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Ergo GoTab Epic hands-on (video)

Daniel Cooper — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:55:00 EST

There's a new entrant in the cut-throat world of British budget tablet makers: Birmingham-based Ergo Electronics. It previewed its new GoTab line of Ice Cream Sandwich-powered slates and e-readers at this year's Gadget Show Live, but our interest was captivated by the most premium model: the GoTab Epic GTB9040. Interested in our impressions? Course you are, that's why you're going to read more after the break.

Gallery: Ergo GoTab Epic - Hands On

Continue reading Ergo GoTab Epic hands-on (video)

Ergo GoTab Epic hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alleged Exynos 5 specs leaked in slide show spyshot

Terrence O'Brien — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:28:00 EST

Did the murmurings about a quad-core Galaxy S III this morning leave you feeling a bit... meh? We don't blame you. Sure, four cores and integrated LTE sounds great but (and this is a big "but"), Cortex-A9 is old hat. What we really want to hear about are those upcoming Cortex-A15 chips. Well, this should get your blood flowing -- a slide has leaked, allegedly loaded with detailed Exynos 5 specs. Looks like initial entrants will have a pair of A15 cores running at 2GHz, backed up by a quad-core Mali T-604 MP4 GPU. All of that will supposedly be built with Samsung's new 32nm High-K Metal Gate process. We've been unable to independently verify these details, but they are in line with what we've been led to expect. Still, until some Sammy PR comes down the pipeline we're taking everything with a grain of salt.

[Thanks, John]

Alleged Exynos 5 specs leaked in slide show spyshot originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block

Sharif Sakr — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST

We know what you're thinking, because we initially thought it too, but this isn't your average AR. With the help of chip designer ARM, a number of developers are building a new type of augmented reality that is altogether more powerful than the usual sprite-on-a-surface routine. Instead of requiring well-lit, artificial and often indoor surfaces and markers, this new technology sucks every ounce of juice from a smartphone's processor in order to recognize, track and augment real-world 3D objects like people and buildings. It's still at an early stage and far from being practical, but the exclusive videos after the break ought to prove that this approach has potential. In fact, it's probably what augmented reality ought to have been in the first place. Read on for more.

Continue reading Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block

Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FXI's Cotton Candy gets a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich and Ubuntu, we go hands-on

Mat Smith — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:23:00 EST

This petite stick of USB-HDMI actually houses a ARM Cortex A9 dual-core processor and is capable of running its own OS. But then, you knew that already, right? So what's new? Well, it's now capable of running both Android Ice Cream Sandwich and we've got Ubuntu running on the show floor. The dongle can connect to these operating systems through the USB connection and while Cotton Candy itself has no internal memory, it can all be stored on micro-SD. There's still the Ubuntu hiccups that are to be expected, but the prototype device still deals out a Firefox browser and the usual Ubuntu niceties. Marvel at Gingerbread-powered Angry Birds on a MacBook, or widescreen Ubuntu and ICS. They're all in our gallery after the break.

Gallery: FXI's Cotton Candy runs Ubuntu hands-on

FXI's Cotton Candy gets a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich and Ubuntu, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4S coming to China, Caribbean islands next week

Zach Honig — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:56:00 EST

Apple has announced that the iPhone 4S will be making its way to China and 21 other countries beginning next Friday, January 13th. The smartphone will reportedly launch on China Unicom just before the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Monday, January 23rd. Pricing has not been announced in local currencies, but is listed as $199, $299 and $399 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Apple China is clearly the most notable of the bunch, but other countries include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda. Jump past the break for the full PR from Apple.

Update: Apple got in touch to remind us that Siri will be updated to support Chinese at some point in 2012, along with Japanese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.

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iPhone 4S coming to China, Caribbean islands next week originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FXI's Cotton Candy could turn every screen you own into a cloud client

Daniel Cooper — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST

It's a truth universally acknowledged, that a user in possession of a good number of devices must be in want of a unified way to use them all. As it stands, that mythical interface doesn't exist; but hopefully that's set to change soon. Norway's FXI is heralding a device codenamed Cotton Candy; a USB/ HDMI stick that can connect to nearly anything that's packing a display. Inside the stick is a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 and quad-core ARM Mali-400MP GPU that can handle 1080p video, 802.11 b/g/n WIFi, Bluetooth v2.1 and microSD card storage, expandable up to 64GB. Plug it into a laptop or desktop and you'll be able to use a thin-layer client to access your personal cloud, or via HDMI into a HDTV to be controlled using Bluetooth peripherals, smartphones and tablets. Being able to open "your" desktop on any device means you can conduct presentations, access media content and surf the web without ties. FXI is a new player in the market, but the founder was previously the brains behind Falanx, which created the technology that powers ARM's Mali GPUs. It's working with various manufacturers with the aim of partnering up to get the devices into stores in the second half of next year, the expected cost being under $200 -- although we'd pay more if they threw in a bag of the real, teeth-destroying stuff.

Continue reading FXI's Cotton Candy could turn every screen you own into a cloud client

FXI's Cotton Candy could turn every screen you own into a cloud client originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linaro and Samsung roll out Exynos 4210-based Origen development board for $199

Richard Lai — Sun, 29 May 2011 23:26:00 EST

You may recall a little group of Linux-loving chums called Linaro, which was formed almost a year ago in the hopes of speeding up Linux development. Today at Computex, the company's taking one step further with the announcement of the Origen development board. Based on Samsung's beefy Exynos 4210 dual core chipset, the kit packs all the essential ports -- including HDMI, USB 2.0 host, SD slot, etc. -- for keen developers to get their hands dirty on, and its base board is also removable to accommodate future chipsets. Potential buyers are told to keep an eye on Insignal, which will soon be offering the basic Origen package for $199, along with optional parts at an extra cost.

Continue reading Linaro and Samsung roll out Exynos 4210-based Origen development board for $199

Linaro and Samsung roll out Exynos 4210-based Origen development board for $199 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 23:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG licenses ARM Cortex-A15 and Mali-T604 graphics, starts scheming up mobile processors of its own

Vlad Savov — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:28:00 EST

Some of LG's brightest attractions at the moment are the dual-core Optimus 2X and Optimus 3D smartphones and similarly equipped Optimus Pad tablet. The only problem with them? Those multicore chips are produced by NVIDIA for the 2X and Pad and Texas Instruments for the Optimus 3D, leaving LG a clear step behind its arch-nemesis Samsung who is producing its own dual-core system-on-chip. So what else could LG possibly do but buy its own ARM license -- specifically for the Cortex-A9 design that is dominating today and the Cortex-A15 with Mali-T604 graphics that promises to rule the mobile world from 2012 onwards -- and start churning out its own processors? The Korean company certainly has the budget, if not the manufacturing facilities, to produce such chips at volume, and we're all for seeing another competitor enter the ARM arena. This licensing deal also reminds us that the last fresh licensee to ARM's blueprints was Microsoft -- so we can now look forward to two industry giants bringing their technical expertise to this rapidly growing marketplace. See LG's full press release after the break.

Continue reading LG licenses ARM Cortex-A15 and Mali-T604 graphics, starts scheming up mobile processors of its own

LG licenses ARM Cortex-A15 and Mali-T604 graphics, starts scheming up mobile processors of its own originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's Exynos 4210 flexes 3D gaming muscle at GDC 2011 (video)

Sean Hollister — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:10:00 EST

What might Android gaming look like on a Samsung Galaxy S II? You're staring it in the face right now. We spotted Samsung's Orion / Exynos 4210 at GDC 2011, showing off the power of its dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU and Mali-400 graphics on a nice big 1080p television screen --- with a completely playable asteroid obstacle course that ran at a butter-smooth 60 frames per second in stereoscopic 3D. ARM representatives told us the chip actually has even more headroom, but was actually constrained by its HDMI 1.3 port, and could push stereoscopic content at up to 70fps if their reference board had HDMI 1.4. When we asked if there were any plans to publish the TrueForce space shooter demo, ARM said it might indeed be done; the company's thinking of releasing it on the Android Market as a benchmark of sorts.

Samsung's Exynos 4210 flexes 3D gaming muscle at GDC 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild

Sean Hollister — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:36:00 EST

We know it's a little tough to get excited about a chip, even if that chip is the hotly anticipated Samsung Orion. Still, bear with us, because this isn't your average slab of cellphone silicon -- the Orion's got a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a quad-core Mali 400 GPU on board. We spotted it at the ARM Technology Conference this week where it was pimping "Linaro" Linux middleware, as well as some stock Android 2.2. Unfortunately, the development boards still have a few kinks, so representatives couldn't show it pumping all those pixels to nearby HDTVs -- though we did get a butter-smooth demo of Futuremark's old Cyber Samurai benchmark running on the smaller screen. There are still rumors of this chip hitting some products late this year, but next year is much more likely. Either way, we're expecting some pretty impressive benchmarks from this thing when it inevitably winds up in the next Galaxy Tab or a flagship phone of some sort.

Gallery: Samsung Orion 1GHz SoC with Mali 400 GPU

Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM intros next-gen Mali-T604 embedded GPU, Samsung first to get it (update: video)

Chris Ziegler — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:52:00 EST

Promising "visually rich user experiences not previously seen in consumer electronics devices," ARM has introduced its latest embedded GPU architecture, Mali-T604, at its Technology Conference 2010 in California today. Though we're unlikely to see it in devices any time soon, the introduction means that the new design is available to ARM licensees -- and notably, the company points out that partner Samsung will be the first to get hooked up. Considering Sammy competes in the high-end embedded system-on-chip space already with its ARM-based Hummingbird line of cores, adding in the Mali-T604 is probably the next logical step for them. ARM says that it's designed "specifically" with the needs of general purpose GPU computing in mind and includes extensive support both for OpenCL and DirectX, so look for some insane number-crunching capabilities on your next-generation phone, tablet, and set-top box. Follow the break for ARM's press release.

Update: We sat down with ARM's Jem Davies to get some more details about the new Mali, and discovered it's only the first of several potential next-gen GPUs to come as part of the Midgard platform -- while this particular processor is available with up to four shader cores, successors might have more. The T604 itself is no slouch, though, as it can theoretically deliver two to five times the performance of the company's existing Mali 400 GPUs core for core and clock for clock -- which themselves run circles around the PowerVR SGX 540 competition if you take ARM at its word. Davies told us that not only does the Mali-T604 do DirectX, it supports the game-friendly DirectX11 as well as the always-popular OpenGL ES 2.0, and will appear in an system-on-a-chip together with an ARM Cortex-A15 "Eagle" CPU, when both are eventually baked into silicon several years down the road. Of course, in the eyes of marketers the future is always now, so get a look at conceptual uses (hint: augmented reality) for ARM's new Mali right after the break.

Additional reporting by Sean Hollister

Continue reading ARM intros next-gen Mali-T604 embedded GPU, Samsung first to get it (update: video)

ARM intros next-gen Mali-T604 embedded GPU, Samsung first to get it (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Socle Technology's ARM-powered, 1080p tablet platform due later this year

Joseph L. Flatley — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:39:00 EST

Socle Technology, a system-on-a-chip manufacturer based in Taiwan, has just announced its sPad A11 design and development platform. Consisting of the GlobalFoundries 65nm chipset, the ARM 1176 CPU and FPU core, Mali 3D Graphic Core, and a full HD 1080p Video CODEC application processor, this bad boy supports multitasking, 3D graphics, and sports a camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. This is a device for those of you who believe there aren't enough Android tablets in the world -- or at least for those of you who realize that the Intel Atom and the Apple A4 aren't the only games in town. Are you an enterprising young businessman or woman hoping to get into the slate game, and in a hurry? We thought so (you do have that "look" about you). The company promises that this thing'll be available sometime in the second half of this year. For more info, peep the PR after the break.

Continue reading Socle Technology's ARM-powered, 1080p tablet platform due later this year

Socle Technology's ARM-powered, 1080p tablet platform due later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's A4 chip is ARM Cortex A9 with an ARM Mali GPU?

Vlad Savov — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:44:00 EST

For some of us, amid all the hubbub about revolutions and whatnot yesterday, the most significant announcement on hand was Apple's supposedly custom A4 CPU. Alas, in the cold and brutal light of the morning after, we're hearing that it is in fact a system-on-a-chip driven by a Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU "identical" to the one found inside NVIDIA's Tegra 2, while besting the iPhone 3GS significantly with its 1GHz speed and multicore architecture. The A4 is composed of that Cortex barnburner, an integrated memory controller, and the Mali GPU, making it an all ARM affair -- though we still don't know how much Apple and PA Semi did in terms of arranging and integrating those components within the silicon. While still not 100 percent confirmed, it would seem there were no revolutions on the iPad's processing front -- just a rebranded bit of well engineered hardware.

Apple's A4 chip is ARM Cortex A9 with an ARM Mali GPU? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers

Darren Murph — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:31:00 EST

It's one thing for ARM to develop a potent GPU meant to add impressive 3D capabilities to devices that were previously forced to run the likes of "Snake," but it's another thing entirely to see a platform and semiconductor company come forward and take it one step closer to the mainstream. ST-Ericsson has done just that with its U8500 platform, which is the first to integrate ARM's Mali-400 graphics processing unit into a solution that can be easily fitted into future phones. Think your iPhone 3GS GPU is mighty enough? Hop on past the break and mash play -- it'll make those fancy water reflections you're currently drooling over look downright ugly.

[Via B4Tech, thanks Chris]

Continue reading ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers

Filed under: Games, Multimedia

ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers

Darren Murph — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:13:00 EST

Continue reading ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

ST-Ericsson's U8500 platform gives your next smartphone wicked 3D powers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video)

Tim Stevens — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:57:00 EST

It's been a long time since ARM last bragged about its Mali line of high-end mobile processors, telling us back in March how the 200 and 400 models were going to bring high-def 3D performance to tiny gadgets. Finally we have some videos to go with the hype, two demonstrations showing the phone's admittedly impressive polygon-shuffling tech. The demos feature the lower-end Mali-200 rendering everything at 720p, playing some simple videos and also handling a rather complex 3D contact navigation system that looks both flashy and painful to use. ARM says "play a game of bowling like never before and you'll get hooked by the magic of Mali." Click on through already, and prepare to be hooked.

Continue reading ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video)

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ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video)

Tim Stevens — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:57:00 EST

Continue reading ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Portable Video

ARM shows off its Mali mobile processors with impressive 3D demos, also bowling (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New high-end ARM processors could be powering cellphones by year end

Donald Melanson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST

ARM has been talking up its Mali-200 and Mali-400 processors for a little while now, but according to the company's graphics product manager, Remi Pedersen, they're now finally on track to land in some actual products, and the first cellphones using 'em could show up as soon as winter 2009. While Pedersen unfortunately didn't have anything to say about those phones themselves, he did make some pretty bold claims about the processors, which are able to run OpenGL ES 2.0 and can supposedly pump out 16 million triangles per second and 275 million pixels per second. Those numbers apparently apply to both the Mali-200 and Mali-400, although the later is multicore scalable (up to quad-core at 300MHz), and even able to produce 1080p resolutions. To bring all that home, ARM has whipped up a port of the original Project Gotham Racing game to demo at GDC, which reportedly runs just like the original Xbox game performance-wise, but "feature-wise it looks like an Xbox 360 title."

Filed under: Multimedia

New high-end ARM processors could be powering cellphones by year end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New high-end ARM processors could be powering cellphones by year end

Donald Melanson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

New high-end ARM processors could be powering cellphones by year end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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