Do We Even Need Faster Phones?

phandroid · Apr 1, 2011

When the T-Mobile G1 launched back in 2008 with its 528MHz Qualcomm-made processor, we thought it was fast enough for our needs. I personally went a year and a half without the urge to switch phones and I’m sure there are many who are the same. I even know people still holding on to the [...]

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Frisco · Apr 1, 2011

There's a pretty big difference in media performance from my old Eris to my Fascinate, not to mention my Galaxy Tab.

More and better stuff coming? Bring it!

Rainulf · Apr 1, 2011

The question is not whether we need or not, the real question is how much we can improve in following years.

Innovation must never stop.

redrider67 · Apr 1, 2011

Technology will always increase whether we think there's a need for it or not. People will always test the boundaries of performance.... :cool:

Frisco · Apr 1, 2011

redrider67 said:
Technology will always increase whether we think there's a need for it or not. People will always test the boundaries of performance....

Perhaps we're at the dawn of an era of testing the boundaries of what the human eye (and brain) can perceive.

mmirgkaz · Apr 1, 2011

Frisco said:
Perhaps we're at the dawn of an era of testing the boundaries of what the human eye (and brain) can perceive.

x-ray vision!!!!

Usta · Apr 1, 2011

Phones performing better and better - this is the trend. This trend stimulates the market to bring better phones out, where nobody wants to buy a phone and be stuck with an old technology. Kind of two forces pushing each other further and further.
Seems to me a rivalry is starting with tablets and notebooks/netbooks.

rubiconjp · Apr 1, 2011

I see a real need for dual- and quad-core handsets if the future of computing dictates what Motorola has already started with the Atrix, i.e. the smartphone is the real personal computing device, truest to the sense of the word personal. The real PC of the future.

For all users, either business traveling or work or home, docking your personal smartphone will turn it into a full desktop/laptop computer, running full productivity software suites or full HD gaming. This is where we'll need dual- and quad core smartphones.

lexluthor · Apr 1, 2011

This has to be the dumbest question ever.

Did this author ask if 10GB HDs were enough 10 years ago?

thrawn86 · Apr 1, 2011

still a valid point. What goods a 2ghz octo-core if you STILL only get a few hours talk/data time with it?

android system optimization (hardware acceleration?) and improvements in battery life and screen quality will improve the experience way more than a few extra FPS in quadrant.

Frisco · Apr 1, 2011

High-technology in powering these future devices seems to be a given. They want them to sell, work and garner a fan base.

slimhaydy · Apr 2, 2011

The phone I bought today is noticably faster than my old HTC desire. So Im well happy.

However 'Do I need a faster phone'? Not really, but I like it. Do you really need a faster laptop or broadband connection? It all depends on usage I guess.

Drhyde · Apr 2, 2011

Do we need faster phones right now? Not really. 1 GHz chips are going to be sufficient for most people. Obviously things are going to get better, but remember there's a difference between a NEED and a WANT. People WANT faster phones, but don't necessarily need them if they have a decent 1GHz chipset.

What we need is better, more advanced batteries. This is one technology that has been on the backburner for quite some time. Fix our weak batteries first, then work on my faster phone. I really don't see why we can't get the battery life of flip phones of the past if we were to just improve Android power management, kernel optimization, and increased capacity (while not increasing physical size) of batteries. That's what we need.

Frisco · Apr 2, 2011

I disagree about the chip. The one gig is nice, but nothing like a computer with a good modern chip. My Galaxy Tab is ok but could be much better, most notably with browsing the web.

Usta · Apr 2, 2011

The need arises when there come apps that require powerful processing. The perception of "faster" can be achieved in a different ways: faster processor or GPU, faster memory or I/O, acceleration, SW optimalization, OS tweaks, etc.

Frisco · Apr 2, 2011

Usta said:
The need arises when there come apps that require powerful processing. The perception of "faster" can be achieved in a different ways: faster processor or GPU, faster memory or I/O, acceleration, SW optimalization, OS tweaks, etc.

I agree.

But the "real life" focus is nearly always what's remarked about... such as watching the progress bar when going from page to page with the web browser on a hand held device, as opposed to not noticing anything at all in a quick transition on a PC or laptop with a fast processor (and/or highly efficient graphics chip).

Mike8414 · Apr 2, 2011

The focus is currently on making the phones faster and faster...history repeating itself (kinda sort of).

When I was a graduate student in computer engineering, the Pentium processor had just come out for personal computers and all the talk was about how to make microprocessors faster and faster and how great it was, etc. One of my professors put it all in focus with the statement that the software developers, at the time of the Pentium I, were just beginning to write really good software for the i486 processors--they hadn't even started writing code that tapped the potential of the Pentium.

Fast forward to the present...same story all over again. We are now seeing dual-core smartphones and starting to daydream about quad-core tables, etc. But where is the software? None of the current OS software is written for dual-core processors.

So, back to the topic of the thread...do we need faster phones. No...not until we have the software that can run them faster. As we used to say in grad school...how may clock cycles do you want to waste while waiting for the next fetch?

ceti331 · Apr 2, 2011

>>"Do We Even Need Faster Phones? "
We dont need faster phones.

But we need more powerful energy efficienct computers using ARM cpus, connected computers, alternative OS to the established superpowers thats been designed around modern CPU's and input devices; making things smaller makes them use less energy (eg display, transport, materials to manufacture), its great that they're advancing so fast.
(you can call these things phones if you like.)

Despite cloud computing its healthy that people should want to keep or carry their own processing and data around, not to rely on centralized control.

>>"Perhaps we're at the dawn of an era of testing the boundaries of what the human eye (and brain) can perceive"

- I dont think we're anywhere near true VR (think of all the behaviour & interaction, not just the visuals)

Jammy · Apr 2, 2011

I wish Flash video was faster on my Desire. I normally get roughly 20fps and after half an hour or so it drops to 10-15fps. This is really the only way in which I've wished my phone was faster...

dylando808 · Apr 3, 2011

i'm no processor whiz in any way but i think that a single core in a smartphone is just fine for now (2011). maybe we can get dual core processors in phones once the software and battery life catches up.
so we can save dual cores for tablets since some people do more actual computing on tablets anyway.

just my two cents. correct me if i'm wrong. lol

dan55 · Apr 3, 2011

hi guys,
i think my htc desire is a very nice phone - but it still stuggles to perform as well as i would like - i put this mainly down to the small amount of free ram - but it could be the chip too i guess :/
plus you do need a lot of apps/widgets to get smartphone to actually be smart imo - so that obviously will impact its speed

im pretty sure when i upgrade, i will be going dual core - as long as it has decent ram

i find browsing can often be slower than i would like - but most people put this down to network strangling by the providers

but thats a way off yet - first job will be to root and rom the desire to see how that improves it

cheers
dan

bbrosen · Apr 3, 2011

I have a galaxy s and the damn thing is still slow, and freezes, choppy page turns from home screen to home screen, or looking thru call history..pitiful really...so yea, we need more powerful phones to push thru these android apps and funny quirky UI's on the
handsets

dan55 · Apr 3, 2011

hi,
im shocked to hear the G S is so poor - my desire isnt that bad - certainly the home screen launcher is smooth - im using ADW btw - ive not notice problems with call history type slowness either

cheers
dan

Tempusfugit · Apr 3, 2011

Android’s clear lack of UI responsiveness – even with 1GHz chipsets – compared to Apple’s devices bothers every Android user whether they like to admit it or not

I really wonder how the writer got a job writing about android phones, when he has no clue how to operate one. There is absolutely no lack of UI responsiveness on an EVO(which the writer owned). If there is you have a broken evo or are probably running an auto task killer.

I'd take slightly higher GPU than the EVO for games, but that's already out there. I would take 0 improvements in cell phone processing power for the next 5 years in a trade for perfect cell reception in providers coverage map areas, and much increased battery life.

The fastest phone in the world is useless without coverage and battery, 2 things that have basically been ignored by carriers and manufacturers for years now.

And f#$% 4g man. I should have had perfect 3g everywhere before you clowns even thought about rolling out 4g. Yay! I get my emails in .01 seconds now instead of .05, I'm dying happy - oh wait, I moved 5 feet to the left, crap, no emails.

Usta · Apr 4, 2011

bbrosen said:
I have a galaxy s and the damn thing is still slow, and freezes, choppy page turns from home screen to home screen, or looking thru call history..pitiful really...so yea, we need more powerful phones to push thru these android apps and funny quirky UI's on the
handsets

The phone is powerful enough, but Samsung has messed-up with the slow I/O file system. It is fixable by rooting and lagfix.

Do We Even Need Faster Phones?

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