be miniaturized laptops, the goal of many PC manufacturers is to create a cheap highly portable PC alternative—little more than a Web browser supporting Web 2.0 applications and multimedia player. That simply purpose-built configuration could easily be supported on a Linux OS and doesn’t need the processing power of a traditional PC chip. By replacing a costly OS license with a free one and scaling back on silicon, manufacturers can greatly reduce the cost of a device.

ARM’s attempts to stake a claim in this new hybrid computing market will meet heavy resistance from Intel, which doesn’t plan on ceding any aspect of the computing market to the mobile industry. Intel has developed its Atom processor line geared at the same devices, and while it can’t yet claim the power efficiencies of ARM, it is rapidly slicing off milliwatts in each new Atom generation released. Intel extending its PC dominance into the mobile PC space is by no means assured, though. Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and other wireless chipset makers have been pushing hard into the embedded hybrid device space—primarily using ARM processers--and claim to have many more design wins than Intel. Qualcomm earlier this week announced a new scaled-down computing platform called Kayak, which essentially uses a smartphone chip to power a desktop device that delivers a full PC browsing experience.

Qualcomm on Thursday announced the latest version of mobile computing platform Snapdragon, a dual-processor chip that doubles the computing power of its previous generation of devices. Qualcomm, however, appears to moving forward in its silicon strategy without ARM. While most of its smartphone platforms have used ARM architectures, including the first generation of Snapdragon, the latest version is based entirely on Qualcomm’s own designs.