Developer Project Called Linaro Tweaks Android Code; Can Double Performance on G-Nex

[dgstorm]

[video=youtube;mrQRYmYip6Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQRYmYip6Q&feature=player_detailpage[/video]​

If you haven't heard of Linaro, then now would be a good time to take notice. The Linaro project was recently able to tweak Android 4.0 code in a way that improved its performance on a Galaxy Nexus from 30% to a whopping 100% in some cases!

Linaro is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2010 by a consortium of hardware and software companies, including ARM, Samsung, TI, and Canonical in order to research maximizing the efficiency of Linux on ARM processors and more. Here's a quote with more details about the project/group,

The group is closely aligned with Ubuntu, but the improvements that it is driving offer benefits for the broader ecosystem of platforms and distributions that are deployed on ARM hardware. They have done a lot of work upstream in GCC (the GNU Compiler Collection) to open the door for better ARM optimization in Linux and other open source software.

Linaro’s GCC improvements have been producing measurable performance advantages over Google’s stock Android environment and build toolchain since late last year. Google is reportedly accepting some of these improvements in the upstream Android Open Source Project and independent developers are also looking to put them to use.

Apparently, these performance tweaks don't just show up in benchmarks either. Supposedly, subjective performance evaluations show a dramatic difference in app loading, faster scrolling, and a much smoother UI. The improvements are so impressive, they are already being adopted by the developer community. Here's another quote with some final details,

The code changes are being merged into CyanogenMOD 9 right now, which means that future nightly builds will take advantage of the optimizations. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is also accepting some Linaro submissions into its upstream, so there’s potential that Jellybean, or perhaps later versions of Android, will see these benefits.

It's amazing what a few improved algorithms and code tweaks can do to enhance the performance of an OS on its hardware. It will be interesting to see how quickly these engineers get snapped up by Google or other companies to improve things on a larger scale...

Thanks for the tip, metalspring!

Source: MobileSyrup and ArsTechnica

 

[johnomaz]

First...that guy creeps me out. /shiver He is right though. He (they) isn't better than Google. Google does have to build new versions, add new features and everything while they can focus on a created platform and optimize it. Its what makes Android as good as it is. I can't wait until I get a ROM with the linaro improvements and hope my soon to be S3 gets the same stuff right out of the box. Would be nice to see Google use them too natively.

 

[tgyberg]

Awesome!!! Man I love this phone! :happy3:

 

[FoxKat]

Awesome!!! Man I love this phone! :happy3:

Beyond impressive. I can't wait to get a build of ICS for the RAZR incorporating these advances from Cyanogen. This thing rocks now, with these innovations, it's going to levitate!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2 with Google voice to text translation. Please excuse any minor spelling, punctuation, capitalization or grammatical errors.

 

[ExodusC]

I love that CyanogenMod 9 (and probably other ROMs) are integrating the Linaro tweaks, so that we can see performance gains directly on devices getting nightly builds. Even better, it's great that the AOSP is accepting some of these patches.

Now, question time: much of the benefit from "Linaro Android" comes from compiling from source the entire Linaro toolchain, correct? I believe I saw in another video that they provide pre-compiled toolchains as well, but I'm not 100% sure.

My big question related to that is: Unless ROM developers use the Linaro toolchain, as well as the latest and/or most optimized version of GCC (the compiler), won't we not be seeing the full potential of all of the work the Linaro group is doing?

That said, I really hope all developers ranging from amateur to awesome will be able to utilize all the hard work these guys are doing (into their hard work, of course)!

 

[tgyberg]

Linaro

So you non rooters, this Linaro stuff is pretty ground breaking.. Possible 30 - 100% performance jumps. Are any of you going to take the root plunge because of this?! I know I cant wait to have it running on my phone!!

 

[akhenax]

Pure Linaro Rom, the only reason I would want to root and rom....NOW!!!

 

[syndicate0017]

I have to think that real world performance increases won't be as drastic as advertised, but I'd welcome even a 5-10% jump in performance any day of the week. I'm waiting until it's incorporated into my favorite ROM (Slim ICS) and then I'll take a crack at it. If the non-rooters haven't rooted by now, there's no hope for them.

I kid, I kid.

 

[tgyberg]

I'd take 5 - 10% also! Speed freak over here!

 

[tgyberg]

Beyond impressive. I can't wait to get a build of ICS for the RAZR incorporating these advances from Cyanogen. This thing rocks now, with these innovations, it's going to levitate!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2 with Google voice to text translation. Please excuse any minor spelling, punctuation, capitalization or grammatical errors.

Levitating phone! No more worring about drops!!

 

[sbenson]

The linaro stuff is pretty exciting but we're not going to notice a lot of difference overall unfortunately. The UI may be a little smoother and most things will be more efficient, but it's not going to be mind blowing the way they made it sound. Don't get me wrong, I'll take whatever improvement this brings and be happy with it for sure.

 

[xsylus]

Makes sense that Google isn't going to spend too much time trying to make their OS run better on existing hardware since there's no real profit in doing so. This is why we need unlocked boot-loaders and more privileges to optimize our own devices with ROMS and tweaks. Google is more interesting in beating Apple to the next innovative concept and doing things either better or at least differently than Apple. It's a shame that Google's original idea to manufacture their own devices fell flat with the Nexus One. Google should work to release more developer phones at reasonable prices. Perhaps if Google achieves their desired goal to eliminate fragmentation across android devices then maybe they will be able to invest more time focusing a little more on polishing it up and pulling the weeds. As long as my phone runs smoothly with minimal problems and the hardware and software don't look and feel like a kid's toy I'm satisfied.

 

[FoxKat]

Merged.

Thanks.

DroidForums Team

 

[djsiva]

I'm running a Linaro ROM and it's smooth as butter!! The battery life has been a little less and there are a couple of other minor issues, but not big deal because it's brand new. It's ridiculous how much of an improvement it was.

 

[meishkov]

It's amazing what a few improved algorithms and code tweaks can do to enhance the performance of an OS on its hardware.

Man ain't that the truth. Blows me away every time. So this is the kinda stuff goin on in the Galaxy Nexus forums eh??:happy3:
Loved it when the OG had its glory days when things like this, though not to the scale of Linaro. Might have to find a cheap nexus around and see for myself!:hail: