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Stephen Fry on the Phone

Stephen Fry on the Phone: Episode 5: The Chips Inside Smartphones

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Episode 5

Episode 5: The Chips Inside Smartphones

The Chips Inside Smartphones

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Stephen Fry on the Phone, The Chips Inside Smartphones

Meet the pioneers who designed small silicon chips, a perfect size for pocket-sized phones

Meet the pioneers who designed small silicon chips, a perfect size for the next generation of pocket-sized phones. From November 2011.

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.

There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.

All mobile phones rely on hyper-intelligent silicon chips to run them. And the astonishing thing is 85% of the silicon chips inside all mobile phones are designed by one Cambridge-based company, ARM. Stephen Fry talks to the pioneers who designed these chips. They needed some micro-processors to build a better home computer, but didn't like what they saw and decided to make their own. Strapped for cash, they designed chips that were small, cheap and exceptionally low power and, quite by chance, ideally suited to the next generation of pocket-sized mobile phones. Not to mention today's power-hungry smartphones.

Producer: Anna Buckley.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices of today

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Episode 5: The Chips Inside Smartphones

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