Upwardly mobile
All the signs are that 2010 is set to be the year of the mobile Internet. Chip-makers from Intel to Qualcomm will be giving us more processing power and greater battery life, embedded 3G connectivity will become the norm and the software and app store ecosystem in going exponential.
At the centre of all this is UK processor designer ARM, whose architecture and chip designs lie at the heart of all mobile phones and will increasingly crop up in PCs too. So, with CES and Mobile World Congress coming up in early 2010, we spoke to Ian Drew, EVP of marketing at ARM, to find out what we can expect.
ARM can be a tricky company to interview; its business model depends on the health and growth of a vast ecosystem of technology companies as it gets a small royalty any time a mobile internet device, or indeed any other containing one of its chip designs, is sold. This means ARM is often inclined to sit on the fence when questioned about one of its partners.
Undaunted, we ask Drew about Google and the significance of its Chrome OS, and question if Google's getting a bit too big for comfort. We also attempt to find out when Microsoft might offer a version of the full Windows OS that runs on the ARM instruction set and conclude by asking Drew how he views Intel as a competitor. He worked for them for 14 years...
