New-Tech Europe Magazine | July 2016 | Digital edition

Chromebook: The vanguard of the new mobile revolution

Arm

ARM-Android ecosystem transforming large-screen compute in ways that echo smartphone experience Think back to 2009, as the Android smart phone era dawned and the mobile computing world was changed forever. Up to that point, the utility of a mobile phone was still voice communications. Data, location and apps-store services were rudimentary, if available at all. But the introduction of the Android operating system, coupled with the low power-consumption, size and cost benefits of the ARM architecture, began to transform the very definition of mobile phone design and user experience. This transformation was highlighted by: • Longevity: Advances in low-power design and battery life put a day’s worth of always-on computing in consumers’ hands. • Enhanced utility: The availability of

rich graphics and media content on portable devices helped make feature phones an integral tool in consumers’ daily lives. • Services: The ease of apps development and the introduction of app stores, such as Google Play, brought about a significant increase in number of apps and apps developers. It simplified the consumer experience in many ways, including eliminating the need to install CDs. In the process, such services revolutionized the broader software world. • Form factor: Thin, light and quiet form factors coupled with good performance, device/data security and highly responsive devices continue to influence systems design. • Connectivity: Wireless connections (cellular, Bluetooth and WiFi) were integral to the utility of smart phones, connecting users to a vast world of apps and services.

Since 2009, each smart phone generation has delivered improved performance at the same or lower power consumption, more robust user experiences and richer apps. Thanks to relentless ARM ecosystem innovation, each new generation’s premium phone migrated over time to different price points, opening new computing experiences to more (and sometimes previously smart phone- less) consumers. The Android-ARM ecosystem has helped proliferate computing throughout the world. In concert with this hardware revolution, a software ecosystem has created indispensible apps and enabled software developers to reach new levels of creativity. The smart phone has become, for billions of people, an indispensible device in daily life, helping users connect and communicate, learn and share and become more productive and efficient at work and at home.

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