“A British team of chip designers has won one of the most coveted of customers in the chip industry–Apple Computer. SiliconValleyWatcher has learned that Apple has contracted to use the powerful video, image, and music chips designed by Alphamosaic, in Cambridge, UK, in a future multimedia mobile device,” Tom Foremski reports for SiliconValleyWatcher.
“The branding for the Apple multimedia product is not yet known. Looking at the public specifications describing the Alphamosaic chips, it is clear that Apple could use it to build a family of mobile hand-held digital devices equipped with wireless communications that would be far more advanced than its current iPod family,” Foremski reports. “The Apple device could be ready in volume quantities by the end of 2005 or early January 2006 if Apple gets the ball rolling now. CEO Steve Jobs often debuts important new products at the MacWorld show in San Francisco in early January.”
“Apple could use the chips to produce a multimedia iPod that is also a gaming platform, 8 megapixel digital camera, digital video recorder, and cell phone (with Bluetooth and wireless Ethernet) [or] “as the common core of a family of iPod devices that could include camera, gaming and wireless connectivity products/features,” Foremski reports.
Full article with details here.
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Can Apple do for movies and video what they did for online digital music? – April 06, 2005
iPod + iSight….
It’s time for the next generation Newton. Low priced and powerful (The next generation cube is a hit.)
awesome
I’m still waiting for the “global” from the “Earth, Final Conflict” Sci Fi series. I suspect we’ll see something like it within 10 years — maybe even 5 years.
I need functionality, not mulitmedia. Sure, music and video is nice, but how about portable ical, mail, safari, stickies, quicken? Palm just doesn’t cut it.
Interesting, maybe those unsubstantiated claims by someone or other to have seen a quicktime based pda in the labs last year (that keep coming back) may have been something less pda and more media device with pda functionality. Makes the emphasis on Quicktime rather more understandable.
If this is true, someone at Alphamosaic will incur the wrath of Jobs for leaking this. One would assume that any contracts for development products with Appple includes a secrecy clause.
And all I want is a dual/quad 3+ GHz PowerMac…
sigh.
it would make sense to have a palm sized Apple device using writing recognition, sort of scaled down OSX that can sync with ones main computer. The HD for these things could be massive as Hitachi has unveiled their giant leap in 3D storage.
If this is true, someone at Alphamosaic will incur the wrath of Jobs for leaking this. One would assume that any contracts for development products with Appple includes a secrecy clause.
Unless, of course, they are required to disclose who they do business with, even if they don’t have to provide specific details regarding what type of business they are conducting.
Vpod = video ipod folks!
IT IS GONNA HAPPEN!
mmm… 80gig vidPod