Gizmodo: Freescale

Intel To Use Atom For Embeddable Systems, Moving Beyond PCs

John Mahoney — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:43:44 EDT

Intel has found another use for its tiny, low-power Atom chips—today they've announced intention to move into the system-on-a-chip industry, where they'll compete with ARM, MIPS, Freescale, and IBM among others to provide embeddable systems for things that aren't PCs. Namely cable boxes, manufacturing robots, security hardware, and anything else that needs an all-in-one brain. Initially they'll be using the Pentium M, but the transition to Atom should happen next year. Maybe this is what the "most of us wouldn't use Atom" talk was all about.[WSJ]

Tiny, Ultra-Cheap Desktop Will Only Pull Two Watts, Live in the Clouds

John Herrman — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:20:00 EDT

CherryPal has released some tantalizing details of its forthcoming desktop box, which they claim will draw only two watts and be "the greenest and most affordable on the market." The otherwise modestly spec'd box has a few secret weapons: cloud computing and a tri-core Freescale processor with hardware video rendering capabilities.

The teensy device is pretty well stripped down, with a 400MHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 4GB of flash memory. Aside from a few standard ports and integrated Wi-Fi, that's about all you get. CherryPal claims that the heavily optimized Debian Linux distro and multi-core capabilities will not only keep that PC from dragging too much ass, but will let it handle moderate multimedia work as well. CherryPal hasn't presented much in the way of supporting evidence for its claims, or mentioned whose "cloud" the box will connect to but with a release date set at August 4th, we'll probably be finding out more info pretty soon. Full specs are below, but no price yet. [CherryPal via The Register]

CherryPal Spec Sheet:

— Freescale's MPC5121e mobileGT processor, 800 MIPS (400 MHz) of
processing
— 256MB of DDR2 DRAM
— 4GB NAND Flash-based solid state drive
— Wi-Fi 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
— Two USB 2.0 ports
— One 10/100 Ethernet with RJ-45 jack
— One VGA DB-15 display out jack
— Headphone level stereo audio out 3.5mm jack
— 9vDC 2.5mm 10 watt AC-DC adapter power supply
— 10.5 ounces
— 1.3" high, 5.8" x 4.2" wide

Digital Power Station: DSP Turns Crappy Speakers Into Honkin' Muthas

Charlie White — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:36:42 EST

Jon Bon Jovi's cousin, audio engineer Tony Bongiovi has figured out a novel way to make cheap-ass speakers sound a whole lot better. His device, an unusually sophisticated equalizer he calls the Digital Power Station, originally filled a refrigerator-sized unit with its analog components.

Now he's shrunk all that down to a single digital signal processor (DSP) and stuffed it into a JVC KD-S100 car stereo, where the technology makes its debut today.

How can this possibly work?

The chip can be specifically tuned with more than 120 points of adjustment for the car in which it resides, teasing studio-quality sound out of small, cheap speakers in a noisy environment. Said Bongiovi, "It's so precise that the hatchback Ford Focus has a different tuning from the regular one."

The chip's algorithms can also be run in software, and the technique works on inexpensive home theater speakers, too. But he said there are no plans to develop the technology beyond the car stereo market. Yet. – Charlie White

New chip provides high-end sound even for low-end speakers [Gulf in the Media]

Belkin CableFree USB Hub Delayed Until July

Charlie White — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 12:33:04 EST

A standout at CES was Belkin s CableFree USB Hub, which the company said would be available in April, but now says that release has been pushed back to early July. Belkin attributes the late release to general manufacturing delays. Enabled by Freescale s ultra wideband (UWB) technology, it was to be the first shipping product using that fast wireless protocol. We're still looking forward to roaming free with USB, and are thinking maybe it's better to have a working product in July than a dud in April.

Belkin CableFree USB Hub Delayed [TechNudge Live]

Symbian and Freescale Offer 3G Phone Template

tgrumet — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 10:45:55 EST

While we wait patiently for 3G phones to come to the US (and work here as well), software company Symbian has joined up with chipmaker Freescale to deliver a blueprint for a smartphone using the 3G networks, and most importantly, will halve its license fees for these phones to give smaller cellphone companies a chance to get into the 3G game.

"We provide the core of the handset so that they can concentrate on design, features and the user interface. We anticipate a more level playing field," Symbian Chief Executive Nigel Clifford said.

Of course, that means the guts of phones that take advantage of this new platform will be nearly identical. If it were anyone other than Symbian, whose software platform powers many phones from heavy-hitters like Nokia and Sony, we'd be worried. But we like Symbian as a phone interface (and slightly less so as a PDA-like smartphone OS), so it sounds good to us.

Symbian designs 3G phone with Freescale, cuts prices [Reuters]

Cut the Cord: USB Runs Free with Freescale

Charlie White — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:29:47 EST

Belkin is jumping on the wireless USB bandwagon with this four-port hub. That's right, it's packing wireless USB, letting you roam free with any USB device. Using Motorola spinoff Freescale s Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, this hot connection gives you data rates that are a hundred times faster than Bluetooth. So imagine, you walk into a room with your notebook, plug in the wireless USB dongle and you're instantly connected to that USB hard drive you have stashed under the desk. No wires, no muss, no fuss. We saw this device in a demo at CES (it's similar to the one from Ripcord that I told you about earlier), and besides that, it actually works and has an attractively-designed form factor, too. You'll have to wait until early spring of this year to give it a try, and when it ships Belkin says it will cost $129.99.

Press release [Belkin]

Cellphone Operated Remote Control Car

tgrumet — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 12:54:26 EST

Here's one of the most useless products I've seen at CES so far, but hey, it does catch the eye. The Wireless Wheels remote control toy car is controlled by select Motorola iDEN handsets. I love that it's only select handsets. So now, when you buy that car, you also better have the exact phone that will control it—which is SO much better than a normal remote. It's actually a collaboration between Motorola, Nikko and Freescale and is based on the Freescale Semiconductor wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) technology, which uses the IEEE(R) 802.15.4 standard. The phone does simulate the car's movement, however, and vibrates when you start it up and turn the wheel. And the Push-To-Talk (PTT) button serves as a "turbo boost" for a sudden burst of speed. Wheeeeeeeeeee! The car is compatible with the Motorola iDen i265, i275, i560, i730, i760, i830, i850, i860, and i870 phones and runs on 4 AA batteries.

Apple to Intel: "If you really love me, you can wait"

Travis Hudson — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:21:22 EDT

Time for another daily update on what the hell is going on with Apple and Intel. Apple has made an agreement with Freescale Semiconductor. The agreement states that Freescale will supply the Power PC microprocessors used in Apple computers until the end of 2007. This could mean a lot of different things regarding the Apple/Intel plans. Let's just hope Apple is playing the tedious and painful waiting game with Intel.

Apple to Intel Switch, Switched Again [MobileMag]