Richard: At last years show Intel, Symbian and Nokia announced plans to develop a hardware reference platform for Symbian OS, this is presumably the fruits of that endeavour?

Gary: Yes, last year we announced that we were going to develop a reference platform jointly with Series 60 and Symbian. This year we are fulfilling that promise, introducing that platform and demonstrating it at the show.

The reference platform, based on Intel XScale, is using two different devices. Our PXA 9xx 3G modem (which was codenamed Hermon) with our PXA270 applications processor, which is already shipping in a number of devices. These two components form the core processing capability of the reference platform. On top of that is Symbian OS v9.1 and the Series 60 Platform 3rd Edition. These three components are building blocks that OEMs can take to accelerate their time to market.

Richard: There has been much talk at the show about single ship devices, this is presumably not one of those platform.

Gary: Correct, it is still a two chip solution, our first 3G reference platform. You are probably thinking that the PXA 9xx is an integrated applications processor. So it could be the basis of a single chip implementation, and this is certainly the direction that we are going with our product line.

The first OEM has announced an implementation running as a single chip, that's RIM. A couple of weeks ago, at CTIA, they said that the next generation Blackberries will be on that processor. You will see additional implementations of our integrated product line in the future and we are moving in the direction of bring fully featured operating systems onto it, but we are not announcing anything yet.

Richard: In terms of the choice of platform why was UIQ not in the original announcement?

Gary: Simply because the announcement was by Nokia, Symbian and Intel, but OEM's want a choice. Fundamentally they want a choice of silicon vendors, a choice of operating systems and user interfaces. While our original announcement was for Series 60 we have also ported UIQ release 3 to the reference platform. At the show we have demonstrations of both classic pen input and single handed versions of UIQ running on the platform.

Richard: From a hand set manufacturers point of view, what is it that they need to do once they decide to take this reference design?

Gary: What we have brought here is a reference platform, no way is it intended to be interpreted as a phone. In creating the reference platform Intel, Nokia and Symbian have integrated the hardware and driver software, making sure they all work together. OEMs have to decide what applications they want on the phone, which is where Intel's developer ecosystem can help. Then they have to integrate all of those components into a device. They would either do this themselves or work with one of the Series 60 boutiques.

Richard: Would they also have to the PCB board layout?

Gary: Yes, we are not providing schematics. So the OEM would have to work right up to writing the Gerber files, the files which define how the PCB boards will be laid out.

Richard: So the platform provides a set of connected component with driver software, but no layout. It's the OEM job to decide where to put each component within the phone, where to place the battery, where to out the screen, where to put the keyboard.

Gary: Yes, absolutely right. This is one of the main areas where OEM's can really differentiate their products. Do they want a small form factor device, do they want a larger form factor with a touch screen? Creating the right device for the markets they serve, that is the skill of an OEM; knowing the market and being able to produce exactly what it wants.

We are certainly not creating a reference design, something an OEM would wrap plastic around and be done. We have done the basics, the initial integration, the OEM needs to take it to the next step and decide how they want to implement their device.

Richard: The manufacturer presumably also has to deciding things like camera resolution, device memory and storage card types?

Gary: Absolutely. For example, this platform will handle a camera of up to 4 mega pixels, but the resolution is the OEMs choice. The same with other component.

Richard: In terms of saving to a phone manufacturer, what can be achieved with this reference platform?

Gary: We are talking many months. The manufacturer get a complete board support package with the OS and UI running on it. This saves time and money in the early stages of the project.

During the later portions of the design cycle, when OEMs start to integrate applications, we offer a second benefit. Here is where my role comes in. I work with ISVs to create an ecosystem of software vendors who have already optimised applications for our Silicon. So the OEM has access to a stable of ISVs whose software is ready to be utilised in a phone. Symbian and Nokia have them as well. So the OEM can pick and choose working, optimised software to build the phones functionality.

Richard: From that point of view what value do your ISVs get that they don't get from the programs run by Symbian or Nokia?

Gary: When we work with ISVs it's about optimising their applications for our silicon. Our silicon gives them wireless MMX functionality. A large library of graphical audio/video centric commands and instructions. If they take advantage of them they get a big bump in application performance. So we work with the software vendors to help them get the optimal benefit from the silicon.

My goal is that they just ring everything out of our silicon, take all the power and get real benefit in their software. So our performance premium experts and engineers literally sit with those ISVs working to get the maximum performance. As they do this their applications really starts to shine and as their applications shine, my silicon shines. We can see performance improvements of anything up to tenfold, although a doubling is about the norm.

Other programs may help them optimise for Symbian OS, but they can work with both, getting the best of both worlds.

Richard: For a business point of view, does being an Intel ISV ease the route to device manufacturers?

Gary: It's like a closed loop system, if an ISVs software looks better then my silicon looks better. So as their software performance improves I want to make sure that OEMs and operators see this. So the answer is yes, our ISVs get huge device and operator exposure, because it's of mutual benefit.

What I provide marketing support. We undertake match making, setting up meetings at this type of show to get OEMs or operators and software companies, who have optimised for our silicon, together; to talk about how they can cooperate. We also invite ISVs to take part in our presentations. For example, two weeks ago at CTIA we had a couple on stage for our keynote in front of 3,000-4,000 people including 500 or so press. So they get some great exposure that way too. We also have them in a lot of our collateral.

Richard: If a phone manufacturer has a design team, chooses this reference design and starts work, how long would it take to get a phone to market?

Gary: A full phone design project could take approximately 18 months, the reference platform covers about the first part of the process. So if somebody took this today, it would be a case of laying out the board, building it and in parallel having their software teams define what the application set should be. So the device could be created in a very reasonable time frame.

Richard: Within 12 to 15 months?

Gary: That is in the range of what we are talking about.

Richard: What is the interest from device manufacturers in the platform?

Gary: The market is showing strong interest in 3G, and there are not a lot of 3G silicon providers. So we are seeing a strong demand for 3G silicon, the Symbian OS reference platform being one example. All I can really say is we expect to see 3G phones launched based on this silicon.

Richard: Intel obviously works with many different operating system players, overall how important is Symbian OS to Intel?

Gary: Fundamentally Intel is operating system agnostic. In the mobile space we support Symbian, Microsoft, Linux and Palm, in fact the whole Palm product line is based on Intel. In China Linux has really taken off, and many of those are Intel devices. Microsoft has Intel based devices.

Symbian is certainly one of the leaders in the fully featured mobile OS space. It has a strong set of owners and we have to participate in this space. That is why we are investing and working with Symbian and Nokia to create a reference platform, because we recognise it's importance to us. So whether it be UIQ or Series 60, Symbian OS is important and it is vital for Intel be involved. We would love to have a significant number of Symbian OS based phones shipping based on Intel silicon.

For more information on the Intel's products for wireless and handheld devices see here and for the ISV program see here.