Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: Question for Christophe about Chess Tiger for handhelds

Author: stuart taylor

Date: 16:39:20 05/25/02

Go up one level in this thread


On May 24, 2002 at 14:22:53, Christophe Theron wrote:

>On May 24, 2002 at 08:10:17, stuart taylor wrote:
>
>>On May 23, 2002 at 21:47:29, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>
>>>On May 23, 2002 at 20:54:58, stuart taylor wrote:
>>>
>>>>On May 23, 2002 at 16:19:49, Chris Carson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On May 23, 2002 at 15:31:12, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On May 23, 2002 at 14:48:08, J. C. Boco wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On May 23, 2002 at 11:17:29, Roy Eassa wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Now that Palm is migrating to the faster CPUs that Pocket PC uses, are you
>>>>>>>>planning to abandon developing Chess Tiger for Pocket PC and just stick with
>>>>>>>>Chess Tiger for Palm OS?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I would like to add a question.  Given the StrongArm processors in Palms will be
>>>>>>>available later this year, when will you have a StrongArm-Native ChessTiger for
>>>>>>>Palm?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I don't know. As soon as I get the necessary tools (compiler, IDE), but they are
>>>>>>not ready at this time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  How much slower will a non-native version be?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I don't know. It is possible that Chess Tiger running on a StrongARM emulating a
>>>>>>DragonBall is as fast as on a real DragonBall. PACE (the DragonBall emulator in
>>>>>>PalmOS 5) is only 80Kb in size and from what I read is very efficient.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The speed of the emulator is not the only issue. The OS APIs are going to be
>>>>>>MUCH faster, because the new OS is written in native StrongARM. And Chess Tiger
>>>>>>uses the OS heavily to deal with hash tables (it is not possible to have direct
>>>>>>access to big chunks of memory under the current version of PalmOS, so I have to
>>>>>>call an OS API each time I need to access the hash table, that is on every
>>>>>>node).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I guess the native StrongARM version of Tiger will be 6 to 10 times faster, but
>>>>>>it's just a guess. It could be more, not only because the clock runs faster
>>>>>>(bigger MHz number) but also because on the ARM architecture you need less clock
>>>>>>cycles to process one instruction (it's a RISC).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>    Christophe
>>>>>
>>>>>I am excited about this.  A 2300+ master to carry around in my pocket!  Thanks
>>>>>Christophe, keep up the great work and great products!
>>>>
>>>>Exciting? maybe! but will things ever get any better after that (for handhelds)?
>>>>S.Taylor
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Yes. Intel has planned a 1GHz XScale processor (which is a StrongARM compatible
>>>processor, so it can be used to power a Palm).
>>>
>>>After that there will be 2GHz handhelds.
>>>
>>>After that, we will see 3GHz handhelds.
>>>
>>>It is expected that handhelds running at 4GHz will come a little bit after.
>>>
>>>...
>>>
>>>If you are afraid that your investment is outdated in 2 or 3 month, never buy a
>>>computer or a handheld.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>    Christophe
>>
>>I appologise that I've already repeated my question above before I saw your
>>answer here.
>> I suppose the problem is in ME. Either I like buying latest models as a hobby,
>>or I should know how to be satisfied with what I have, for a long time, and
>>concentrate on improving mySELF. I'm just waiting for the middle compromise,
>>which might be with Palm 6. But then again, the companies won't be too happy
>>about people like me being too satisfied for too long. But don't worry! I'll be
>>the one to win, soon, and I'll be happy. Maybe with the 6!
>>I mean, what about people who have to die, when will THEY have what they were
>>waiting for? (and believe me, many fine people have already died!).
>>S.Taylor
>>
>>p.s. I know someone who has a Palm 3.0 and doesn't dream of getting a new one,
>>even though he uses his, every day for work.
>> But when I showed him my digital camera module to my Handspring Visor, he
>>looked a BIT interested!!!!
>
>
>
>I think you are taking the wrong approach.
>
>Computer technology is not something that you buy and own.
>
>This economic model is wrong is is used to make people believe that computer
>technology is cheap. People fall into the trap because they are used to this
>model.
>
>Computer technology is a subscription: you will pay from time to time to keep
>the service uninterrupted.
>
>What you need to decide is how much you want to spend on computer technology
>every year, and then look for the best deals in this framework.
>
>
>
>    Christophe

Very interesting approach. So It's like a club, not something to use. But you
are granted the honour of testing it out for a year in return for supporting the
companies. Expensive hobby!
S.Taylor



This page took 0 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.