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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]
LG Optimus 3D's OMAP 4 benchmarked, pulls ahead of Exynos and Tegra 2
Which dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 system-on-a-chip rules the roost? It's probably too early to tell, but if you're looking for a preliminary verdict, AnandTech has benchmarked all three of them now. Texas Instruments' OMAP 4430, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 and Samsung's Exynos 4210 went head to head in a gauntlet of browser and graphical benchmarks, and it looks like the LG Optimus 3D's OMAP 4 came out on top, boasting minor but significant improvements practically across the board. Good news for the BlackBerry PlayBook, no? Oh, and if you're wondering why the iPhone 4 and Atrix 4G fall behind their older brethren in the image above, remember that they both have to render images at a higher screen resolution. More graphs at our source link below.
SmartQ announces Ten, an Android tablet packing IPS display with piezoelectric touchscreen
OK, before y'all haters state the obvious in the comments below, there's actually something noteworthy about this familiar-looking Chinese slate. What we have here is the SmartQ Ten (or T10, as referenced above), a forthcoming Froyo tablet that'll feature a juicy Cortex-A9 chip plus a Mali 400 GPU, as well as 512MB RAM and a 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 IPS display. This wouldn't be the first Android device to get the IPS goodness, though, as its predecessor R10 -- launched with Android 2.1 and a 720MHz processor back in December -- also has the same LCD panel within a seemingly identical form factor. In fact, we stumbled upon an R10 earlier today, and the prettiness of the screen did surprise us. But what really sells the Ten is its piezoelectric touchscreen, which supports multitouch input even with non-conductive objects like the old school styli. This means said tablet can achieve light transmittance similar to its capacitive touchscreen counterparts but using cheaper parts, as well as having point-input precision similar to those with resistive touchscreens but with better screen clarity. Alas, no date or price has been announced for the Ten just yet, nor do we know if it'll get Honeycomb in the future, but price it right and it might still get some love.
LG Optimus 2X review
The world cried out for a dual-core smartphone and LG and NVIDIA answered the call. Actually, the world only ever dreamt about multicore mobile architectures up until late last year, but sometimes that's all it takes to get those zany engineers engineering. So here we are, in early February 2011, beholding the world's first smartphone built around a dual-core processor, the Optimus 2X. This is a landmark handset in more ways than one, however, as its presence on the market signals LG's first sincere foray into the Android high end. Although the company delivered two thoroughly competent devices for the platform with the Optimus S and T in 2010, they were the very definition of mid-range smartphones and the truth is that Samsung, HTC and Motorola were left to fight among themselves for the most demanding Android users' hard-earned rubles. So now that LG's joined their ranks, was the wait worth it? %Gallery-115835%
Nokia's leaked MeeGo device resembles dual-core ST-Ericsson U8500 reference platform
Yesterday's leaked image of a purported Nokia tablet device seems to have been more informative than we initially believed it to be. An eagle-eyed forum member over on mobile-review has spotted the similarity between it and a reference platform for ST-Ericsson's U8500 system-on-chip. Last we heard, that little powerhouse was running a pair of 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 cores, so excuse us if we find the prospect of it driving Nokia's next flagship a rather exciting one. You can see video of the reference device in question after the break -- it ends on the delicious and unequivocal assertion from the ST-Ericsson rep that Nokia has signed up to deliver the U8500 in an upcoming device. Bear in mind, however, that the video is from November of last year and we still don't know for sure that the Nokia slate above is its MeeGo progenitor or just a prototype. Either way, the U8500 is expected in smartphones at some point in the first half of this year, which kind of fits Nokia's roadmap, no? [Image credit: Cor72z]
NVIDIA Tegra 3, equipped with 1.5GHz quad-core madness, teased by a familiar slide
How aggressive can NVIDIA get? That's the question puzzling our brainboxes right now as we gaze upon the complete version of the slide that let us know about a potential Tegra 2 3D chip over the weekend. It's not every day you hear of a 1.5GHz quad-core mobile SOC, but our discovery of corroborating evidence for the T25 module sitting alongside it makes us more willing to credit the possibility of a Blu-ray-crunching, 13,800 MIPS-capable, multicore Cortex-A9 Tegra 3. Moreover, the roadmap of production samples in Q4 of 2010 fits perfectly with NVIDIA's claim that Tegra 3 was "almost done" in September of that year. The ULP designation on this listing stands for Ultra Low Power in NVIDIA parlance, which would indicate an aggressively tuned power management system -- the only way we can envision a quad-core anything operating within a tablet. Fall 2011 is when we should know for sure.
RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook using a 1GHz OMAP 4430 processor
We already confirmed that RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook was deadly fast in use, but up until now, we've still been left to wonder what kind of silicon was powering it. According to a RIM representative that spoke to us just now on the CES show floor, a dual-core OMAP chip from Texas Instruments is doing the honors -- more specifically, it's the blisteringly fast 1GHz OMAP 4430. And now, you know.
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]
Hannspree's HSG1164 10.1-inch Froyo tablet drops by the FCC
You know what they say about a trip to the FCC's database, right? Why, it's much like the step just prior to achieving manhood -- one more leap from here, and you'll be ripe for the pickin'. Just a few months after Hannspree teased us with a formal introduction of its (then unnamed) 10.1-inch multitouch Froyo tablet, it looks as if that very device has now found a moniker. The 1.6-pound HSG1164 will eventually bring a fairly impressive build of materials to light, offering a 1GHz Tegra 2 chip, 16GB of internal storage, 512MB of NAND Flash, a microSD slot, Android 2.2, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, mini USB / HDMI connector, an inbuilt light sensor, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a Li-ion battery of unspecified size. There's obviously no direct mention of a ship date in the documentation here, but we're putting our money on an early 2011 release. Care to wager, too?
Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild
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-107245%
Trident and ARM get together to make smarter STBs, bring more of the web to your tube
While you're surely familiar with ARM and its suite of processors powering many a spicy mobile device, Trident is something of a more silent entity -- having a presence in half of the TVs sold worldwide but hardly making a mark when it comes to consumer perception. That could change with a new line of web-enabled set top boxes that will be powered by the ARM Cortex-A9 processor, which, even in its earliest incarnations, does a fine job of handling web duties and even decoding HD video. The goal is to deliver "the most advanced multimedia experiences into the home," and while we think that's perhaps a bit optimistic, the right players are involved here, with an "extensive ecosystem" being developed including Flash, Android, and Qt user elements. It remains to be seen whether this device will actually run Android, perhaps joining Google TV on the STB front, but there is talk of pushing content to mobile devices and matching a consistent user experience whether you're couch or coach-bound. When will all this come to pass? We think it's a bit too early to be troubled by such details.
Colombia pumps out 10-inch Android and Windows 7 tablets (video)
Sure, popular belief equates Colombian exports with tons of coffee beans, but two Bogota-based companies presently have 10-inch tablet computers on the brain. Compumax has got an Android-powered Tegra 2 device on tap with a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9, 512MB of RAM and a 32GB hard drive, and Smart PC's looking at a netbook-specced Windows 7 slate with an Atom N450 processor, a DVD burner, up to 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, a folding stand and a pair of peripheral-friendly USB ports alongside what looks like a fairly responsive multitouch screen. Intriguingly enough, the companies claim the devices aren't rebrands and are actually built in Colombia from foreign parts -- the "Hyper" Android slate is reportedly already on sale for COP 700,000 (about $387), and you can expect the "Smart Touch" Windows machine to debut for COP 1,099,000 (about $608) when it debuts in Peru next month. See the latter machine in action right after the break. Update: We often make light of stereotypes at Engadget, hoping to expose them as such, but the one formerly posted here was not in the best of taste. We've replaced it, and would like to apologize to any offended by our original choice of words.
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.
Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet
Yearning for a bit of dual-core action on the move? Who isn't. Hannspree will soon try to quell that 1080p-sized hunger in all of us with its freshly announced €399 ($507) Froyo tablet. There's no lack of spec sheet ambition here: a 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC is surrounded by 16GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD), an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1,024 x 600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, and mini versions of HDMI and USB ports. Flash 10.1 is also proudly supported, while the 3,500mAh battery is said to last up to 8 hours when playing 1080p movies. We'd be getting real excited right about now, but we've learnt to be cautious with such lofty promises -- remember the Gemini?
7-inch iPad tattle churns through Taiwanese rumor mills
The 7-inch iPad rumors are suddenly hot and heavy. In the last few weeks, we've seen a series of reports claiming that Apple was working on a smaller iPad (or bigger iPod touch?) set for release between the end of 2010 or early 2011. A DigiTimes piece, sourcing its own "analyst," claimed that the device would be making a jump to the Cortex A9 processor core, 512MB of RAM like the iPhone 4, and a 1,024 x 768 pixel IPS panel -- the same resolution as the 9.7-inch iPad giving the new model a better pixel density. Now we've got Taiwan's Economic Daily News saying that Chi Mei will join LG in supplying the new 7-inch IPS panels with AUO joining Sintek to provide the digitizer. EDN also claims that either Compal or Pegatron may join Foxconn in the assembly. Remember, even with hints of a new iPad model in Apple's own code this is all just rumor for now. Besides, we're still waiting for those Xbox 360 Blu-ray drives that the Economic Daily News assured us were coming in Q3 of 2008.
TI picks up first license for ARM's Eagle CPU core, mass market devices still a couple of years off
The mythical next generation of ARM's Cortex-A series, the Eagle, has made a reappearance in the news this week, but much of the mystery remains. Texas Instruments has now revealed itself as the first licensee of the new core, while also waxing poetic about its deep involvement and collaboration with ARM on its design and particular specifications. No, nobody was kind enough to let us in on what those specs might yet be, but since -- technically speaking -- the Eagle CPU hasn't even been announced yet, that's probably fair enough. For its part, TI expects to be first to market with its OMAP systems-on-chip integrating the latest Cortex core, but that won't be happening for a good while yet, as most projections peg the Eagle's landing to be no sooner than 2012. Guess we'll just have to make do with some dual-core Snapdragons until then.
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.
Toshiba's AC100 8-hour Android smartbook plays 1080p video on a 1GHz Tegra 250 processor (update: video!)
We wouldn't fault you for thinking that's a first generation ASUS Eee PC what with that iconic fingertip pose and all. But Toshiba's AC100 is a very modern take on the ol' Atom-based netbook idea. For starters, this super slim smartbook runs Android 2.1 on a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 250 SoC (built around a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor) capable of about 8 hours of browsing and video playback (and 7 days standby) before needing a recharge. It's also packing a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G data, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI jack beneath that 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 pixel display. As for software, the AC100 ships with Documents to Go for editing MS Office docs, an email client with POP3, IMAP, and Exchange support, an Opera Mobile browser, and a Tosh media player which should support HD 1080p video playback if it's taking full advantage of that Tegra 2 silicon. Too bad Toshiba is being quiet about the pricing and availability 'cause this little guy has us intrigued. Update: Netbooked got its hands on with the Japanese Dynabook AZ twin and received confirmation that it'll ship in Japan in August for between ¥40,000 and ¥50,000 (about $438 to $548). Video after the break.%Gallery-95912%
Samsung's ARM roadmap lays coordinates through 2013: Aquila, Venus, and Draco (oh my)
Ah, leaked company presentation slides, they have a clarity only Mr. Blurrycam would despise. EETimes got a batch of them from Samsung dated November 2009 making the rounds, but more important than revealing its equal love for both Roman and Greek mythology, we get a glimpse at its then-planned ARM chip roadmap (yeah, another one) through 2013. In a nutshell, for the Cortex A9 crowd we've got the 800MHz dual core "Orion" due for mass production in Q1 2011, a 1GHz single core "Pegasus" for Q4 2011, a 1GHz dual core "Hercules" for Q1 2012, and for sometime in 2012 / 2013, a 1.2GHz dual core "Draco" and quad core "Aquila." Fear not, Cortex A5 fanatics, you've got gifts as well, in the form of 600MHz single core "Mercury" and dual core "Venus" chips, slated for 2010 / 2011 and 2012 / 2013, respectively. We don't expect the nomenclature to extend beyond internal usage, but frankly, who cares -- it's the devices that count, and unfortunately all we can do is doodle our future gadget hopes and dreams onto scraps of paper while we wait.
Notion Ink Adam still alive, working on Flash compatibility
It was three months ago, in the midst of the most tablet-centric CES in recent memory, that we first laid our hands on Notion Ink's impressive Adam prototype. Since then, we've been on the lookout for signs that the small Indian startup will actually deliver on the tablet's lofty promises, and while that still seems to be on track, the latest update from the company's founder is casting doubt on the originally planned June release date. Stressing the need to agree subsidization deals with telecoms for the 3G-equipped device, Rohan Shravan explains that "some want to give you Adam for Thanksgiving, some for summer holidays." Add in his resolute commitment to only going ahead with the tablet when it's fully capable of running Flash (seriously Adobe, the thing can do 1080p video, but Flash makes it wince?), and you have a significantly more elastic release window than we were originally led to believe. All the same, Rohan couldn't leave us without some titillation, and he also promises "amazing freedom" on the email front and a number of content collaborations that he's not yet allowed to announce. If you ask us, we just want something -- anything -- with a Pixel Qi display; we'll make up our own content, just give us the hardware already. [Thanks, Srikanth]
