German firm claims huge boost in Android app performance, battery life...

MK-9 · 02-09-2010, 05:59 AM

German firm claims huge boost in Android app performance, battery life with new virtual machine.

By Chris Ziegler posted Feb 9th 2010 6:35AM

At the core of Anrdoid lies a little bundle of code known as the Dalvik virtual machine, a runtime environment for Java apps that's specifically optimized for hardware with limited memory and processor power -- you know, the kind of situation you find in your average smartphone. The relative success of the Android Market suggests that Dalvik's getting the job done on some level (as long as you're not looking for a texture-intense FPS), but the fact that Google bothered to create a separate native development kit to speed up intensive operations certainly serves as a damning counterpoint. Enter German firm Myriad -- a founding and code-contributing member of the OHA, coincidentally -- which is touting this week that it's crafted a much higher-performance replacement for Dalvik, appropriately known as "Dalvik Turbo." Just how much higher-performance are we talking? Myriad claims apps run in Dalvik Turbo "up to three times" faster, all while reducing battery drain and giving devs the power they need to create graphically intense games. Even better, it apparently maintains complete compatibility with existing Android apps and is available for all the key mobile platforms -- ARM, Atom, and MIPS included -- and is virtually guaranteed to make you sob uncontrollably to learn that your Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, or 2.1-based device isn't using it. It'll be on display at MWC next week, so we're looking forward to finally seeing Gang Wars humming along at 60fps on a G1.

Source: German firm claims huge boost in Android app performance, battery life with new virtual machine -- Engadget

Hope this is true and it comes quickly.

tktouch12 · 02-09-2010, 06:03 AM

that would be pretty sweet. i didnt understand it completely, but it seems great

MK-9 · 02-09-2010, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by tktouch12

that would be pretty sweet. i didnt understand it completely, but it seems great

Just means the underlying processes in the current version of the Android OS's are inefficient, slower and use more battery.

This should change it all for the better....in theory....hopefully.

mattygabe · 02-09-2010, 07:15 AM

I'd imagine Droid users will first get access to this about two to three weeks after it makes its public debut (somehow one of the ROM devs will get a hold of it), and then a month or two after that Motorola will be able to publicly release it OTA to all handsets.

I'm curious as to what they did to the code inside of Davlik to make it run so much faster... That is one thing we may never know, because it's probably the very essence of the IP!

Edit: now that I think about it, shouldn't we be able to see it once it's released? I mean, Android is open source, duh...

krazykarl · 02-09-2010, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by mattygabe

I'd imagine Droid users will first get access to this about two to three weeks after it makes its public debut (somehow one of the ROM devs will get a hold of it), and then a month or two after that Motorola will be able to publicly release it OTA to all handsets.

I'm curious as to what they did to the code inside of Davlik to make it run so much faster... That is one thing we may never know, because it's probably the very essence of the IP!

Edit: now that I think about it, shouldn't we be able to see it once it's released? I mean, Android is open source, duh...

I wouldn't be so sure on that timeline. They could very well hold on to it and try to license it to phone manufactures at a cost. If it's really all they say though, I would hope google would buy it and incorperate it into Android for us. I just don't see them giving it away for free though. Google at least has something to gain by giving android away for free and as open source, why would Myriad give this away for free though? What would they have to gain by doing that? So we may see some hacked roms depending on how hard they try to protect their IP, but I doubt we'll see an update with this in it for a long while unless google just jumps on it and buys it immediately.

mattygabe · 02-09-2010, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by krazykarl

Originally Posted by mattygabe

I'd imagine Droid users will first get access to this about two to three weeks after it makes its public debut (somehow one of the ROM devs will get a hold of it), and then a month or two after that Motorola will be able to publicly release it OTA to all handsets.

I'm curious as to what they did to the code inside of Davlik to make it run so much faster... That is one thing we may never know, because it's probably the very essence of the IP!

Edit: now that I think about it, shouldn't we be able to see it once it's released? I mean, Android is open source, duh...

I wouldn't be so sure on that timeline. They could very well hold on to it and try to license it to phone manufactures at a cost. If it's really all they say though, I would hope google would buy it and incorperate it into Android for us. I just don't see them giving it away for free though. Google at least has something to gain by giving android away for free and as open source, why would Myriad give this away for free though? What would they have to gain by doing that? So we may see some hacked roms depending on how hard they try to protect their IP, but I doubt we'll see an update with this in it for a long while unless google just jumps on it and buys it immediately.

Well, for one, the German Firm mentioned is a member of the OHA (Open Handset Alliance), which was created by Google and owns Android. If they hide the software and attempt to keep it closed source and sell it, Android's in trouble.

krazykarl · 02-09-2010, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by mattygabe

Well, for one, the German Firm mentioned is a member of the OHA (Open Handset Alliance), which was created by Google and owns Android. If they hide the software and attempt to keep it closed source and sell it, Android's in trouble.

Oh, yeah well that does change things. Clearly I shouldn't be posting so early in the morning.

Everyone, carry on with the optimism!