“The deal deepens an existing 13-year relationship between the two companies, giving Microsoft access to Arm’s core architecture, rather than licensing one product at a time as it has done previously,” Palmer reports.
“Analysts said the deal could also mean that Microsoft will develop its own applications processing chip for mobile devices and games consoles, much as Apple has done with the A4 chip – also based on Arm architecture – that runs its iPad tablet and iPhone 4 smart phone,” Palmer reports. “Such a chip could be used in the next generation of the XBox games console, or even a Microsoft tablet.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It would’ve been a lot cheaper to acquire Arm a couple of months ago, if one were interested in acquiring Arm, of course.
@MDN:
So true. MS should have done that if it wanted to compete with Apple. But, like you said in most of your posts: Long live Ballmer as CEO of MS.
Fortunately, the spec is printed in Braille.
not only do they copy apple, they wait to see if it works then leave it in development for three years. are they short selling their own stock, seriously is balmer investing in apple.
Write the damn check already, Apple!
Be careful, ARM. When Apple gave Microsoft the keys to the lockbox, MS stole the box.
A new kin success in progress? Or maybe a new zune?
And microsoft is going to came out with a M4 ship? for they mPhone?
Microsoft should change their name to “METOO Soft”
Just watch as Microsoft eats all at ARM’s technology table, brings nothing to the party, then leaves as soon as they have got what they need. There’ll only be one side getting fat from this arrangment and it won’t be ARM.
Well said, cjwills.
ARM will find itself as another *happy* under-partner of MSFT in history.
Wonder if Apple will let on what PA Semi and Mr. Papermaster will be contributing.
msft trying to copy apple again. I guess they forgot that they don’t make chips just software. How stupid is this company.
Who cares if someone like MSFT wants to buy ARM, which is not likely to happen. There’s always TEGRA and Qualcomm’s chip, not to mention whatever Intel has cooking.
Look, I think bashers have a horrible attitude and I expect not to become one. I don’t think for Apple to create a great product MS or others needs to fail. Both companies and more are needed by all of us, so our criticism should be for better products. This being said I don’t understand how shallow MS’s new products (not W7 and even XBOX) can be and it says something about who is promoting the products inside. MS self steam may be hurt. However I expect they will start studying their products deeply and how they may improve people’s life. The thing I don’t want to deal with is just one option.
Doesn’t Apple own a portion of ARM?
@spa,
Ummm….this allows them to more tightly integrate whatever OS they put on a given device with the chip.
It is very unlikely MS developing chips based on ARM arch.
If they get to create one, devices based on that chip will not work.
MS creates software not hardware.
“MS creates software not hardware.”
Umm, yeh… if that’s what you wanna call what they make, then fine, go ahead. *snicker*
ARM is not worth buying. They’ve licensed their technology to so many companies already that there is no competitive advantage to owning them.
Microsoft see, Microsoft do. And yet again, this new cloning of Apple will be a failure thanks to Microsoft’s inability to even imitate properly in these final days.
Kind of sad.
I may be mistaken, but I didn’t think Windows-Anything would run on ARM architecture. What would this be for?
This is for Windows Phone (mobile) and CE OSes. This will have nothing to do with traditional desktop Windows.
MS sees the mobile opportunity and wants some of that. But it ain’t gonna happen for them. More money down the drain.
yes I can just see an xbox running on an arm processor…. at about a fifth of the power of the present iteration
Using ARM chips in the Xbox??? What idiot noob wrote this article????
@silverhawk:
“Doesn’t Apple own a portion of ARM?”
They used to, but I believe they sold their shares after the Newton was axed.
Back in the late eighties, Acorn Computer, Apple Computer and VLSI Technology got together and built/designed the modern ARM (Advanced RISC Machine) chip, which Apple used in the Newton.