ARMCortexA9
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Broadcom outs Jelly Bean-optimized budget SoC with dual-core ARM processor, HSPA+
Broadcom's just added a new 3G SoC to its resume that promises a solid punch in performance without breaking the bank -- while being optimized for Jelly Bean, to boot. Dubbed BCM21664T, the chip packs a 1.2GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor accompanied by VideoCore graphics to give it the oomph to run Android 4.2 and support 720p recording and 1080p playback. As for connectivity, the silicon comes loaded with WiFi, Bluetooth and HSPA+, which garners downstream speeds of 21.1Mbps and 5.8Mbps upstream. Support for GPS and even NFC have also been rolled into the SoC. Broadcom claims the hardware is the first of its kind aimed at entry-level smartphones, and if things go the firm's way, the chip will make appearances in budget Android phones when it goes into volume production next year.
Marvell PXA988, PXA986 chips support 3G for China, the world without reinventing the wheel (or phone)
Whenever we see a smartphone optimized for China Mobile's TD-SCDMA 3G, it usually represents one of two things: it's either a China-specific variant of a phone we already know, or it's a local-only model that's unlikely to ever travel abroad. Marvell has just unveiled a new mobile processor platform that could allow for a lot more globetrotting with those basic designs. The PXA988 is limited to China Mobile's technology for data, but its PXA986 doppelganger can fit the same slot to offer regular HSPA+ 3G without forcing phone makers back to the drawing board. Both run on a dual-core, 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 at their heart -- nothing exciting in mid-2012, although they're well-enough equipped to capture 1080p video and tout extras like NFC. Only test samples exist today, but there's a chance we'll soon see phone designs that are just as much at home in Berlin as they are in Beijing.
FXI Cotton Candy ICS-on-a-stick gets May release date, sweetened design
Is that an Ice Cream Sandwich riding shotgun atop your Cotton Candy stick? It may sound like a delicious carnival delight, but munching on this bad boy will send you to the hospital faster than a family pack of deep-fried Oreos. Keeping up the confection theme, FXI has coined the treat in question as Cotton Candy, and we got our first taste of the refresh back in February at Mobile World Congress, where we went hands-on with the bite-size computer-on-a-stick. FXI reps promised a March ship date at that point, but the refreshed model appears to have been worth the wait, with a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, quad-core ARM Mali-400MP graphics and support for Android 4.0 and Ubuntu, along with embedded virtualization clients for Windows, Linux and Mac. There's a gig of DRAM on board -- up to 64GB of storage will come in the form of a bring-your-own microSD card. There's a 1080p-ready HDMI port at one end of the 3-inch stick and a USB 2.0 connector on the other side, along with a female micro-USB port for peripheral connectivity. Customers with pre-orders in Scandinavia (FXI is based in Norway) should expect their $199 Cotton Candy devices by the end of the month, while those in the rest of the world (including the US of A) will need to hang tight until the end of the summer. There's a MWC-era hands-on awaiting you just past the break.
TSMC ramps 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 chip to 3.1GHz, gives your desktop jitters
We know TSMC's energy-miser 28-nanometer manufacturing process has a lot of headroom, but the company just ratcheted expectations up by a few notches. Lab workers at Taiwan's semiconductor giant have successfully run a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor at 3.1GHz under normal conditions. That's a 55 percent higher clock speed than the 2GHz maximum that TSMC normally offers, folks, and about twice as fast as a 40nm chip under the same workload. Don't expect that kind of clock speed from your next smartphone or tablet, though: expect processors of this caliber to find "high-performance uses," which takes us that much closer to NVIDIA's Project Denver as well as other ARM-based desktops, notebooks and servers that should give x86 chips a run for their money.
Reported Tegra 4 roadmap hints at LTE, Q1 2013 release
Time to put on our "skepticles" as we pore over some reportedly leaked Tegra 4 details. NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang went on record saying that we could expect a new Tegra "every single year", so if anything, the fourth iteration of the series is slightly overdue. Chinese site VR-Zone, however, thinks it's got the inside skinny on how the next deployment might look. If its alleged roadmap leaks are to be believed, there will be four variants, three with a quad-core ARM Cortex A15 configuration, with clock speeds from 1.2 to 2.0GHz. What caught our eye a little more, though, was the "SP3X" flavor. Not because it favors the A9, but because it appears to bring LTE to the table right off the bat. That said, given that it's not that long since NVIDIA announced the same for Tegra 3, we can't help but wonder if something just got lost in translation.[Thanks Rizwan]
Fuzhou Rockchip announces RK30 for the budget tablets of today
Budget ARM licensee Rockchip has been bawling out its wares on the streets of Barcelona as the company announces its newest RK30xx platform. Rockchip provide the internals for a variety of low-cost android tablets, often based on last year's technology. The newest system will be based on ARM's dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400 GPU and Artisan Physical IP Process Optimization Pack (nope, us neither). The chips will clock to 1.4GHz and be able to decode 1080p video and even support 3D displays. The whole package will ship as a "turnkey" solution, i.e. one any manufacturer can buy in bulk and shove inside a tablet, meaning that plenty of the budget slates released in the second half of the year will have identical internals. First engineering samples arrive in March and if you're interested in starting your own tablet business, head on past the break to get the details.
Broadcom releases new Ice Cream Sandwich-optimized chipsets at MWC
Broadcom's taken the chance to bust out some killer new internals for Android phones here at MWC. The new range of SoCs are optimized for Ice Cream Sandwich, based on single or dual-core 40-nanometer ARM Cortex A9s. The BCM21654G has a 1GHz CPU, integrated HSPA modem and VGA video support, it's likely we'll see this popping up in budget phones. The romantically named BCM28145 and BCM28155 are dual-core chips with HSPA+ modems and can handle 720p and 1080p video respectively. All dual-core chips will come with a "videocore," a third low-power chip to handle video playback without occupying the main CPU and draining power as well as an Image Signal Processor chip that can support cameras up to 42-megapixels (glances across to the Nokia 808). Other options you'll find appearing in the cellphones of tomorrow include hybrid GPS / Glonass units, low-power NFC and active dual-SIM capability. If you're a garage-based cellphone manufacturer and want to grab some of these for your own business, head on past the break for some PR.
FXI's Cotton Candy gets a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich and Ubuntu, we go hands-on
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.
FXI's Cotton Candy could turn every screen you own into a cloud client
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.
CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII
It's been a while since we last heard from CSR, but that changed earlier this week, when the company unveiled its new SiRFprimaII and SiRFusion platforms, alongside its SiRFstarV architecture. According to the UK-based firm, both SiRFstarV and SiRFusion are designed to provide more accurate geographic data and enhanced indoor navigation capabilities across PNDs and other mobile devices. SiRFstarV, the logical follow-up to CSR's SiRFstarIV architecture, culls location data not only from GPS, but from Galileo, Glonass and Compass satellites, as well as a range of radio signals, accelerometers, gyros and compasses. All this information is fed to the user via the SiRFusion platform, which combines data from radio systems and sensors to provide constantly updated location graphics. Together, both SiRFstarV and SiRFusion promise to help users find their way around both indoor and outdoor locales, within an accuracy range of ten to 15 meters. The SiRFprimaII platform, displayed above, is strictly geared toward in-car navigation and infotainment systems. This system combines a SiRFprimaII SoC and TriG RF multi-GNSS radio with CSR's Bluetooth and WiFi technologies to create a multimedia rich, touchscreen-based in-car environment. Geared toward both ODMs and OEMs, this hardware-software combo enables drivers to get more reliable navigation data, while allowing passengers to stream video, surf the web and manipulate everything via remote control. As for that SoC, it's powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 app processor, features an LCD controller for displays of up to 1280 x 720 resolution, and boasts a pair of 3D graphics and video accelerators. For more details, check out the pair of press releases, after the break.
Panasonic's 7- and 10-inch BizPads port the Honeycomb drizzle to Japan's enterprise set
Salarymen, get those contactless employee IDs set to swipe. Panasonic's throwing your overcaffeinated ilk a bone with two Honeycomb-based enterprise slates for release this winter. Coming under the BizPad umbrella, these 7- and 10.1-inch Android 3.2 tablets are ruggedized for the road warrior treatment, offering the clumsy and sleep-deprived alike dust-, drop- and water-proof protection. Both tabs pack a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 16GB of onboard storage, 1GB RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC capability (via its IC card reader), but the shared specs end there. While the larger tab certainly wins out with its higher resolution, digitizer-friendly WXGA 1280 x 800 IPS capacitive display (vs. WSVGA 1024 x 600 resistive LCD display), the more diminutive of the bunch gets the better 5 megapixel camera (vs. 1.3 megapixel) and optional 3G connectivity. No word yet on pricing or an actual launch date, but don't let that stop you from petitioning your IT department right now.
CompuLab introduces Trim Slice H mini Tegra 2 computer, keeps desks clear of PC clutter
If you were impressed by CompuLab's Trim Slice that was released a few months back, wait'll you get a load of the new model that's on its way. Available near the end of August, the new diminutive desktop will be powered by NVDIA's Tegra 2 SoC like its elder sibling. In order to differentiate itself from the previous release, this build incorporates an accessible SATA hard disk bay, so that "ARM users are no longer deprived of choice when it comes to storage." Sounds great, right? You'll also be able to choose between two models. The Trim Slice H Diskless will allow you to add your own HDD or SSD for $279, while the $319 H250 comes with Linux pre-installed on a 250GB HDD. Both of these beasts will showcase 1GHz chips, 1GB RAM, HDMI and DVI ports, Gigabit Ethernet, built-in 802.11n WiFi, 4 USB ports, 2 SD slots, an RS232 serial port and USB Bluetooth adapter. Whew... while we catch our breath, scope out the pics in the gallery, and check the full PR below. [Thanks, Irad] %Gallery-130487%
Engadget Primed: are multi-core chips worth the investment?
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. My, how times have changed over the last eight months. At CES 2011, we ecstatically witnessed the introduction of mobile devices with dual-core CPUs and drooled over the possibilities we'd soon have at our fingertips. Now, we look down at anything that doesn't have more than one core -- regardless of its performance. Not only are these new chips quickly becoming mainstream, Moore's Law is in full effect with our handheld devices since tri-core and quad-core systems are just over the horizon. We can't even fathom what's in the pipeline for the year 2015 and beyond (we don't think we're too far away from that 3D shark seen in Back to the Future 2). Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, however. After all, we first need to wrap our puny human minds around the idea of what this newfound power can do, and why it's changing the entire landscape of smartphones and tablets. In this edition of Primed, we'll focus on why multicore technology makes such a difference in the way we use our handheld devices, whether we should even consider purchasing a handset with a single-core chip inside, and why one-core tech is so 2010. Check out the whole enchilada after the break.
i.MX 6 quad-core reference board flexes processing muscle at Freescale Technology Forum
Freescale answered our power prayers with the introduction of its i.MX 6 processor suite at CES earlier this year, but left us longing for a demo. Well, the outfit's just given us all our first glimpse at the healthiest processing muscle in the bunch, the quad-core i.MX 6. Sporting four ARM Cortex A9 cores and a 64-bit memory bus, the reference design board can be seen running a 1080p video demo and Quake simultaneously -- and it didn't even break a sweat. Freescale says it's currently working with Google on making the processor Honeycomb-compatible, but don't get too excited; i.MX 6 won't make it into real-deal machines until 2012. If you've got an extra 20 minutes to spare, hop on past the break for a rather lengthy video of the processor at work.
Texas Instruments announces multi-core, 1.8GHz OMAP4470 ARM processor for Windows 8
When Qualcomm announced a pair of Windows 8-compatible ARM processors yesterday, we knew Texas Instruments wouldn't be far behind. Sure enough, the company has just announced a new addition to its OMAP 4 family of ARM SoCs, with the 1.8GHz OMAP4470. TI's new chip is powered by a pair of 1.0GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore engines, as well as two, 266MHz ARM Cortex-M3 cores that handle multimedia duties. According to the company, this multi-core structure will enable faster web browsing and more frugal power usage, while putting the OMAP4470 in square competition with quad-core chips like NVIDIA's Kal-El and Intel's latest Sandy Bridge line. The SoC was designed for tablets, netbooks and smartphones running Android, Linux, or the next version of Windows, and can support a max QXGA resolution of 2048 x 1536, and up to three HD displays. There's also a single-core PowerVR SGX544 GPU capable of running Direct X 9, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenVG 1.1, and OpenCL 1.1. The OMAP4470 is expected to hit the OEM and OED markets in the first half of 2012, but you can find more information in the specs sheet and press release, after the break.
iPad 2 specs discerned, 900MHz dual-core ARM CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU blow away graphical benchmarks
iFixit may have physically uncovered Apple's latest silicon, but it's the processor gurus that have discovered what's truly inside -- using software benchmarks, they've unearthed the speeds and feeds of the Apple A5. As you'll no doubt be aware having read our headline above, there actually isn't a 1GHz CPU at the helm, as AnandTech and IOSnoops report the dual-core ARM chip is dynamically clocked around 900MHz, likely in search of reduced power consumption. Perhaps more interestingly for all you gamers in the audience, the iPad 2 reports that it has a dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU on the die as originally foretold -- and, spoiler alert -- it mops the floor with both the original iPad and the Motorola Xoom. Though the new chip didn't quite demonstrate 9X the graphical prowess of its predecessor, it rendered 57.6 frames per second in a GLBenchmark test where the (admittedly higher-res) Tegra 2 tablet managed only 26.7fps, and last year's iPad pulled only 17.6fps. That's some serious Tai Chi. Hit up our source links to see the difference it can make in games like Infinity Blade. Update: Though it sure sounds like there's a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 in there, that's not yet a proven fact -- we only know that it's a dual-core ARM v7 chip which performs relatively similarly in non-graphical tests. [Thanks, Jim] [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Honeycomb to require dual-core processor, initially tablet-only?
Often when you hear minimum spec doom and gloom, it proves to be wildly inaccurate, or only part of the picture. This time, however, it's worth a closer look. PC Magazine's Sascha Segan is confidently citing the director of Enspert, a Korean consumer electronics company (which recently announced its own Android tablet), who claims that Honeycomb will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. He's also confident that Motorola's tablet will be the first device to market with the new version of Android, and his other minimum specs line up with the idea of Honeycomb being initially a tablet-only release. Apparently 1280 x 720 is going to be the minimum resolution, with screen sizes "as small as" 7-inches, though it sounds like 10-inches could be the default. These specs seem to clearly leave out Galaxy Tab, along with anything else on the market or soon to arrive that doesn't have a Tegra 2 chip. It also makes sense that the Galaxy Tab 2 is going to be using Tegra 2 -- Samsung clearly won't be deterred. And how about phones for Honeycomb? The picture is decidedly murkier, other than the fact that we could see a temporary splintering of the platform while tablets show off their new Honeycomb digs, with enough battery to back up that dual-core proc. Of course, dual-core handsets are right around the corner, so we doubt handsets will be without Honeycomb for long -- Google should know which side its bread is buttered on. There's also the possibility that this Enspert source is only talking tablets, and phones (which are required to push way fewer pixels, and have much stricter battery requirements) will get a pass on the dual-core requirement altogether. No matter what, you should settle in for a year of entertainment as Google continues to iterate its wildly successful operating system, and manufacturers strain to keep up. [Thanks, Jason]
Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for
We still consider Samsung's Hummingbird application processor to be among the very best for mobile computers, but this morning Sammy itself is stepping up the charge to make it look real old real fast. The freshly announced dual-core Orion promises to whip us all into a frenzy of geek lust with "5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung," 1080p video encoding and decoding at 30fps, embedded GPS, a native triple display controller, and on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface. Those last two bits mean you can drive two displays on your mobile device while feeding a third, such as a HDTV, all thanks to the one all-powerful chip inside. Availability for "select customers" is coming late this year, with mass production set for the first half of 2011. To say we're looking forward to it would be a massive understatement.
ARM and TSMC team up for tinier 20nm Cortex SOCs
It's no secret that ARM ideas are powering much of the mobile revolution these days, but the company doesn't print its own systems-on-a-chip, that duty gets outsourced to silicon foundries -- like TSMC, who just got all buddy-buddy with the firm to transition future smartphone chips to the 28nm and obscenely tiny 20nm high-k metal gate processes. (We're not sure what this means for GlobalFoundries, who had a similar deal earlier this year.) As per usual with a die size reduction, ARM chips will see higher speed and have decreased power consumption, but since 20nm is (relatively) unexplored territory it could be years before chips hit the market. PR after the break, or hit the more coverage link for further explanation by an ARM VP of Marketing.
ARM: 'Eagle' to follow Cortex-A9, will support Google TV
ARM kicked off the long list of Computex press conferences this morning, and though most of the time was spent giving us a history of mobile computing, ARM president Tudor Brown did shed a bit of light on future plans. When showing off the current family of ARM processors, we couldn't help but notice the next generation "Eagle" above the current Cortex-A9 platform. While Brown didn't share any specifics on the ARM v7-based chip, he did say that it will provide improved performance, and would be fully announced at "a later date." Also, when asked about supporting Google TV, Brown noted that it's in the works; he also said that with the company's recent Flash and Chrome browser support, they plan to optimize for the TV-based operating system. That's all we've got for now, but as you'd expect, the outfit brought along a load of ARM-based devices for showcasing, all of which you'll find in the gallery below. %Gallery-93929%
