Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades

Chuckt · **Joined:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm **Posts:** 696

Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades

http://www.technologyreview.com/computi ... ?p1=A1&a=f

Quote:

Changing chip design on demand could allow TVs and other devices to upgrade their own hardware.

How is this idea different than regular FPGAs? It is a hardware change rather than a software change in the chip.

brad · **Joined:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:30 pm **Posts:** 1897

Would this mean that manufacturers would make less money because people won't need to go out and buy the upgraded product?

Chuckt · **Joined:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm **Posts:** 696

The chips are $200 a piece.

brad · **Joined:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:30 pm **Posts:** 1897

Hmm, I think I'll stick with my $5 microcontroller