Inevitable smartphones
Moving on from Intel, we asked where else Imagination IP can be found. One of the very popular deployments for us has been in the Texas Instruments OMAP series of processors for mobile phones," said King-Smith.
"Our Power VR MBX was in the OMAP2, which is deployed in many phones including the Nokia N95 - probably one of the iconic and definitive smartphones. OMAP3 is, of course, much more powerful and we're seeing it go into many products like the Nokia N900 or the Samsung Omnia HD i8910, which is what I'm currently using."
It's clear that Imagination agrees with pretty much the rest of the technology industry that the big growth opportunity over the next few years is in smartphones. Just like ARM, Imagination feels it has an advantage over newer entrants to this market and makes a point of showing off its heritage in the demonstration suite.
"People are now expecting to be able to do a lot more with their phones, which is why the app stores are so important, because people are now expecting to get their phones and be able to do something else with them - get apps to load on them," said King-Smith.
"That paradigm shift means that a feature phone that doesn't do that is increasingly something people don't want. Either you just want to phone, or you want to do the Full Monty, and we believe the space in the middle is disappearing."
