On Target: Embedded Systems

Can Commercial Operating Systems Stay Relevant in Consumer Facing Devices?

While the recent smartphone struggles of Research In Motion and Microsoft have proven to be main points of mobile media fodder for 2011, the corresponding strengthening of the market positions of Apple and Android have further underscored the shift in mobile operating system business models. Just a few years ago, the smartphone market was dominated by three main platforms: Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile. Then, in 2007, everything changed with the release of the first iPhone and the formation of the Open Handset Alliance. Closed, OEM controlled platforms have always had a place in the mobile market as evidenced by... Read more →

Will Quad-core Phones Give QNX another Shot at Saving RIM?

In a blog last week, we highlighted the lack of consumer electronic devices shipping today with multicore chipsets. Smartphones, on the other hand, have already begun to make that transition and the inclusion of these new processors has even emerged as a point of marketing for many OEMs. To date, however, these mobile multicore devices have mostly used dual-core processors. As there are more and more announcements (and speculations) about the forthcoming inclusion of quad-core processors in mobile phones, we are left wondering how or if this change could impact the supplier landscape. The multifaceted impact of multicore processors Whereas... Read more →

Part II: Will Android Erode the Software Development Tool Market?

In case you missed it, click here Part I of our analysis. Over recent years, the commercial software development tool market has faced a number of pressures, which – to one degree or another – have eroded the commercial market’s growth potential. Whether you look at the continued evolution of open source tools or just the growing tendency of both OS vendors and silicon suppliers to bundle (or even give away) toolkits with their flagship products, traditional standalone software development tool (SDT) vendors are facing a growing set of obstacles. Given this already challenging set of circumstances, can the increasing... Read more →

Will Android Erode the Software Development Tool Market? - Part I

ARM recently announced a free toolkit (ARM Development Studio 5 Community Edition) for the Android application developer community. At a high level, you might be thinking, “so what, aren’t there already a number of free Android app tool kits available?” And, to a certain extent, you wouldn’t be wrong…until you start to consider the “so what” part. For one, make no mistake about it – This is not your run-of-the-mill open source toolkit; ARM is in the business of delivering premium tools. In fact, they have an entire division with P&L responsibilities focused on it. This new toolkit supposedly can... Read more →

Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) – Boston 2011

VDC attended the 2011 Embedded Systems Conference in Boston on September 27 and 28 and held face-to-face meetings at the conference with over 20 exhibitors. This year’s ESC included greater than 100 exhibitors and was part of what UBM Electronics called Design Days Boston. Design Days Boston featured four events including ESC as part of one show including DesignMED North America, DesignCon East, and designing with LEDs. These four programs span a wide range of technologies and interests and were supported by numerous technical sessions. Conference organizers reported at the show that registration was up 10-15% year over year. During... Read more →

AVAILABLE NOW - VDC RELEASES EMBEDDED ENGINEERING SURVEY DATA FOR 2011

The 2011 engineering survey data reports provide insight into the behavior, opinions, and demographics of embedded engineers, the degree to which embedded system engineering tasks are converging, and key system engineering trends likely to impact embedded systems manufacturers and solution providers over the short and long term. This survey data is based on detailed Web survey responses collected worldwide in the March to July 2011timeframe and offers an understanding about the dynamics of the embedded market as they relate to current and future product development trends. This detailed data provides access to VDC’s extensive knowledge of the embedded engineering community... Read more →

ESC Boston is This Month - Still Time to Register and Meet with VDC

The Embedded Systems Conference will be held this month (September 26th-29th) at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. VDC will be attending the conference once again this year and will be presenting our 7th annual Embeddy Awards for Best in Show live at the conference. The winners will be announced live ahead of Wednesday's morning keynote session. So how can your company win the Embeddy award? To be considered, you must schedule a meeting with VDC to discuss the announcement that you are making at the show. You can arrange a meeting time with VDC by doing one of the... Read more →

PART II: GOOGLE/Motorola Acquisition Likely to Impact Embedded Market More than Mobile

Click Here for Part I of our Analysis So what does this mean for the embedded market? VDC has been tracking Android closely over the recent years as we have seen the appetite for and applicability of the platform grow within applications classes beyond mobile phones. Set top boxes and industrial ruggedized terminals are just two of the many use cases that embedded OEMs are now experimenting with. In quick response, many participants within the larger ecosystem of embedded software and hardware solution providers have aligned themselves to support development of the platform in these new use cases. In some... Read more →

GOOGLE/Motorola Acquisition Likely to Impact Embedded Market More than Mobile – PART I

What Happened? As most of you are aware, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced their intent to acquire Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) on Monday, driving shockwaves through both the investment and technology communities. VDC’s View A quick retrospective: Clearly, Google’s Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and its Android operating system platform shook up the mobile word and put a significant dent in Apple’s once seemingly unassailable smartphone market share. Android was able to achieve this progress based on two main factors: Perfect timing – Apple’s iPhone reinvented the smartphone category, raising the bar for user interface functionality and proving that consumer-oriented feature sets... Read more →

Will Legal Battles Jeopardize Android’s Rise to Dominate the Device Market?

Or is the target on Google’s back a symbol of how much of a threat Android is to competitors? The breadth and depth of the Android ecosystem, driven in part by the participation of the open source community, is among the platform’s greatest strengths. But will another of Android’s perceived strengths, the open source nature under which the platform is governed, ultimately prove to be its undoing? The formation of various industry consortia and open source projects has intensified the open source community’s challenge to the commercial market for mobile operating systems. Based on VDC’s 2011 Embedded Engineer survey the... Read more →