15
Oct
2012-10-15_14h10_02

[Rumor] Amazon Is In Talks To Acquire TI's Mobile Processor Business, Puts On Its Big Boy Business Suit

Posted by in Amazon, News

Before we get too far into this, let's point out that this rumor is coming from an Israeli newspaper, so it is easy enough for a company to disavow stories like these. With that disclaimer out of the way: Amazon may be looking into buying Texas Instrument's OMAP business. As we already know, TI has expressed interest in getting out of the mobile game. Not to say they'll stop making processors, but that the focus would be less on tablets and phones, and more on embedded SoCs for a variety of applications (such as automotive, vision, and robotics).

Of course, Amazon uses TI's mobile processors for its Kindle Fire line, which runs a very heavily modified version of Android.

26
Sep
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[Update: TI Responds] Texas Instruments Is Throwing In The Towel On Mobile Processors For Smartphones And Tablets

Posted by in News

Update: We inquired to TI about this news, and here's what a spokesperson had to say:

As communicated in this week’s investor event (webcast is available at http://investor.ti.com), the smartphone market has become a less attractive long-term opportunity for TI’s OMAP products, primarily due to vertical integration and market consolidation.  We are reprofiling our investment accordingly, but have no additional details to share at this time.

Overall, TI remains committed to the OMAP platform and our customers. We are accelerating the expansion of OMAP processors into a broader set of embedded applications such as automotive, industrial, enterprise communication, vision and robotics, to grow the OMAP footprint beyond mobile.

30
Jun
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The Nexus Q: Massive Misstep Or Misunderstood Science Experiment?

Posted by in Editorials, Nexus Q (Steelhead)

When Google unveiled the Nexus Q at I/O on Wednesday, there were cheers. But not until the designers and creators of the hardware came on stage to explain what it was for a good 5 minutes. Hell, they even put together a fantastic video showing the process of manufacturing the Q (in the good 'ol US of A!). Seriously, if you haven't watched it - watch it. The production values are outstanding.

And Google topped it all off by giving everybody at I/O a Q to... do stuff with. But what?

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The Q is fairly limited in its capabilities at the moment.

15
Feb
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Nostalgia++: TI-89 Calculator Emulator Finally Comes To Android, Download It While You Still Can

Posted by in Applications, News

A little over a year ago, developer Doug Melton delighted us with Android emulators for three popular TI calculators - TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86. Nostalgic and surprisingly useful, they resonated with many of you, but, unfortunately, TI forced Doug to take them all down a short while after.

You see, Doug actually shipped them with the original ROMs included, which was great for one-click installations, but apparently not so great for intellectual property. Oh, and he did name them TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86 originally, giving Texas Instruments an even simpler reason to have the apps removed.

In addition to all of the above, TI-89, the king among TI calculators and one of my personal favorites, has never (to my knowledge) existed on Android.

20
Jan
notion_ink_adam

Notion Ink Teams Up With Texas Instruments - Adam II To Pack OMAP4, Other TI Components

Posted by in Adam, Android OS, News, Notion Ink

In a post to Notion Ink's official blog today, the Indian manufacturer announced a new partnership with Texas Instruments. The company indicated that the Adam II (a follow up on Notion's first Android tablet) will feature TI's OMAP44xx processor, as well as a few other TI components:

Adam II will be using OMAP44xx processor along with other TI components like Wi-Link 7.0 and Phoenix Audio Power Amplifiers. Adam II will also leverage the power optimizations achieved using mature combination of TI’s integrated power-management IC.

Additionally, Notion Ink revealed that the Adam II will be running Ice Cream Sandwich, and feature "the world's first Modular Based Software Architecture," promising drag-and-drop functionality for creating customized applications.

21
Dec
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[Updated: And The Winner Is...] Mega-Holiday Giveaway #6: Win A Verizon Galaxy Nexus And A Pair Of Klipsch S4A Headphones

Posted by in Contests / Giveaways, Galaxy Nexus, Samsung, Verizon Wireless
Last Updated: January 13th, 2012

You probably guessed this was coming - our Mega-Holiday Giveaway series just wouldn't be complete without a Galaxy Nexus (check out our just-published review). Today, we're giving away one Verizon Galaxy Nexus, courtesy of our friends at Texas Instruments, along with a pair of Klipsch S4A headphones (read our review here). (For our international readers: this particular contest is open to the US only (it's a US-only phone), but you may want to check back tomorrow.)

We've selected randomly from all the entries, and our winner is...

Congratulations, Kyle - We'll contact you for your information in the near future!

17
Aug
motoroladroidbionicdroidhdleak01

DROID HD Makes First Appearance, Leaves Us Saying "BIONIC Who?"

Posted by in Motorola, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX
Last Updated: October 18th, 2011

Motorola is apparently hard at work on another high-end handset known as the DROID HD - and boy, is it a good-looking piece of kit. Just take a look:

motoroladroidbionicdroidhdleak01 motoroladroidbionicdroidhdleak11

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Left to right: DROID BIONIC, DROID HD

The DROID HD appears to be what the DROID X2 should have been - namely, much better in every respect. While it may have a qHD display (not confirmed - just presumed), in almost every other conceivable way, the HD looks like the Moto handset to have. The elephant in the room of course is the BIONIC, Motorola's upcoming dual-core monster 4G LTE device, which will likely sit at a significantly higher price tier than the HD.

17
Jan
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Nostalgic And Awesome: Fully Working TI-83, TI-85, And TI-86 Android Emulators Hit The Market

Posted by in Applications, News

Sure, there are some excellent calculators in the Android Market, but do any of them make you hesitate for a minute when looking at them to figure out whether you are staring at a phone or a smaller version of your favorite Texas Instruments machine? Doug Melton's ports of the popular AlmostReal TI-83, TI-85, and TI-86 emulators to Android are so successful, most of your professors wouldn't even know the difference if they saw one of these on your desk. The buttons, the layout, the graphics, TI-BASIC program support - it's all there. Awesome.

I'm not sure whether Texas Instruments goes after emulators of its calculators, but I would download these ASAP if I were you.