       Comments     Threshold   By MercenaryForHire on 7/19/2006
3:29:19 PM , Rating: 1 "Embedded" does not always equal
"handheld/PDA/cellphone."  By TomZ on 7/19/2006 10:30:47 PM ,
Rating: 2  That's very true, but outside of that space the
battery requirement drops out but the x86 requirement still
doesn't drop in. I only see x86 in some applications like
industrial control where PC hardware is re-used in small form
factors like PC/104 in order to leverage PC development tools.
Beyond that, x86 is too inefficient to be able to compete with
other architectures like PowerPC, ARM, etc. in high-volume
applications, because they are simpler, cheaper, and also
typically include a bunch of on-board peripherals that are
specialized for a particular task (e.g., engine control). The
low end of the microcontroller market is really competitive, and
x86 offerings have no traction there.