To: lkj who wrote (7702 ) 4/30/2000 12:26:00 PM From: Allen Benn Respond to of 10309
If WRS can sign a VAR deal on Qualcomm's ASICs or Intel's ASICs, we might have something to play with. But can our OS take on Palm and EPOC in the long term? I think the there is a surprising answer to this question. To start, we have to look at the design Irwin Jacobs has in mind, as the cell phone takes on more functionality. As I recall from a detailed presentation he made at a seminar a few months ago, it looks like this: 1. Phone functionality always comes first, with high availability. General purpose computing functionality must not interfere with making calls. 2. At home, the cell phone rests in a cradle for recharging and providing connectivity to a keyboard and monitor, and possibly other capabilities such as a hard disk, etc. 3. Internet and phone connectivity always is wireless, whether the phone is in the cradle or mobile. 4. Mobile use probably sacrifices general purpose functionality available while in the cradle, but would continue to enable basic functions like scheduling, address books, voice recognition, etc. 5. For most consumers, such a general-purpose cell phone meets their entire personal voice, Internet and computational needs. Whereever you go, you can plug your phone into any cradle and instantly experience your your personalized desktop. 6. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS DESIGN, IRWIN ENVISIONS A DUAL SET OF MICROPROCESSORS, DSP'S, ETC. IN EACH PHONE. The reason is make sure that the first objective above is not sacrificed. In Irwin's mind, the second set could run a general-purpose OS, like CE or Palm, that benefits from available applications. A better design is the following: 1. Have a single microprocessor and chipset with a robust, protected, high-available OS for performing both voice phone functions and thin-client connectivity to an Application Service Provider (ASP). 2. All applications like scheduling, word processing, spreadsheets, etc. are performed on the network server, and display on the phone and/or connected monitor. 3. No need for local storage. 4. Personal desktop, with unlimited applications and storage, always accessible, with no consumer maintenance required. Whereas WIND may not be considered ideal for the Irwin's design (because of the requirement for general purpose applications and API), WIND has the only OS capable of the replacement, preferred design. That is, the only one when considering the usual general-purpose suspects: CE, Symbian or PalmOS. Irwin will capitulate to the replacement design when he realizes that his original design is too expensive and power-hungry to be practical any time soon, and when he realizes that a protected, high-available OS will not degrade phone availability. I see all this happening at least by the time when Intel gets all its wireless capability organized around a StrongARM core with DSP support. Allen