Dual-core central processing units (CPUs) were considered a breakthrough in the personal computer industry back in 2005. In 2010, dual-core chips, albeit powered by processors with different micro-architecture, are set to enter the market of mobile phones, according to ARM, a leading developer of processors for portable electronics.

"We don’t need silly GHz speeds. With our dual-core A9, we can get two times the performance, without the speed draining the battery, so by the time you get home your phone is dead,” said Rob Coombs, director of mobile solutions for ARM, in an interview with TechRadar web-site.

Mr. Coombs added that ARM hopes that actual implementers would introduce dual-core processors for mobile phones sometime in 2010, but still, delays to 2011 were possible.

Dual-core processors will not only increase overall performance of mobile devices, but will enable new functionality, for example, speech recognition. In addition, multi-core chips will eventually allow mobile phones to do tasks like running productivity or even multimedia applications (when plugged to larger screen and keyboard).

“They will allow user interfaces to be a bit more reactive, with some cool and weird options. For instance, if future mobiles rely on speech recognition, which is a processor hogging application, we can deal with that,” added Mr. Coombs.

Tags: ARM