MediaTek
Latest
The Blocks modular smartwatch will always be a concept
It's been several years since Blocks had its initial 15 minutes of fame, capturing the internet's attention with the idea of a modular smartwatch. The first prototypes were about as rough and ready as they could feasibly get, but the public's appetite for the ambitious product hadn't waned by the time the crowdfunding campaign started over a year later. More than $1.6 million in pledges and another few years of development, and the Blocks smartwatch is kinda, finally here. But so much has changed in the interim. Project Ara is dead, modularity isn't the buzzword it once was and we've gone from not knowing if we really need a smartphone accessory on our wrist to a saturated smartwatch market. But the founding fathers of Blocks still believe they have something unique to offer.
AMD claims LG and Vizio are violating its graphics patents
AMD is one of the few remaining companies with a big stake in graphics hardware (it's powering the PS4 and Xbox One in addition to PCs), and it's determined to hold on to that stake however it can. In the wake of an earlier filing, the US International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate LG, MediaTek, Sigma Designs and Vizio for allegedly violating AMD's graphics patents. Allegedly, the visual processing in their devices (including phones, mobile CPUs and TVs) treads on AMD's concepts for unified graphics shaders and parallel graphics pipelines. AMD is hoping for a sales ban on any offending products.
MediaTek's revamped 10-core chip will be hitting phones in Q2
MediaTek's first 10-core chips, the Helio X20 and X25, didn't exactly storm the smartphone market last year, but the company isn't ready to give up just yet. Following MediaTek's initial announcement back in September, the new 10-core Helio X30 is now finally entering mass production, with the first devices expected to arrive some time in Q2 this year. For those who aren't already familiar with this piece of silicon, the X30 is MediaTek's first move into 10nm fabrication, allowing it to join the likes of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 and Samsung's Exynos 9 Series 8895.
Motorola's metal body Moto M launches with ho-hum specs
Motorola has just launched the 5.5-inch mid-range Moto M by way of its listing on Tmall (China's equivalent of Amazon). The Moto lineup always garners a lot of interest, thanks to previous stellar models like the Moto G and Moto X Pure Edition. However, the latest model is a bit disappointing. It does have a splash-proof metal unibody and brand new rear fingerprint sensor, but at $295, it's specifications are wanting next to rival devices.
LG's new $150 midrange phone packs a huge battery
If your main concern with a phone is battery life, and basically nothing else, this new LG device could be up your alley. The LG X Power is available on Boost Mobile for $150, and comes with an impressive 4,100mAh battery. Everything else about the new handset is pretty meh. The 5.3-inch machine only has a HD resolution, runs the somewhat outdated Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and has relatively poorer 8-megapixel and 5 MP rear and front cameras. I'd say the price justified the specs, but there are better phones out there for the money.
MediaTek's 10-core mobile chip hits the market next month
As a believer of the old "quality not quantity" saying, Qualcomm backed away from octa core in favor of just four custom-designed cores for its Snapdragon 820 chipset. MediaTek, being the pioneer of octa-core mobile CPU, simply shrugged and teased its upcoming 10-core, tri-cluster Helio X20 last May. So where is it now? Well, at today's Shenzhen event, MediaTek co-COO and EVP Jeffrey Ju told Engadget that the first Helio X20 devices will finally be hitting the markets next month. To heat things up a little, MediaTek also announced the Helio X25 which is just a faster version of the Helio X20: 2.5GHz instead of 2.3GHz for the Cortex-A72 performance cluster, and 850MHz instead of 780MHz for the Mali-T880 MP4 GPU. This will also be getting to consumers' hands soon after the Helio X20, according to the exec.
MediaTek's octa-core mobile chip focuses on efficiency
Back in June, MediaTek announced its Helio P10 mobile chipset, which will offer octa-core processing and faster LTE to the masses; today, we know that it'll finally be getting into consumers' hands by way of the Sony Xperia XA. So what's next? The Helio P20, of course. Compared to its predecessor, this new chip -- also featuring eight Cortex-A53 cores and LTE Cat 6 -- is a notable upgrade in terms of power efficiency as it'll be fabricated with a 16nm FinFET+ process instead of the old 28nm. For the same reason, the CPU has been allowed to go beyond the old 2GHz limit to 2.3GHz, and the old Mali-T860 GPU has been switched to ARM's cream-of-the-crop Mali-T880 running at 900MHz. As a bonus, the P20 features the same Imagiq image signal processor as the flagship 10-core X20.
HTC's new pixel-density champ is the One ME
Oh, HTC, we're starting to lose track of all your tempting Asia-only models. The Taiwanese company has just revealed the One ME, which is basically an M9+ with less metal and no Duo camera (as rumored). We understand if you're having trouble keeping up, so here are the boilerplate specs. The ME has a polycarbonate body with a metal frame like the 5.5-inch E9+, but with a smaller 5.2-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) screen for a stunning 565 ppi -- making it HTC's sharpest phone to date. The CPU is a MediaTek Helio X10 eight-core job running at 2.2GHz with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage expandable to 2TB via microSDXC.
MediaTek's Helio P10 offers octa-core and faster LTE on the cheap
It's only been half a month since MediaTek announced a 10-core mobile processor, the Helio X20, as its flagship product for next year, but the company is already prepping a slightly lesser model to stay true to its roots. Meet the Helio P10, the first member of the "premium performance" family (while the X family is for "extreme performance"). For the CPU alone, this 28nm SoC sits somewhere in between the X10 -- the one that's inside the HTC One M9+ -- and the X20 as it has eight 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores that go up to 2GHz. It's obviously not a proper powerhouse given the lack of Cortex-A57 cores, but that should be good news for your device's battery.
Yes, 10-core smartphones will be a thing in 2016
When MediaTek first launched an octa-core mobile processor back in late 2013, many folks -- including Qualcomm -- called it a gimmick, but said feature has since become quite popular amongst device manufacturers, to the point where Qualcomm eventually had to come up with its very own octa-core offerings. Just to stay one step ahead of others, MediaTek is now prepping the launch of a deca-core aka 10-core chip dubbed the Helio X20, which will succeed the octa-core Helio X10 (MT6795) that's already powering HTC's Asia-only One M9+ plus several upcoming Chinese flagship phones. MediaTek is sampling its new chip in Q3, and the first commercial devices to use it will arrive as early as end of this year.
MediaTek's standard lets your devices share their hardware
There are plenty of standards for sharing your media collection between devices, but what if you want to borrow a device's camera or display? MediaTek thinks it has an answer. Its new CrossMount standard lets devices share their hardware and software when they're on the same WiFi network, letting you use whichever components make sense in a given situation. You can use your phone's mic to dictate voice commands to your TV, for example, or use your phone's webcam for a video chat on your tablet.
ARM's latest processor design puts fast 4K graphics on your phone
You've probably heard no end of hype for 4K video on TVs and computers, and now it's about to invade your phone... at least, so long as ARM has its way. The company just took the wraps off of Cortex-A72, a processor reference design that promises a huge boost to computing power, especially when graphics come into play. Thanks to updates that include optimizations for an efficient 16-nanometer chipmaking process, 30 percent more memory performance and an 80 percent speedier graphics core (the Mali-T880), the A72 is about 3.5 times more powerful than ARM's earlier Cortex-A15. That's beefy enough to record 4K video at an extra-smooth 120 frames per second -- many current smartphones only manage 30FPS at best. You should get "console-class" gaming, too, and there's a promise of Google Now-style natural voice commands that don't depend on a distant server to interpret what you're saying.
Omate adds two new circular smartwatches to its affordable collection
Omate's well known for bringing stylish smartwatches to the mass market, as we've seen with last year's $129 X (pictured left) and $169 Lutetia (second from left). To kick off 2015, the company is leveraging the same MediaTek Aster chipset (MT2502) plus the Lutetia's near-circular, always-on color transflective touchscreen to bring out two new designs: the Panerai-inspired Roma (second from right), and the Racer which is the "sport-oriented alter ego" of its round siblings. As before, the two new models will function mainly as notification watches with basic activity tracking plus customizable watch face, so they should offer the same week-long battery life. For those who want to give the rugged Racer a spin (we have a 360-degree view of it after the break), Omate's website will be taking pre-orders for just $99 per unit between January 5th and 15th, and after that it'll be bumped up to $129 until January 31st, with shipments expected in as early as end of February. There's no info regarding the metallic Roma just yet, but Omate's new partnership with the Richline Group will be offering these watches in US and UK retailers -- including jewelry stores -- this March.
Omate's Lutetia is a smartwatch that women may actually like
Samsung, Pebble, LG and others may have already released a good handful of smartwatches, but most are too bulky or masculine, and we've yet to come across one that's dedicated to the ladies. That's about to change thanks to Omate, whose team of women led the designing and engineering efforts on the upcoming Lutetia. Most notably, we're looking at a near-circular, always-on transflective LCD that's similar to the one featured on the Alcatel Wave, and it's covered with a curved, sapphire-coated glass piece. The body -- available in silver, rose gold and gold -- comes in shiny stainless steel with matching beaded wristband for a premium feminine look.
MediaTek's new chips save your precious time and money with built-in compression
While Opera Max is slowly making official launches around the world, this cloud-based data-compression service has just nabbed another partner -- and it's a pretty big one, too. Today, the Norwegian company announced that MediaTek will be embedding its app in two of its LTE-enabled 64-bit chipsets: the octa-core MT6752 and the quad-core MT6732. What this means is that should manufacturers want to integrate Opera Max into their MediaTek-powered devices (our understanding is that this feature is optional), they wouldn't have to spend time on testing the app, ergo shorter time to market. And of course, the end user gets to load pages, music and video clips faster anywhere on the device (unlike how the Opera browser only compresses data that are loaded within it), while also saving "up to 50 percent" of bandwidth, courtesy of Opera's cloud servers. That said, the service doesn't process encrypted links, for obvious reasons. For those who aren't familiar with Opera Max, feel free to check out the new video after the break.
Omate's next smartwatch is all about fashion without the premium (update: touchscreen confirmed)
As Omate's TrueSmart cellular watch approaches its first anniversary, the startup decided to let its previous Kickstarter backers in on its next project. According to the teaser update, September 1st will see the launch of a fashion-oriented wearable dubbed the Omate X, which features a sleeker metallic design and a removable 22mm genuine leather strap. The catch is that unlike the Android-powered TrueSmart, the Omate X functions as a notification companion à la Pebble, which in return offers a battery life of up to a week. And as you'd expect, the new watch will work alongside your Android and iOS devices. The rest remains a mystery, but hopefully tomorrow's official announcement will show off the watch's UI, as well as confirming whether the touchscreen is here to stay.
Chromebooks can get cheaper thanks to new support for a low-end chip
You can pick up a Chromebook for a dirt-cheap $200, if you know where to shop. However, there are now signs that these Google-powered portables could get even cheaper. MediaTek has contributed code to Chromium OS (the base for Chrome OS) for a test device with an entry-level ARM Cortex-A7 processor -- a big step down from the relatively inexpensive Cortex-A15/A7 hybrid that Samsung uses, not to mention the Intel Celeron chips in other Chrome devices. Theoretically, this leads to Chromebooks and Chromeboxes that cost significantly less than $200, albeit after a big speed hit. Just as with phones and tablets, a Cortex-A7 system is likely to be pretty sluggish.
Xiaomi's next-gen budget phone shows up with octa-core chip, larger screen
Xiaomi's sub-$130 budget line, the Redmi (previously known as Hongmi aka "Red Rice"), has been credited for accelerating the company's expansion into Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, with nearby countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand soon to be added to the list. While this is a recent development, the company's already prepping a follow-up model, according to four new listings on China's TENAA certification database. As you can see, this upcoming device is marked with red Android buttons on the front, which gives away its Redmi identity. It'll feature a 5.5-inch, 720p IPS display (a bump from the current 4.7-inch version), as well as Android 4.2.2, 1GB of RAM and an octa-core processor (our guess is MediaTek, again) coming in two versions: 1.4GHz and 1.7GHz.
Archos' 6.4-inch smartphone puts the buttons on the back
When we talk about smartphones with buttons on the back of the case, most people's thoughts turn toward the LG G2. But now the French electronics outfit Archos has decided to follow in LG's footsteps with the 64 Xenon, a 6.4-inch phablet that puts both the volume and power buttons on the rear side. Packing a 1,280 x 720 IPS LCD display, dual-SIM slots and HSPA+ radios, it's clear that this is designed to square up against the likes of the Galaxy Mega, but with a much lower price tag of 200 euros (around $275).
Archos' octa-core smartphone is surprisingly quick for the price
When it comes to smartphones, hugs and all-you-can-eat buffets, more is better, right? That's why we had to sit down and play with Archos' 50c Oxygen. The gassy, Jelly Bean-running handset is one of the first to use MediaTek's 1.7GHz octa-core MT6592 CPU, housed behind a 5-inch 1,280 x 720 IPS LCD display. Archos has found room for dual-SIM slots, 1GB RAM, 8GB of onboard storage and a microSD card slot, while the 2,000mAh battery should last you at least a day.
