The iPhone isn't a true mobile computer yet, but it's on the right track, according to a Mozilla executive.
"Getting a no-compromise Web experience on devices requires significant memory (>=64MB) as well as significant CPU horsepower. High end devices today are just approaching these requirements and will be commonplace soon," wrote Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Mozilla, in a blog post Tuesday, implying that while the iPhone and its current competitors don't quite have what it takes under the hood to be full-fledged mobile computers, they're not all that far away.
Schroepfer believes that, based on third-party tests, the iPhone is about 10 to 100 times slower than a MacBook Pro on scripting benchmarks and about three to five times slower than a ThinkPad T40 laptop when operating on the same Wi-Fi network. "But rapid improvements in mobile processors will close this gap within a few years," he wrote.
He estimates that the iPhone is using about 128MB of system RAM, and a processor--known to be an ARM-based chip from Samsung--running at between 400MHz and 600MHz. Mozilla is using this information to work on future mobile browsers for devices like the iPhone that won't be able to run unmodified PC software for several years.
As Schroepfer notes, the chip industry is such that there will be more performance to work with every couple of years. Both ARM and Intel have set aggressive performance and power consumption goals for chips due out over the next several years.
"Up until very recently, device limitations required writing new mobile browsers from the ground up," Schoepfer wrote. Mozilla wants to work both sides of the fence, not wanting to throw away all the work they've done on PC development when mobile processors are bound to get more capable, but recognizing that mobile-computing requirements are different.
"There is far from a dominant player in this marketplace and even the best mobile browsers today have compromises in user experience, performance, and compatibility. There is still plenty of room for innovation," Schroepfer wrote.
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