Mobile Computing News

Photo: Microsoft

During the warm afterglow of a fantastic earnings report, Microsoft has announced a key partnership with ARM that could have significant bearings for the entire mobile computing landscape.

What MS is paying for

Essentially, Microsoft has signed a licensing agreement that will give it access to ARM architecture. Though Microsoft and ARM have been working together for north of 13 years, this formal deal will give the Redmond giant access to ARM’s working architecture, information it has not had up until now.
Why this is huge for Microsoft

For Microsoft this is huge, considering the company will now get unfettered access to ARM’s working knowledge of the processing technology powering a massive portion of smartphones on the market. To give some perspective on the technological bearings of this deal, one needs to consider that Apple’s very own A4 chip powering the iPhone 4 and the iPad are built on ARM architecture. (Speaking of which, remember that ridiculous rumour that Apple wanted to buy ARM?)

This doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft would build its own chip and we doubt they will, but it will give the company key insight into the hardware structure of the ARM architecture processors powering the vast majority of its incoming Windows Phone 7 Series hardware, as well as Windows Compact 7 for tablets. This is invaluable information.

Why this is huge for ARM

Photo: ARM

ARM shareholders have shown their approval by helping surge the share price up an impressive 11 per cent since Friday’s announcement. Within ARM itself, though the company has hundreds of licensing agreements, this is one of only four it has made public, indicating how big a deal signing Microsoft as a client is, even today.

Intel wept

Long-time Microsoft partner (or is that codependent?) Intel cried a tear, too. It’s well documented that the historical leader in microprocessing, Intel, in contrast to its fantastic Core i3, i5, and i7 ranges, has been slow off the mark with its mobile offerings. In fact, its only really big bet is MeeGo, and considering partner Nokia’s recent prospects, it isn’t enough to be comfortable with. Some commentators have already stated Intel will lose in mobile. They sure could have used some support from their Redmond friends, huh?