Chris Carlon / Android Authority
😾 Good morning! Have you ever tried giving eye drops to a cat? We had to start doing this because our cat is recovering from a minor eye infection. Thankfully, she didn’t choose violence, but it’s still a two-man job.
Chip giants call to arms
Chris Carlon / Android Authority
A big news story broke when Arm announced that it was suing Qualcomm and Nuvian. This could have long-term consequences for the mobile and ARM PC space.
- Qualcomm is a major chipmaker in the mobile and computing spaces thanks to its Snapdragon family of processors.
- The company relies on custom CPU designs for its flagship smartphone processors, but in 2017 switched to semi-custom CPU technology based on Arm IP.
- In other words, ARM went from designing its own CPU technology to taking existing CPU designs and modifying them.
- However, Qualcomm officially acquired Nuvian last year as part of a plan to return to custom CPU technology.
- Nuvia was founded by former Apple chip engineers and initially focused on ARM-powered datacenter processors. You can read about them here.
- But Qualcomm sees Nuvia as a key tool to help it beat Apple’s processors in the computer and smartphone spaces.
- After all, Apple processors are miles ahead of Qualcomm chips, especially in the computing department.
- And yes, current Qualcomm computer chips are based on Arm CPU technology.
Spanner in the works
The announcement of Arm’s lawsuit could throw a spanner in the works for Qualcomm/Nuvia.
- In a statement, ARM said Qualcomm and Nuvia breached “certain license agreements” and committed trademark infringement.
- Arm asserted that the two companies had to “dispose of some of Nuvia’s designs” in the contract.
- The leaked lawsuit alleges that Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia’s Arm license without Arm’s consent.
- However, Arm’s license to Nuvia’s Arm technology expires in March 2022, presumably due to Nuvia’s acquisition.
- Arm said that Qualcomm “violated the Arms License Agreement by continuing development under the terminated licenses.”
- The source released more details. Android Authority.echoing some of Arm’s claims.
- The source reiterated that if ARM doesn’t approve the next phase of development, Qualcomm will have to destroy some of Nuvia’s designs and start over.
- It seems that no agreement has been reached for the next step, but the chip designs will remain the same.
- Arm’s Phil Hughes said. Android Authority. Nuvia’s Arm licenses prevented the launcher from being available without an Arm license.
- Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia has reportedly not required Arm’s license.
What’s next for Qualcomm and Nuvia?
Qualcomm asserted that Arm has no right to interfere with the company’s efforts, “contractually or otherwise.”
- “Arm’s complaint ignores that Qualcomm has extensive and well-established licensing rights covering custom-designed CPUs, and we are confident those rights will be upheld,” the company added.
- Qualcomm plans to begin shipping its first PC chips with Nuvia CPUs to OEMs in H2 2022.
- If ARM gets its way and forces Nuvia to scrap some CPU designs, that timeline could be thrown out the window.
- Qualcomm will be forced to continue using current PC chips. This would not be ideal as these chips have a reputation for being weak compared to Apple’s SoCs.
- We’ve been waiting for Nuvia CPUs to come to smartphones since the launch of the first Nuvia laptop chips, but that timeline could theoretically be pushed back as well.
- Here’s hoping Arm and Qualcomm reach a solution that doesn’t involve any major delays, which could put the Windows-on-Arm and Android ecosystems on the back foot overall compared to Apple.
- For what it’s worth, Nuvia was previously under fire by Apple after the Cupertino giant filed a lawsuit against it.
🎨 Did you miss yesterday’s Wallpaper Wednesday? It’s a great opportunity to upgrade your phone (Android Authority.).
💻 Lenovo X1 Fold 2022 Manually Installed: The technology is amazing and Lenovo has made a lot of changes, but it’s still expensive and can be a good buy (Android Authority.).
Thursday thing
Amazon has Amazon Prime, but Disney is considering a similar concept. of Wall Street Journal Disney has reported that it is investigating its own membership program, citing people familiar with the discussions.
- The program is internally called Disney Prime, though that’s apparently not the final name.
- Still, the name probably serves as a testament to Amazon Prime’s inspiration.
- The idea is to offer discounts and perks for streaming, merchandising, theme parks and entertainment venues.
- Disney confirmed WSJ He said he was exploring the idea of a membership program without further details.
- The company is also working on bringing merchandise shopping integration to Disney Plus.
- Either way, membership programs seem to be the next digital frontier. Even Walmart offers Walmart Plus complete with Paramount Plus streaming.
have a great day!