Mobility Digest » Drivers

You + Cellphone + Driving = Ticket

Aileen Gonzales — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:36:47 +0000

When it doubt, use LEGO’s as visual aids, because let’s face it.. Who doesn’t LOVE legos?

Tomorrow, October 26^th, Ontario will be joining Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland & Labrador in the ban against cellphone use while driving. According to the Toronto Star, drivers can be fined up to $500 for chatting, dialing, texting or e-mailing on hand-held devices.

A while ago, I saw this really graphic PSA (public service announcement) targeted at people who text while driving, but it sort of stems around the idea of using your phone in any matter while driving. I should warn you, this video is not for the faint at heart.. click here to watch it.

In the US, currently 6 states have handheld cell phone bans for all drivers, which include California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington. Other states have cellphone bans dependent on the type of driver (novice drivers and bus drivers), as well as laws regarding text messaging. Click here for a list of these laws per state.

We’re all adults, so I don’t need to tell you about the dangers of using your phone while driving BUT, insert shameless plug here, there are tons of alternative options as most cell phones now are equipped with Bluetooth technology and if for some reason you live like a cave man and you don’t have a Bluetooth enabled phone – kidding.. then you can always use a car mount. You can visit the Fuze Mobility Store and they have tons of goodies for you to choose from here.

The gist, be safe out there.. Because unlike LEGOS, we can’t be put back together so easily.

A Word on gfxBoost

David K — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:00:00 +0000

I’m sure all of our frequent readers saw Aaron’s posting the other day on Chainfire’s release of GfxBoost. I just want to take a second to explain what Chainfire is doing and why we all need to thank him.

First off, Chainfire is legendary for his work on the Kaiser/Tilt drivers so he has a long history of working on getting video drivers to work despite Qualcomm’s best efforts to ensure they are crippled. The goal of GfxBoost is to get the performance of proper video drivers, but of course, we’re lacking the drivers. To get around this he has been working to enhance the speed of memory transfer without impacting the CPU giving us the video performance we’ve been looking for. In his own words:

Of course my final goal is to get this fully operational all the time on all supported devices, and in GDI mode (‘typical’ Windows Mobile 2D applications) at that.

Right now what the program exploits is actually a very round-about way of ‘getting it done’, involving all kinds of drivers and WM core files that are strictly speaking not necessary to pull it off, as I have simply not figured out how to perform this trick on a lower level yet. I know the general direction, but its still under investigation.

Some devices/ROMs are seeing significant improvements in a lot of different areas of graphics performance while others are reporting nominal changes but the changes will be most significant in applications that are graphic-heavy. Internally, I can tell you that a lot of the guys that are right here working on MobilityDigest\FuzeMobility\TiltMobility have nothing but rave reviews and consider this a required app on any WM phone.

Currently the project is up to v1.1 which installs in the settings and can run silently in the background. It’s still a work in progress despite the fact that it’s shown a lot of improvements already but it’s time for everyone to take their hats off and thank Chainfire for what he’s done so far and to promote his continued efforts…and while your hat is off you may want to also reach into your pocket and buy him a few beers to keep him focused:) The official XDA post is here as well as his donation link. Thanks again to Chainfire for his efforts and assistance.

Accelerate your Kaiser (Tilt)/Touch Pro (Fuze)

Mobility Digest — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:28:09 +0000

One of the legends of the ppc development game, Chainfire, has released GfxBoost v0.5, this app activates QTV mode which improves speed/smoothness of certain apps, including Direct3D. The app actually slows down FPS but the manner in which it does it makes the screen seem more responsive. Its a bit complicated but it you want to try to boost the responsiveness of your PPC then give it a go. We’ve been playing around with it most of the day and it seems to have few if any bad effects, installation is a breeze and it can be uninstalled.

(per Chainfire and our own experience)

Some effects

Manila2D is faster/smoother (really the best show-off I’ve seen so far)

PointUI is smoother

CorePlayer playback in DirectDraw mode is smoother

OpenGL is smoother in some instances (Triangle app from HTC-CA, for example)

Download link is here (corrected)

UPDATE: Version .6 released April 28 to add app to programs list and sign the app. Also, positive effects have been noted in more applications

Qualcomm Acquires AMD’s Handheld Technology Assets

Doug Smith — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:31:51 +0000

To say I have not been active in writing about the Qualcomm Driver debacle is quite the understatement. (don’t believe me? CLICK HERE) After the Kaiser Driver issue that was beautifully illuminated by the efforts of HTCClassAction.org, there was a distaste by many of the hard core WinMo users that I don’t think ever truly went away. With the release of the Diamond, Touch Pro (Fuze), and most notably the HTC Touch HD (drool), a lot of criticism has seemed to ease with Qualcomm and HTC. Yesterday however, we learned that Qualcomm has acquired “certain” AMD Graphics and Multimedia Handheld Technology Assets.

I think this is a very smart move by Qualcomm as QVGA seems to be a thing of the past in favor of larger, VGA and WVGA screens that are geared more towards the growing interest in the online multimedia experience. From Qualcomm’s press release:

Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has extended offers of employment to various design and development teams from AMD’s handheld business. The teams are developing technologies to enhance mobile devices in areas including 2D and 3D graphics, audio/video, display, and architecture.

This is definitely great news for Mobility as not only will we likely see better video quality, but also the speed and performance that were missing from the Kaiser with the 2D Drivers. With other company’s like Nvidia that are attempting to gain market share in the Handheld Mobility Market, this may be exactly what Qualcomm needs to gain favor with the hard core multimedia consumers. Read the entire Qualcomm press release after the break.

Source: wmpoweruser.com

Photo Source: HTCClassAction.org

Technology and Resource Assets to Strengthen Qualcomm’s Leadership Position in Mobile Multimedia

SAN DIEGO AND SUNNYVALE, Calif – January 20, 2009 – Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that Qualcomm has acquired certain graphics and multimedia technology assets, intellectual property and resources that were formerly the basis of AMD’s handheld business. The acquisition enhances Qualcomm’s multimedia capabilities, allowing Qualcomm to strengthen its leadership position in delivering more advanced products that redefine next-generation mobile user experiences.

“This acquisition of assets from AMD’s handheld business brings us strong multimedia technologies, including graphics cores that we have been licensing for several years,” said Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “Bringing this technology in-house creates even greater synergy as we seamlessly integrate the best-in-class multimedia performance AMD offers into our system-on-chip (SoC) products.”

“With the sale of these handheld technology assets and resources to Qualcomm, we are better able to focus on our core business and leverage our unique position as a leader in both x86 computing and high-end graphics,” said Robert J. Rivet, chief operations and administrative officer, chief financial officer of AMD. “We believe the talented AMD Handheld employees will be a great asset to Qualcomm.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has extended offers of employment to various design and development teams from AMD’s handheld business. The teams are developing technologies to enhance mobile devices in areas including 2D and 3D graphics, audio/video, display, and architecture.

The two companies signed and closed a binding agreement on January 19, 2009, having already received required regulatory approvals. Cash consideration from Qualcomm to AMD, as part of the transaction, is $65 million, subject to adjustments for employee-related expenses and a holdback for certain customary indemnification obligations. Both AMD and Qualcomm are committed to a seamless transfer of business assets, as well as a smooth transition for employees.

Qualcomm expects the acquisition to be approximately $0.02 dilutive to pro forma earnings per share in fiscal 2009 and accretive to earnings by the second half of calendar year 2010.

About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit www.amd.com

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2008 FORTUNE 500 company. For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com

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