Myriad Dalvik Turbo engine promises up to 3x faster Android apps

[Chris Davies]

Applications running up to three times faster on Android devices, with longer battery and just the same processor as in your existing device? Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it, but according to mobile software company - and OHA member - Myriad that's just what we can expect from Dalvik Turbo.

Dalvik Turbo is, as the name suggests, a supercharged version of the underlying Dalvik virtual machine that's used by the various Java apps that run on an Android phone. Myriad reckon their updated build can boost performance by up to three times, without breaking backward compatibility with previous apps.

Myriad will be demonstrating Dalvik Turbo at Mobile World Congress 2010 next week, and we're hoping that it'll start showing up in Android builds soon after.

[via Engadget]

Press Release:

Myriad brings 3x Faster Applications, Richer Game Graphics And Better Battery Life To Android

• Replacement Virtual Machine Technology Increases Android Application Performance by Three Times
• Myriad Opens the Door to Developers to Create a New Category of Applications Requiring High Computing Performance

DUEBENDORF?ZURICH ? February 08, 2010: Myriad Group AG, a global leader in mobile technology with software in over 2 billion phones, today unveiled the high performance Dalvik Turbo virtual machine, which replaces the standard Dalvik engine powering applications on the Android platform.

Dalvik Turbo increases application execution speed by up to three times ? allowing OEMs and operators to bring smoother delivery and more complex applications to Android phones, while also providing substantial battery life improvements when running resource intensive tasks. It also enables developers to take full advantage of Android, allowing them to create games boasting advanced graphics and complex models while retaining full compatibility with existing software.

All this is achieved without a significant increase in the memory requirements of the device.

?The Android ecosystem continues to gain momentum with a regular flow of new devices being launched by operators and OEMs globally,? said Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Myriad Group. ?By bringing together Myriad?s heritage in virtual machines and Linux platforms we have been able to significantly improve the performance of Android handsets, leading to a greatly enhanced user experience with richer applications and games and improved responsiveness.?

Dalvik Turbo leverages Myriad?s virtual machine expertise to provide this significant increase in performance while retaining full compatibility with existing applications. The technology replaces the existing Dalvik virtual machine in Android and boasts rapid integration, with Myriad engineers demonstrating installation on an untested target device within minutes. Dalvik Turbo also supports a range of processors including those based on ARM, Intel Atom and MIPS Architectures.

As a founder of the Open handset Alliance (OHA) Myriad has contributed significantly to the Android platform and today continues to heavily invest in technological advances specifically targeted at Android. These include stand?alone applications such as a WAP browser, MMS messaging, SyncML client, DRM module and IMPS client. The company is also responsible for the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) framework within OHA, which is used for testing the compatibility of Android systems.

Myriad will be demonstrating Dalvik Turbo in action on its stand (AV86) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 15th?18th February 2010.

Article Link : Myriad Dalvik Turbo engine promises up to 3x faster Android apps

[hondamx525]

sounds good to me.

[ggrant3876]

I read that early this morning on T-Mobile site and it sounds really interesting.

[constellanation]

I would love to see this update soon!

[Pogy]

Sounds too good to be true, but I have no doubts that it is true. Here's why... since Android 2.0, Google has dumped an experimental build of a Dalvik JIT in the AOSP repository. Enabling this JIT gives a 2-3x performance boost across the board in all android apps and the OS.

The problem so far with the experimental JIT is the build quality is of alpha status. There are many breakages and incompatabilities that cause crashes. Googles Dalvik JIT has steadily been getting better with each release, and probably sometime this year we will see it become the default. I have no doubt that a 3rd party company, who has dedicated its resources entirely to developing a Dalvik JIT has beat google to the punch.