Every day, you use one - or probably more - of the 37 billion ARM chips produced so far. They're inside your phone, inside your tablet, inside your TV, and inside numerous other devices.

But they began life as a second development processor for the rather beige mid-1980s BBC Micro at the Cambridge, UK-based Acorn Computers.

The remarkable Sophie Wilson was the designer behind the ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) instruction set, which originally began in October 1983. And so we thought TechRadar's Brit Week was a great time to speak to the recent European Inventor Award nominee about her time at Acorn, the beginnings of ARM, and the huge project she's now working on.

• The BBC Micro at 30: a very British institution

"When we designed the BBC machine in the 1980-1981 period, we were essentially designing our own ideal machines," explains Wilson. "We thought it was a good machine. The BBC had asked for 12,000 and they thought they were being pessimistic."

Selling the BBC Micro

The BBC had commissioned the MOS Technology 6502-based computer to go alongside the BBC Computer Literacy Project for education, but the shipments were far bigger than anybody had envisaged.

"We'd thought about 25-50,000 units, but it was a million and a quarter in the end. They were everywhere and they were doing everything. People bent and twisted them in ways we'd never imagined.

"We'd be forever seeing something that we had no idea could be done with a machine that we'd developed - a case in point being David Braben's Elite. We could not believe that he got that into the machine."

As for the ARM microarchitecture itself, we wondered whether Wilson realised how much potential it had at the time.

"When we set the project up we had a slogan internally to remind us what we thought we were doing, and that was 'MIPS for the masses', i.e. lots of processing power for everybody. We were aiming at the mass market." (MIPS means Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stage, a RISC – or Reduced Instruction Set computer microarchitecture.)

Wilson is at pains to stress that ARM's rise to success has taken place gradually over a 30 year period. "We had our first working chips back in April 1985, and we put them into Acorn machines and they were very good, and we got our market and people liked it a lot," she says, rather matter-of-factly.

Moving ARM forward

Acorn started being approached by other people to use the ARM design. "We set up a division in Acorn for third parties and eventually we spun out ARM in 1990 because there seemed to be a market. By then we'd been approached by Apple, for example, and throughout 90s they kept making little bits of process. Nokia came on board in 96 or 97, then TI."

"At every stage there was just another customer, a little bit extra. And it just kept adding up, and when we did the sums in 2008 we'd shipped 10 billion ARMs. Now we can be remarkably blasé about shipping 36 or 37 billion of them. It's a gradual success over 30 years. "

• 10 Britons who shaped the history of computing

"It's extremely well grounded - that's why there's so much depth to the architecture. It's been there for so long, and it's only been about in the last five years that the public has even vaguely started knowing about it.

"It's also to do with the decisions taken by our management over many years to have all that depth. So it's not merely the high profile apps processors that everybody talks about competing with Intel and taking sockets in mobile phones and tablets, it's all the Cortex-R, Cortex-M series and before them in particular the ARM7 TDMI that have just got absolutely everywhere.

"And that's the secret. It's an enormous ecosystem. ARM succeeds through being in partnership with everybody, essentially. Even Intel has an ARM license. Even Intel still sell single chips for phones with ARMs in them."

More Acorn machines and RISC OS

One of the more surprising aspects of Wilson's chat about the early days at Acorn was how certain the team was that they would succeed. "We were supremely confident," she says, without a hint of irony or doubt.

"The team of people that created ARM, particular Steve Furber and myself, had been working together for long enough to have a good rapport and working relationship, and we'd never failed at doing anything. Everything that we tackled we'd succeeded.

"Designing a microprocessor as Steve has remarked is just another complicated piece of digital logic and he was good at designing digital logic! And designing the instruction set, I'd actually designed fantasy instruction sets before so even that was another logical step forward. It all felt extremely possible.

"Furthermore we had a conviction that we knew what people were doing wrong. We had chips in our hands from Intel, Motorola and National Semiconductor, and we could see why they weren't performing well. We set out to remedy that in making ARM, and we were quite right."

After the BBC Micro, Acorn launched the fully ARM-based Archimedes in 1987. But RISC OS - Acorn's advanced and rather Windows 95-like operating system - wasn't ready. "There was a year which we had to go with an operating system that was essentially a clone of the BBC operating system, and that was painful because it wasn't good enough," says Wilson regretfully.

"But yes, in 1988 RISC OS came out and that was dramatic because it was then a fully-featured system that could do things that few machines could at the time.

"It was a machine with a high-resolution machine with anti-aliased graphics with WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointers). The Macintosh had been around for a time but it didn't have anti-aliased graphics, so the on-screen experience was very poor. RISC OS gave you WYSIWYG like nobody have ever seen."

RISC OS lives on, and you can download it for the Raspberry Pi - check it out as part of our feature Raspberry Pi operating systems: 5 reviewed and rated.

But while Acorn's microprocessor was strong, its advanced hardware had a surprisingly short lifespan due to the success of the IBM PC, and even by the time it was releasing the early 1990s RISC OS-based machines such as the Acorn A4000, A5000 and RISC PC, it was clear that time was running out for the company as a British computer manufacturer.

"I think by the time Acorn was capable of tapping business with RISC-based technology, the IBM PC already had a strong foothold", says Wilson. "You can't really blame one thing, but there was VisiCalc on the Apple II and Lotus 123 on the IBM PC - you had to have one of those two programs to run a business. If we'd written an equivalent program for BBC machines, it would never be the same program."

Wilson's recent work

Wilson now works at semiconductor giant Broadcom, working on a processor line she also created - FirePath, a DSL chip that has also had a major impact. "If you have a DSL line going into your house, the kit at the other end that sends you the data is run by a FirePath processor. Hundreds of millions of them have been shipped," says Wilson.

She takes up the story: "In 1990 I started playing with new ideas for a processor inside Acorn. And obviously lots of other things were going on. I wrote the RISC OS multimedia subsystem Acorn Replay, so what with that and launching Acorn's Online Media division and designing the SA1500/1501 digital media processor, there wasn't a lot of time for my little experiments.

"Anyway sometime in late 1996, John Redford [now head of UK engineering for Broadcom] found out what I was doing." The pair founded a new company - Element 14.

If Element 14 sounds familiar to you, it isn't the company of the same name behind the Raspberry Pi.

Wilson's Element 14 was spun out of Acorn in 1999 and clearly Broadcom knew the potential - Element 14 was sold just under two years after founding for a huge £366 million (US$356 million, AU$607 million).

Wilson on tablets - and Windows 8

Finishing up our chat, we ask Wilson what devices she uses on a day-to-day basis - but the result was some surprisingly forthright opinions on Microsoft's operating system woes.

"I use whatever does the job. I have an iPad, an Android powered Sony Xperia phone with Ice Cream Sandwich. I also have machines running Windows XP and Windows 7." Has she tried Windows 8 yet? "I have tried Windows 8. I have machines running Windows 7…"

"For machines without a touchscreen [Windows 8 is] a disaster. But they [Microsoft] have a history of violating usability guidelines. There's a whole subsection of the computer community for the usability of computer interfaces and they know precisely what makes things good, and Microsoft just ignore them.

"The [Microsoft Office] ribbon in particular is crazy from a usability viewpoint. One nice thing that's happened with the ribbon is that Microsoft have gradually been reliant on the right-click pop-up menus that we had in RISC OS, and that is straight out of the usability manuals.

"You don't have to do a great deal of research to develop that stuff, you just have to read a usability manual. It says you [need to travel] the shortest possible distance to [do something].

• Windows 8.1 release date, news and features

Acorn RISC OS machines had a three button mouse with a middle "menu" button, so we asked Wilson if usability was the key driver behind this. "Yes, so we said right, we'll dedicate a button to it. Press the button and you get a context-sensitive context menu. The more control and non-modality of your interfaces, that meant more input buttons.

"Xerox had used a three button mouse before us, so we developed RISC OS around a three button mouse. It gives you more actions. There was a massive amount of acceleration from that, and the fact the system was so fast. One button [as Apple used] introduces a lot of modality into your interface."

As one of the key figures behind the chips inside them, we ask Wilson whether she feels tablets can replace PCs as devices for content creation as well as content consumption. Again, she puts forward some strong views and, interestingly, highlights Microsoft's key problem with trying to break into the tablet market: "It's the person who's creating, not the device."

"You may wish that a tablet was better at some things but there are many excellent [apps] for them. They're so cheap compared with a computer, so light, so easy to use.

"I don't think that popularity is going to go away no matter what the Windows team does - their prime problem is to produce hardware and software that persuades business to move away from Windows XP and Windows 7. Windows 8 has a long way to go."

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Source : techradar[dot]com

Judging from my postbag since I started these columns, smartphones have somehow morphed from a 'thing in your pocket' to 'an entire belief system' - and there are people who seem to be willing to go to any length for their chosen brand.

In the last few weeks, I've bemoaned Nokia's strategy and told BlackBerry it's on a hiding to nothing. And I've noticed something. Both in the comments section and on Twitter, I've had some pretty strong messages from those who've tied their OS's flag to the telephone mast.

These comments go beyond debate and into total incredulity that I've dared to criticise a mobile manufacturer. The terms "Android", "BlackBerry" and "Apple" are the new deities for some, it appears.

Playing God

OK, so we at TechRadar are fans of tech. If you're on this site, chances are that you're really into your tech too. The thing is, like most of you, we all know what we're talking about.

We're able to make informed choices about devices, and know which ones to get excited about and which ones to ignore. We love it when friends and family ask us which phone they should get. It's like playing all-powerful leader over their 24 month term.

They may laugh at us behind our back and call us saddos for being able to recite spec comparisons by heart - but that bit we can tolerate, because we know they need us.

Branded for life

In the old days, customers could opt for one of a handful of devices, choosing from Nokia (mostly), Motorola or Sony Ericsson. The likes of Samsung, Alcatel and Sendo sat on the periphery.

People had preferences, but few of us tied our identity to our make of mobile beyond 'I don't really know how to use the Motorola text entry system'. But something's changed with the smartphone revolution. It's inspired a feeling that marketers are paid millions to create: brand loyalty.

While Samsung may take the mickey out of the "Apple sheep", the truth is that the South Koreans wish they could generate such fervour. I was at the launch of the S4 on the morning it came out and the queue had fewer than 60 people in it.

Compare that to the hundreds or thousands you'll see outside an Apple shop and it may seem paltry. But those in line had one thing in common: they were diehards. When I got out my iPad mini, I feared that an overzealous follower of the Way of the Galaxy might turn on me for soiling their collective purity.

Fear of the unknown

Some would say that this loyalty is a sign of love for the brand - but there's also a negative side to it, an underlying fear.

When I've spoken to Apple fans who want to jump to Android but are fearful of doing it, the same line comes up over and over again.

Despite being bored with a device that has barely changed in years, they always say something along the lines of: "I've spent so much money on my apps. Will I have to buy them all again?".

They are trapped by their OS, prisoners of an ecosystem, in the same way that Mac and Windows users are locked out of each others' worlds.

User unfriendly

Just a couple of years ago, you had very clear markets. iPhones were for either the aesthetes or less tech-savvy types, Android devices headed to the hands of the tinkerers who liked to think they were a little more clued up, and BlackBerries went to the corporates and the kids.

But now it's all change. Samsung and HTC have made Android more user friendly and desirable, and Windows has excited with its elegance. And as the lines have blurred, the talons have sharpened.

Ultimately, it's a tribal mentality. And while it's fun to watch (and be insulted) by people who get wholeheartedly offended, nobody will say on their deathbed: "I really wish I'd tried an Android phone after all." There'll be no newspaper obituaries that read: "He loved Windows Phone."

So, put your phone in your pocket, take a deep breath, and repeat this like a prayer: "It's only a phone."

I've reviewed dozens of phones and tablets for TechRadar over the years - each time putting them through their paces in the most unbiased, rigorous way possible.

But as well as being a professional, I have a love/hate relationship with tech, and that's what these columns are all about: the passionate howlings of a true fanboy. Tell me why I'm right, wrong or a hopeless idiot in the comments below or by tweeting @techradar or @phillavelle.

Source : techradar[dot]com

SAP has pulled a bunch of business intelligence (BI) and analytic applications together a single mobile app for iOS devices.

Named SAP BusinessObjects Mobile 5.0, it has been built on the SAP Mobile Platform and enables users to collaborate using the SAP Jam social software platform, insert annotations through voice commands, and get answers to questions with the Exploration Views function.

Updates include access to multiple sources of analytic content, including SAP's Web Intelligence, Explorer, Design Studio, Crystal Reports and Dashboards software.

There is also a new home screen and toolbar, new navigation, and the ability to integrate with third party security.

SAP has also announced a new software development kit with BusinessObjects Mobile 5.0 that allows businesses to customise their mobile analytic applications.

Source : techradar[dot]com

The HTC One is a cracking bit of kit, but even a five-star phone can't be perfect for everyone. It's too bulky, some say; it's too pricey, say others.

If you're inclined to agree, then we've got good news: from next month you'll be able to get all the fun of the One in a smaller, more affordable package. It's called the HTC One Mini, and it's a little cracker.

Let's ask resident phone guru Gareth Beavis some questions. Is it better than a Galaxy S4 Mini? It is! Does it feel as premium as its big sister? It does!

• TechRadar reacts to the HTC One Mini

Has HTC taken some bits out? It has! Specifically, "there's no NFC chip, the CPU is a Snapdragon 400 dual core option clocked at 1.4GHz, and the screen has been shrunk to 4.3 inches and a 720p resolution." The battery's more modest too. Nevertheless, the Mini has "all the bits it needs to be a winner."

Here come the Brits

The word Mini doesn't just make us think of phones, of course. It makes us think of the miniskirt and the Mini car, and they make us think about Britain, and that makes us think about BATMAN!

Batman? Yes! It's Brit Week on TechRadar and we've been celebrating the best bits of British tech - and that includes the Tumbler, the Dark Knight's version of the iconic Batmobile. As Gareth Beavis explains, while the Tumbler may have lived in Gotham City, "it was actually designed, built and mostly used in Britain".

It's real, too: it isn't just a bodykit with a normal car hidden underneath. As senior special effects technician John Holmes told us, "It is a Batmobile." The whole story's fascinating, and the photos are great too.

If you're looking for a real-life equivalent of Batman's tech guru Lucius Fox, you'll probably find him in Britain too: as Patrick Goss explains, Britain has more than its share of "inspirational thought leaders and companies making a difference".

Imagine the possibilities

One such company is Imagination Technologies, which designs the architecture for graphics chips. The company is like "some sort of gadget funhouse," Hugh Langley reports. "The walls are covered in phones, tablets and TVs, while radios scatter the benchtops.

"Everything with a screen is powering some sort of graphics demo, it's hypnotising. Of course, these are all products in which Imagination's handiwork can be found, and suddenly it's difficult to ignore the extent of Britain's technology reach."

Imagination isn't resting on its laurels, though. It's looking to the future, and that future may involve ray tracing graphics.

"Not only does it produce stunningly lifelike graphics, it does so at astonishing speeds. This increases the efficiency of graphics rendering by a significant magnitude, cutting costs as well as time. "Tasks that once took 15 minutes due to the requirement for manual input can now take 15 seconds."

The tech is still three to five years away, but it'll be "used in everything from games to Hollywood movies" and even Augmented Reality.

A Pi full of potential

We couldn't have a Brit Week without mentioning the Raspberry Pi, the little computer that's doing very big things. As Hugh Langley explains, "Right now Pi is enjoying gradual world domination, spreading its message to the masses and showing a new generation of kids why coding is a lot easier and more interesting than they probably think."

The Raspberry Pi is doing great things, but it's swimming against a tide of cynicism: as Patrick Goss says, when we speak to luminaries of the British tech and gaming scenes, "there is one particular thing that a surprisingly number of those questions brings up, often completely unprompted, and that is the British attitude towards success."

We're awfully good at taking people "down a peg or two", but when there's something to sing about we're strangely silent - possibly because we're scared of seeming arrogant.

That needs to change, says Goss. "If we start supporting those on the pedestals and giving the 'swots' the credit they deserve, there is absolutely nothing to stop Britain becoming a regular at the top table in both technology and gaming."

• Need even more news from the frontiers of newness? Try our round-ups of the Week in Science

Source : techradar[dot]com

BlackBerry has been quite open about its long-running messaging service, BBM, coming to Android and iOS this summer, although it has held back on giving us an exact date.

But in an interview with IBN Live, BlackBerry India's managing director, Sunil Lalvani, might have given us a date for the diary. Or a slightly less vague one than we already had, at least.

"The service is coming to Android this summer. But summer as per North America, where it remains till September," he said.

When he was then prodded further to clarify whether this means it will be out before the end of September, his responsive was allegedly "in the affirmative".

Wake us up etc etc

If we're honest, we expected "summer" to be more of a July/August affair but we're sure we can manage to wait an extra month if need be.

No word on iOS, but we'd take a guess and say it will land pretty close, if not exactly on the Android release.

A previous tweet from T-Mobile had claimed that BBM would hit both platforms on June 27, before BlackBerry said it was nonsense. And would you look at that - it's July 19. Nonsense indeed.

Source : techradar[dot]com