Games
Kids absolutely love handheld game systems like Ninetndo's Game Boy. Their titles are structured for the small screen, and improved resolution and more complicated games keep this mobile media segment booming. Now, the goal is to put more of these games into cell phones. In fact, Motorola recently sponsored a contest to develop some exciting new handset games.
Some Java-based games are already available on cell phones, but they're pretty simple and not that compelling. More and better games are available in Asia, where their acceptance is far more widespread than it is in the U.S. But as the screen size and resolution in cell phones improve, more sophisticated games are expected.
One major problem is the user interface. PC-based games use sophisticated controllers with joysticks, wheels, and multiple buttons. But only a button or two may be available on a cell phone. Games have to be developed to accommodate limited controls, as well as small screen sizes. But the games are coming, including online interactive games that have become the rage on the PC.
Mobile Media Challenges
The only thing that will make mobile media successful is the content. Music is a no-brainer, as there is something for everyone and the music industry has finally made it possible to buy music online. But it's a different story for video. Movies don't translate well to the small screen, and their length is sure to kill your battery anyway.
As a result, most mobile media video will be newly created short (15 to 20 minutes) segments designed to be viewed on a 2- or 3-in. LCD screen. This material will be supplied through cell-phone carriers as well as via independent services. Content is limited right now, but look for a flood in the near future. Games will follow a similar path. A few are available now, but better games will follow.
For a while, conventional wisdom said that entertainment would converge on the PC. There has been some convergence, but it hasn't been as successful as the pundits expected. Instead, entertainment is converging in the cell phone. Users currently enjoy taking photos, sending and receiving email, and even browsing the Internet. Adding audio and video will only add to its dominance.
But how much can we stuff in a cell phone? Physical limits are one challenge. Users expect smaller, lighter, and more contemporary designs. But smaller chips can only do so much. Battery life is another problem. Lithium-battery capacity diminishes with size. More multimedia features make balancing standby time and recharge frequency with operating time difficult. Users may need to accept larger handsets with more frequent recharges.
Improved power management will be key. Right now, it's impractical to put everything into a single cell phone. Some companies will try it, but most consumers will pick cell phones that only have the specific features they want, like the BlackBerry for e-mail or the ROKR for music. There will be phone combinations for everyone.
Enabling Technologies
Major semiconductor companies like Analog Devices, Freescale, and Texas Instruments all offer chip sets that make the inclusion of multimedia features relatively simple. Doug Grant of Analog Devices indicates that two basic architectures have emerged. One approach uses two separate processors— one for regular phone functions and the other for multimedia applications. In newer designs, a single chip combines all processors into one.
The Analog Devices AD6900 LeMans baseband processor is an example of the latter, combining ADI's Blackfin DSP and an ARM9 processor. Grant also says that Analog Devices' new motion sensors are ideal for implementing new user interfaces for mobile games.
Berardino Baratta, general manager of the Multimedia Applications Division at Freescale, points out that his company's MXC300-30 platform also uses a single-chip baseband containing Freescale's StarCore DSP combined with an ARM11 processor (Fig. 2). Both of these devices make multimedia implementation faster and easier.
Audio and video downloads require more memory than ever, despite compression. Flash and hard drives both are being used. But flash continues to get bigger, and it comes attractively packaged for plugging into cell phones or other devices. Samsung's MultiMediaCard (MMCmicro) combines four of the company's 4-Gbit NAND flash devices to create a 2-Gbyte module (Fig. 3). The card can store 12 hours of mobile video and is fast enough to download three hours of video in less than two minutes.
"Toshiba's NAND Flash is finding its way into a wide variety of mobile consumer electronics devices that use this high-density storage medium for music or video in portable media players, photos and video in digital still cameras and camcorders, and increasingly sophisticated cell phones," said Scott Nelson, director, memory marketing, for Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc.
Consumer demand continues to be nearly insatiable as densities have grown to a gigabyte or more in a single component. Performance/value continues to improve by storing multiple bits per cell and using smaller process geometries. Market analyst firm Web-Feet Research expects this trend to continue as the forecast price per gigabyte declines from $32/Gbyte in 2005 to $6/Gbyte in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance aims to establish specifications for standard hardware and software interfaces for mobile application processors. Check out the group's progress at www.mipi.org.