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Super Talent debuts CoreStore MV, super small, super fast mini PCIe SSD
Super Talent is living up to its name today with the release of the world's "smallest and fastest" mini PCIe SSD. When we last took a look at the company's mini PCIe offerings, they were rocking 40MBps reads and 15MBps writes, but with the release of the new CoreStore SSD line, these exceptional storage makers have destroyed those 2009 specs with speeds topping out at 350MBps and 80MBps. The speedy CoreStore MV measures a mere 30mm x 50.95mm, combines Marvell's latest controller with DDR ONFi 2 flash, and is compatible with netbooks, notebooks, and other devices sporting a second gen mini-PCIe slot. Those devices working a standard PCIe slot can expect 350MBps reads and 220MBps writes with MV's big brother, the CoreStore MP. Both drives come in 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB and should be available starting next month at an undisclosed price -- though we figure true speed freaks will pay just about anything to get their fix. Jonesing for specs? Check out the source link below.
Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip 'world phone' solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video)
Claiming to be the "world's first" single chip solution with 3G UMTS and China's fave TD-SCDMA (with HSPA support), Marvell's using its MWC 2011 time to unveil the PXA978 chip with 1.2GHz clockspeeds and a 40nm size. Alongside that, the company's announced Kinoma Play as a barebones, no-nonsense platform with Android underneath the skin. A developer SDK is in the works, and if you're so inclined, video and press releases are after the break. Rest assured, we'll be swinging by Marvell's booth this week to see it for ourselves.
Marvell unveils Avastar 88W8797, first wireless SoC for mobile devices with 2x2 MIMO
The days of the shotgun modem live on with MIMO -- multiple-input and multiple-output adapters that offer numerous antennas to aggregate numerous parallel connections. Marvell just became the first to put such a solution on a tiny SoC, debuting its Avastar 88W8797 with dual 802.11n connectivity for transmission and receiving. This allows for 300Mbps transfers along with Bluetooth 4.0 and even FM transmission and reception, all built into a single chip with "advanced power management designed specifically for handheld products such as smartphones and tablets." You know what that means: shotgun WiFi in next-gen mobile devices. Yee haw!
Dreamplug is the low-powered, lilliputian PC for people with really boring dreams
Sure, tiny-ass PCs are nothing new, but as power increases and prices drop, things definitely get more interesting. Take, for instance, Globalscale's DreamPlug: your hard earned $150 will get you a 1.2GHz Marvell Sheeva ARM processor, 512MB of DDR 2 (800MHz) RAM, 1GB storage, not one but two gigabit ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA 2.0 port, SD card slot, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth, and a headphone jack. And it all sits in the plug itself! And it draws a scant five watts of power. Of course, this isn't gonna replace your trusty desktop, but we're sure you can think of all sorts of clever uses for this bad boy. Set to start shipping sometime this month, hit the source link to get started.
QNAP's new Turbo NAS line features iOS streaming via WiFi, 3G
If you're really serious about flooding your home and / or workspace with your legally obtained digital movies and music -- and we mean, really serious -- QNAP's Turbo NAS is clearly worth a good look. The company's latest addition to the family (known as the TS-x12 line) sports a Marvell 1.2GHz CPU, 256MB of RAM, gigabit Ethernet ports, and the RAID and iSCSI support of its predecessors. Additionally, the TS-112 (single drive), TS-212 (dual drive) and TS-412 (you guessed it, four drives) include iOS WiFi and 3G streaming for your various Apple devices -- and it plays nicely with your PS3 and Xbox 360 via UPnP. Look for these bad boys this month, for a price to be announced. PR after the break.
Marvell-powered OLPC XO 1.75 only draws two watts of power, finally charges via hand crank
Here's something you may not know -- OLPC's XO hand crank has never really worked to recharge the kiddie laptop. Why? Well, the previous versions were powered by x86 AMD and VIA processors that pulled too much power. However, things are different now with the XO 1.75 since OLPC has baked in Marvell's 1GHz Armada chip. As a result, the entire system now only pulls two watts of power, and thus the battery can be given some more juice with a few turns of that neon green crank. It's not meant to recharge the laptop completely -- actually, according to OLPC's CTO Edward McNierney, it would take about two hours of cranking to top off the system. Other than the fresh ARM CPU, the new model is identical to the previous versions -- it has an outdoor readable PixelQi display, Flash storage, a rubber keyboard, and runs Sugar OS. On a different note, OLPC is hard at work on the tablet version of the XO and, according to McNierney, the only hold up is finding a more durable, plastic display -- converting the current system into a tablet should be fairly easy since all the guts are in the display part already. The tablet is still on track for 2012, while the XO 1.75 should be with the hand-cranking children by the end of the summer. %Gallery-113451%
Aluratek goes boldly where many have gone before, announces Libre Air e-reader and Cinepad tablet (update)
In what appears to be Aluratek's latest feat of badge engineering, the company's outing a familiar pair of slates -- a 5-inch reflective TFT LCD e-reader and a 10-inch Android tablet. Aluratek's calling the former the Libre Air, and says it's nigh-identical to last year's Libre Pro save the addition of WiFi, a curved chassis and a $130 price price point. Meanwhile, the spacious capacitive touchscreen at right (which ships with Adobe Flash Lite) belongs to the Cinepad. Last time we saw the Foxconn-sourced tablet, it ran Android 1.6 on a Marvell Armada 100 SoC and a fairly unimpressive screen, so things had better have changed drastically -- Aluratek's pricing it at $300 when it ships next month. PR after the break. Update: Aluratek tells us the Cinepad now runs Android 2.2 on a 1024 x 600 screen, and has a 2600mAh battery that should last five to ten hours on a charge. %Gallery-112646%
OnLive Game System review
We're still a little ways away from completely disposable laptops that do everything in the cloud, but if all you want is a completely virtual game console connected to your TV, you can buy one right now. Eight years after the Phantom slowly got laughed off the face of the planet, the OnLive MicroConsole fulfills the same basic promise: it's a box less than an inch tall that streams games from powerful remote servers. We already told you what to expect from the OnLive's Game System, but now that we've given it our all, we can help you find the answer to the only remaining question: is it worth your funds? %Gallery-107700%
OnLive MicroConsole torn down, Marvell Armada found lurking within
When Marvell was still teasing its Armada processor company co-founder Sehat Sutardja said it would be showing up in "a new gaming platform" -- but he kinda left us hanging after that. Four months later it's looking like we might have found it. Reader David Fisher was kind enough to tear his OnLive Microconsole down to its requisite bits, spreading them upon his kitchen countertop and exposing the Marvell Armada lurking within. Other specs include 512MB of RAM, an unknown quantity of Samsung ROM, and networking chips also from Marvell. There you have it: another mystery of the world solved thanks to your friend the screwdriver. %Gallery-110533% [Thanks, David]
Dockstar FreeAgent hacked into inexpensive emulation masterpiece (video)
Hello, multipurpose! Seagate's Pogoplug-based FreeAgent DockStar -- at least at a glance -- isn't much good to those who aren't buying up DockStar HDDs. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll realize that this minuscule adapter packs a 1.2GHz Marvell processor, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM. There's also a smattering of USB ports and an Ethernet socket; add that all up, and you've got a hacker's playground. One Hunter Davis decided to see just how much he could squeeze out of this here peripheral, which can be widely found for as little as $25 nowadays. Thanks to a copy of Debian Linux, a good bit of programming know-how, a DisplayLink USB-to-VGA adapter and a USB sound adapter, he was able to concoct a homegrown emulation console that could handle nearly everything he threw at it. 'Course, you'll have to spring for those other parts if you don't have a house full of random doodads, but once he figures out how to install a battery and make the entire setup portable... look out! Head on past the break for an in-action video.
Marvell prototypes a few good Android tablets, we go hands-on
It's a precarious time to show off new tech at this point -- can't make it to stores in time for holidays, guaranteed to get more exposure if debuted at January's Consumer Electronics Show. Not that Marvell cares, since its expertise is semiconductors -- the stuff with which OEM's dreams are made. The company was on hand at Pepcom showing off some reference designs for HD tablets with Android 2.2: 10-inch, 1280 x 780 resolution, and an Armada 600 chip. Reportedly it can also output to two external monitors, but all we got to see was one hooked up mirroring our game of Angry Birds. Thin and light, if a bit flimsy in its prototype form. We've been told the reference design has been used for a handful of products that'll show up on the CES show floor. Also on hand were a couple of more education-targeted slates with Armada 100 chips and price points planned in the $100 range (Moby, OLPC, is that you?). Check out our hands-on pics below! %Gallery-107823%
OLPC XO-3 debut delayed till February as the quest continues for an 'unbreakable' screen
You'll read about many a wonder at CES this January, but you can cross the OLPC XO-3 off the list -- One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte told PC World that the slate's debut has been pushed back roughly 45 days, until the middle of February instead. Whether the Marvell Moby-based tablet turns out to be a sexy, paper-thin device or a chunky contraption wasn't discussed, but Negroponte did have a simple explanation for the delay -- he needed a suitable surface to cover that probable Pixel Qi touchscreen. "The issue has been really finding an unbreakable material," he said, hinting that "it may be glass or some flavor of glass," rather than plastic as originally planned. Might we suggest a taste test at the Corning laboratories, Mr. Negroponte? We hear they have a Gorilla that does quite nicely. Video after the break.
Marvell shows OLPC some serious love with a $5.6 million grant for XO-3 tablet
Marvell and One Laptop Per Child's close partnership has been no secret, but according to Xconomy, Marvell's about to put a whole lot more green into the XO. The semiconductor company is forking over $5.6 million to fund the creation of the next gen XO-3 tablet, and according to OLPC founder and former Engadget Show guest Nicholas Negroponte, it's still slated for a 2012 release. Obviously, the tablet will be based on Marvell's SoC -- though, there's no telling which version of Armada will be up for grabs by then. Additionally, Marvell and OLPC will be showing another tablet at CES, but this one is apparently for children of the developed world and won't carry OLPC's brand. Our guess is that it'll be something closer to the Android-running Moby than to the plastic, bendable, Pixel Qi-equipped XO-3. It's all sounding rather confusing to us, but hey, at least the kids won't have a shortage of tablets to choose from.
Malata launches a candy-colored educational smartbook, we give it a whirl
The tablet craze may have pushed smartbooks out of the spotlight, but don't tell Malata that -- the ODM's launching an ARM-powered mini laptop in China this very week. Spotted at Mobilize 2010, the Malata T9000 is a cute-as-a-button blue and black clamshell with a 10-inch, 1024 x 600 screen and a Marvell Armada 166 inside, running a Chinese version of Linux (on an 8GB SSD) designed for the educational market. It's almost certainly cheap and underpowered, but we weren't really able to tell, as the UI didn't actually launch any usable applications when we randomly clicked on the icons strewn about. That said, it's got a fairly usable, springy little keyboard and a good number of ports, so it might be fun to tinker with, but we won't shed a tear if the machine never makes it stateside. %Gallery-103875%
Marvell's quad-core Armada processor won't see tablets or phones, destined for a mystery game platform
Looks like that quad-core Armada processor won't be having apps for breakfast after all -- confronting Marvell's Jack Kang at Mobilize 2010, he told us the chips proved too power-hungry for devices without a dedicated cord. That doesn't mean we won't see them soon, however, as the man let slip that it's actually the quad-core chip that will appear in a new game system, though we can probably rule out the Nintendo 3DS for the same reason as the phones. Marvell's still hoping to get in the mobile market in a big way, though, and that's what the tri-core Armada 628 is all about, which uses low power profiles to save battery life. According to Kang, however, the system's actually a little more exciting than that -- its two up-to-1.5GHz cores kick in when the system's under a multimedia strain, but actually shut off completely for day-to-day use, relying instead on the third 624MHz processor which slowly sips your battery juice. All we know is, we'd better find out which devices will sport these chips, and soon -- our curiosity is beginning to gnaw.
Marvell unveils 1.5GHz triple-core application processor, all current smartphones look on in envy
Marvell's decided to whip out the "game changer" tag for its latest slice of silicon, but when you read the spec sheet that accompanies it, you might be willing to forgive it. Just this once. The new Armada 628 application processor delivers three cores, two of which crank along at 1.5GHz, and enough graphical prowess to churn 200 million triangles a second. You might remember we were once impressed by the Hummingbird's 90 million -- yeah, not so much anymore. The 628 is capable of 1080p 3D video and graphics (meaning it can sustain two simultaneous 1080p streams, one for each eye) and pledges to have an "ultra" low power profile: more than 10 hours of 1080p video or 140 hours of music playback are on offer. If that's not enough, it's also the first mobile SOC to include USB 3.0 support, adding yet another speed crown to its bulging resume. Now if it can also be SuperSpeedy in coming to market, that'd be just swell.
Entourage Pocket Edge in the wild at Marvell event, scared out of hiding by Schwarzenegger
What's this -- the slim, Verizon-bound successor to the Entourage Edge, out in plain sight? Just so, because Marvell wanted to look its best when the Governator came by. When California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger toured Marvell headquarters as part of a trade mission to Asia, a Forbes camera crew tagged along, and got us this first glimpse of the "Verizon Pocket Edge" shown immediately above. Though it's hard to tell what's changed from this angle -- save a lack of front-facing camera on the right -- a second photo taken by the Associated Press (after the break) shows the e-reader is significantly smaller in size, so perhaps it's the 7-inch device we were originally told about. Hats off to The Digital Reader for spotting the device, weeks after the newswires had packed up and moved on.
Rydeen hopes to cash in on tablet fever with Android-based, Armada-powered PND
You may never have heard of auto electronics provider Rydeen Mobile, but it certainly knows of you -- or more specifically, your desire to obtain a slick new tablet PC -- and has thus created an 7-inch Android tablet that integrates the dedicated map functionality of its GPS machines. The "gPad" GCOM701 won't be a terribly high-end device, mind you, with an 800MHz ARMADA 166 SOC, 256MB of RAM, bring-your-own-microSD-storage and what we're led to believe is a resistive touchscreen, but it sounds like at least Rydeen isn't being stingy on the software front. You'll find a full suite of Google Apps, Adobe Flash Lite 4 and AVI support, not to mention 4 million points of interest thanks to the integrated Navteq client. Connectivity include GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, both mini and full-sized USB ports, plus a front-facing camera for video chat, and there's a 2400mAh battery the company claims will provide six hours of solid use. Find it this November at an unspecified price, no doubt alongside the pictured (but not mentioned) car dock.
Marvell says Armada chips will power new game platform
Marvell's been teasing potent little processors for over a year now, but we've yet to see the firm's Armada appear in anything we'd actually want... but co-founder Sehat Sutardja just let slip that Marvell silicon will power a genuine game console of some sort. "Approximately 15% of the sequential increase [in quarterly sales] was due to the initial production revenue from our ARMADA application processors, primarily as a result of a major customer preparing to launch a new gaming platform," he told investors in a conference call last week, which roughly translates to "We just sold a load of processors for a new game console, yo" if our business-speak is correct. While there's absolutely nothing connecting this transaction to Nintendo's 3DS (which was confirmed to have a Pica200 GPU), we honestly can't think of a single other game platform slated to launch anytime soon -- so don't be surprised if there's a quad-core Armada 600 under that variably-stereoscopic hood. [Thanks, Roxanne]
4Home, Marvell partner for energy monitoring plug computer
If you asked Intel what this is, the company would tell you it's an experimental power sensor; if you asked a storage guru, they'd ID it as the PogoPlug. Truth be told, it's a miniature Linux computer designed by Marvell -- who's apparently decided to beat Intel at the former function. Through a partnership with 4Home, Marvell's latest 2GHz SheevaPlug will become a smart meter that measures power consumption right from the outlet, ostensibly allowing you to figure out which blasted light the kids left on this time without shoving a pricey home automation kit into your walls. No word on how much it'll cost to keep tabs on your energy bill or when you'll be able to do it, but we'll ask those important questions and more when we see the device for ourselves later this week. PR after the break.
