Dual-Core LTE Windows Phones Are Coming

[aimran]

In a chat with AllThingsD, Andy Lees, head of the Windows Phone division said that Windows Phones with dual-core and LTE are coming. According to Andy Lees, the reason why there isn't any phone with LTE or dual-core is because of decreased battery performance when using dual-core or LTE, and Microsoft wants to wait until both are further optimized.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

If they had a better web browser I'd be happy as a pig in poop.

[medion]

It's funny that he says that, because today's dual-core phones use less battery than their chassis-1 spec, and about the same as their current chassis-2 spec. So the battery consumption of dual-core is straight BS.

However, I agree on LTE. Qualcomm's new chipsets (S4) will utilize a more battery efficient LTE radio, and it will take up significantly less space. I see Krait (S4) as being the first dual-core chip used in WP7. Krait is also offered in a quad-core configuration, so perhaps we'll finally see MS catch up a little.

[aimran]

True. Also, there isn't any carrier that offers anything close to the maximum throughput of LTE yet plus like you mention before some carriers don't have legitimate 4G like T-Mobile.

[Confispect]

Interesting.

[terminalx]

@medion - it's not bs for windows phone as dual core does not offer much more of a benefit for battery life as a single core does at this time. Plus the OS is smooth with what it's running now

[medion]

Originally Posted by terminalx

@medion - it's not bs for windows phone as dual core does not offer much more of a benefit for battery life as a single core does at this time. Plus the OS is smooth with what it's running now

This is incorrect. Dual-core does not have a huge drain over single-core, and in some cases draws less power than single-core. Saratoga posted a pretty good explanation of the how and why in a previous thread. To summarize, if a dual-core version of a single-core chip is made on the same process, then when maxed out, both chips will draw the same voltage, but the dual-core will draw a higher wattage, resulting in more power consumption. However, for relatively simple tasks, a single-core might max out, whereas a dual-core will overflow some tasks to the second core, keeping the clock speed down, which results in lower voltage draw, and thus, significantly less power consumption.

On average, does it work out in favor of single core, or dual core? Tough to say, but if we compare the rated standby times of the Droid 2 and the Droid 3, we can find a decent answer. The Droid 2 uses a single-core Cortex A8, while the Droid 3 uses a dual-core Cortex A9. A9 itself is a higher power-drawing CPU than A8, so already you'd think that would be in favor of the A8. Yet, both phones have the same rated standby and talk time. The Droid 3 does have a larger battery to make up foor the A9/A8 difference, but it's 140ma difference, not significant. So, overall, dual-core does NOT hurt battery life. MS is just behind on their processor certification, as they have been for awhile, and they need a convenient excuse. The Krait CPU they plan to use offers no power benefits in dual/quad-core configuration than any other CPU we've ever seen before. Even their hybrid SMP/aSMP mode has been seen before.

Also, while the interface is smoother, that's due to UI hardware acceleration, something the iPhone also uses, but Android does not use because of the fragmented hardware. The interface is essentially an "app" that makes use of the GPU like any other app, but doesn't have much overhead. Android phones can now download a similar UI, and it's just as smooth (Launcher 7 for you Android users who want to try it, it's free in the market).

Switch to a game, and your experience will be limited by your hardware. For example, games like Angry Birds will be just as smooth on a Nexus One as they are on any current Windows Phone simply because they use the same exact hardware. However, try a game like Dungeon Defenders (Unreal Engine), and the Nexus One will choke. It's not even recommended for that phone. How about the Windows Phone version? Not out yet, because Epic has gone on record as stating that they will only port Unreal Engine to hardware that can run it, and as of now, Windows Phone doesn't have the hardware to support it.

I've said this many times and I will say it again, do not assume that because the UI is smooth, everything else will be. Any simple UI with hardware acceleration will be smooth.