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back to article Apple signals its mobile-graphics future

Word surfaced today in a "Listing of shares" announcement by British SoC developer Imagination Technologies that "Apple Inc. is subscribing for 8,200,000 new shares of Imagination Technologies Group plc." Apple is shelling out around $4.8m for that 3.6 per cent stake in the graphics and video chip designer. In a week when the …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Ok, neat but ...

    what about relatively "dumb" devices such as GPS units. Handheld terrain based mapping as well as the better known streets and routes type stuff (not to mention boats, ships, aviation (where 3D effectiveness might be rather handy?))?

    Offspin: vector based maps (I mean the terrain besed stuff)?

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  2. Murray Pearson
    Boffin

    Nice!

    I, for one, welcome our new fruity overlords. Especially given the GPU of some sort in my Mac Mini.

    I may have to join the POV-Ray development team to get their code shoved in the right direction..... did someone say REAL-TIME RAYTRACING?!? *drool*

    And, just to cut off the Apple fanboi snipers, I don't think Apple is the second coming of the Boognish (note the boffin in place of Mr. Jobs). They just happen to make some really nice computers, and OSen to match.

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  3. Graham Lockley

    Interesting article but...

    ....still a few too many if/ands/buts for my tastes. Still, will be interesting to see how Apple draw some of the threads of their investments together. Unless of course the writer of the article has more imagination/foresight than Apples management :)

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  4. Phil Endecott

    Not open source, I think

    > The PowerVR MBX supports the open source OpenGL ES 1.1 API set

    I don't think that's entirely true. OpenGL is an open specification, i.e. anyone can write a program that uses it; however, the hardware-level programming information for how to map from OpenGL to the PowerVR chip's registers is secret. So, for example, you can write a program for the iPhone that uses it because Apple know the secrets, but if you have something that runs Linux like the Beagle Board or the Open Pandora you have to jump through hoops like this:

    http://groups.google.com/group/beagleboard/browse_thread/thread/52668f9257fafe63/925a37af5c7143a4?lnk=raot

    I doubt that Apple's investment is going to make this any better.

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  5. Ross Fleming
    Coat

    One question

    PowerVR is still going??

    Mine's the one with the 3DFX chipset in the pocket

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  6. E

    Questions

    1. How many FPS will it do running Crysis with full eye candy?

    2. How many TFLOPs running idealized linear algebra and what is the SDK called?

    3. What ratio of joules dissipated heat to FLOP? My GTX 260 lets me turn down the furnace and it is *cold* outside LOL!

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  7. E

    @Phil Endecott

    Not sure I understand you. I can write openGL code using NV or ATI hardware accel under Linux but what is inside the NV or ATI driver is secret. What am I not understanding?

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  8. icanonlyimagine

    $4.8m = queue jumping

    Here's $4.8million cash of impossible to get investment dosh, now development 'this; and 'that' and 'this other stuff'(fill in specific needs) and we'll have it asap. By the way here's an ndo for all your employees.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Khronos

    Nokia are diving into the Khronos stuff too

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    I suppose?

    ... that research technology or practical application of "new" technology is always a gamble.

    Why take the slings and arrows of being a pathfinder?

    On the other hand why sink to a base conformity or mediocrity based on commonality?

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