I see a couple immediate problems.
It looks like it's an ARM based processor, so they would probably have to compile PianoTeq for ARM. I'm no expert, but I think that even though ARM is similar to x86, code can't run on both natively without modification.
Also, pretty obviously, they're not very powerful compared to even a normal everyday laptop. The Dhrystone measurement does not include floating point performance (wikipedia is our friend), and I recall hearing that PT absolutely requires good floating point performance. The ARMv7 (aka Cortex) does have floating-point capabilities though, so it might technically be possible to run an ARM version of Pianoteq, if they ever made it. It would probably be best if it were running alone, without the burden of an actual OS. Interesting.... Still, an embedded, standalone Pianoteq device would probably be better off running a higher-power processor not designed for mobile devices.
The Cortex processor looks very interesting. It's amazing how much power they can get out of such a small and low-powered device. You'll definitely be seeing these in smartphones, etc. But as far as raw performance, it's still not in the same league as the simplest desktop processor.
EDIT: I don't mean to be so pessimistic about ARM based PianoTeq. The architecture itself has nothing that would prevent it from running well. It's just the goals they have when they design ARM processors. If they made an ARM processor that wasn't so concerned about low power usage, it could easily be made fast enough to run this kind of program.
EDIT #2: I just saw that this exact ARM core that the Overo has (Cortex-A8) is what the new iPhone 3G S has. Interesting.
Last edited by JerryKnight (20-06-2009 16:41)