Talk with Imagination Technologies – CES 2011
January 7, 2011, CES, Las Vegas—Imagination Technologies is trying to become a full solutions company with the acquisitions of Hellosoft and Caustic. HelloSoft has wireless LAN and multi-function radios as well as connection management software in its portfolio which will enable advanced video-VOIP for 4G phones. The hardware will enable low power, small form-factor video and voice functions to be integrated into smart phones and increase the user functions without reducing battery life.
Caustic has advanced ray tracing technologies for use in PC-type platforms. This capability can now be integrated with a CPU into a SoC to provide an all-in-one chip. The general trend for the higher end chips is to surround a single or a few CPUs with a lot of function-specific engines to increase performance and reduce power consumption. By adding advanced ray tracing, Imagination can now offer a full range of video and graphics decoders and engines for any application.
According to Tony King-Smith, vp of marketing, the acquisitions will not bring in much additional income in the short term, but does provide developers with a platform for enhanced data operations in a small form-factor and low power package. The availability of development software suites for all of the product lines constitutes a full development environment. As a result, designers can envision and construct an increased performance chip.
