Microsoft builds silicon foundation for Windows CE
Published: 18 Sep 2002 13:42 BST
Microsoft is working with chip designer ARM to increase the number of chip manufacturers tuning their products for Windows CE .Net as the software giant tries to move deeper into handhelds and cellphones.
Motorola, one of the world's largest manufacturers of mobile phone chips, along with STMicroelectronics and NeoMagic, for instance, have pledged to develop processors tuned for Windows CE as a result of the cooperation between Microsoft and ARM. Texas Instruments, Intel, Samsung and Hynix already produce processors for Windows CE.
The strategy is intended to make it easier for consumer electronics manufacturers to use some version of Microsoft's embedded operating system, said Scott Horn, director of marketing in the embedded platforms group at Microsoft.
Currently, semiconductor makers have to spend considerable time and effort on tuning their products for Windows CE. In fact, these companies pay fees to Microsoft, Horn said.
Ultimately, this adds to the overall manufacturing cost. Under the new program, the fees will be eliminated and, ideally, lead to lower manufacturing costs for Windows CE-based devices.
"It is a resource intensive relationship from the silicon partner perspective," Horn said. "We're trying to open the gates and (get) more individual participation."
One group of manufacturers that Microsoft will increasingly court will be the Asian contract manufacturers. In the past, mobile phone companies designed and built their own phones. Now, they are increasingly outsourcing these functions to Taiwan and China, making manufacturers in these countries crucial for gaining market share.
"We've invested a lot in the Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) community," Horn said.
ARM's participation is necessary because the company designed the microprocessor core used in the cellphone chips made by Texas Instruments, Intel and the other companies. Motorola makes cellphone chips based around its own designs and ARM designs. The company's Dragonball chip being tuned for Windows CE is based on an ARM design.
ARM-based chips are found in about 70 percent of the world's cellphones. All Pocket PCs use an ARM chip while Palm devices containing an ARM chip will start to emerge when the Palm OS 5.0 comes out later this year.
The company will largely consult and advise Microsoft, the chip companies, and device manufacturers on battery optimisation, incorporating wireless and other engineering issues.
"It is not just working on the hardware or the software, it is working on the hardware and software together," said Eric Carpenter, director of strategic platforms for ARM.
Optimisation at times has been lacking. Earlier this year, for instance, a slew of manufacturers released new Pocket PCs with a new Intel Xscale chip that ran at much faster speeds than earlier editions. However, because Microsoft didn't optimise its OS, most of these benefits of the new chips have not materialised.
Windows CE is the blanket name for Microsoft's OS for consumer electronic devices.
To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section.
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