MIPS Announces $100 ICS Tablet

[hans007]

Well, certain applications, like emulators, don't rely on Dalvik VM... and I'm sure many 3D applications that rely on certain GPU-specific codes wouldn't run.

apps that use the c++ based NDK wont work. but that is not most of them

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I'll use a simple example: try to play a Tegra 2-specific game without Chainfire's wrapper.



As above.

OpenGL ES is the library, but that doesn't mean everything is supported equally.

It's like saying Intel GMA 950 should be able to run all DX9 games without bugs...

Artificially restricting a game to a single gpu has nothing to do with gpu specific code.

We have never seen this gpu in a Android device before so dismissing it as buggy is premature and unfounded. After all a year ago many people thought the Mali 400 was going to be underwhelming.

 

[soccerballtux]

I'll use a simple example: try to play a Tegra 2-specific game without Chainfire's wrapper.



As above.

OpenGL ES is the library, but that doesn't mean everything is supported equally.

It's like saying Intel GMA 950 should be able to run all DX9 games without bugs...

right, driver issue, not the OS' fault, and not the fault of it being MIPS not ARM

 

[Mopetar]

Actually many of them should work. After all Android apps are written in java so the underlying architecture doesn't really matter provided the dalvik vm has been ported to it. Some apps do make use of native code but they should be in the minority.

Google has been working on improving performance of the ARM Dalvik VM for years now. I doubt that the same amount of effort has been extended to the MIPS port. It'll probably run, but not anywhere near as well as it does on ARM.

 

[luv2liv]

you guys debating way too much on game performance for a $100 tablet.
how about i tell you first hand from owning one ok? gaming sucks on a tablet, especially the novo 7a i got. i rather stick to real buttons, like on consoles.

the only reason i got one was because of the HDMI and USB host. i dont care about apps from the start. think of it as a portable Roku or WD Live. now i can watch any movies anywhere. dont have to transcode using Handbrake because it can play any format.

no other 7inch tablets i know have both HDMI and usb host. the Playbook has HDMI but no USB host. and the only worthy 10inch tablet is the coming one from Asus.

 

[runawayprisoner]

apps that use the c++ based NDK wont work. but that is not most of them

And I never said most, but obviously a number of them would not work at all.

The rest of them that depends on Dalvik VM is not guaranteed to work right either. Unless Google has somehow perfected Dalvik VM cross-platform. Last I checked, that didn't happen.

Artificially restricting a game to a single gpu has nothing to do with gpu specific code.

Tegra 2 games are not artificially restricted. They do require a wrapper, a.k.a. a code translator, to work.

We have never seen this gpu in a Android device before so dismissing it as buggy is premature and unfounded. After all a year ago many people thought the Mali 400 was going to be underwhelming.

We have never seen MIPS running Android before, so assuming that many apps would work on it and work well is premature and unfounded in the same way.

right, driver issue, not the OS' fault, and not the fault of it being MIPS not ARM

Nope. Definitely not. I'm merely trying to point out the fact that there is the off chance that a number of Android apps would not work right, or at all, on the new architecture.

This is definitely not the OS' fault, nor that of MIPS. It's simply because Android has always been optimized more for ARM.

 

[hans007]

Some of the other cheap crap Chinese tablets ran mips