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Compal Trinity ODM reference design eyes-on
Here at AMD's Financial Analyst day, the company had a little demo area which is where we spotted this little number -- an ODM reference unit from Compal, stuffed with the company's upcoming Trinity APU. We're told the unit above is one of several, which are proof-of-concepts used to convince and show OEMs powerful, yet thin machines the duo hopes they'll bring to market. Inside this particular prototype is one of the lower voltage variants of Trinity (read: either the 17W or 25W part), which enables that svelte 18mm profile. Seeing as it is a one-off (and one that'll never come to market in this form), our impressions are moot, yet we'd be remiss if we didn't point out we were a little dismayed by its chassis, which was flimsy enough to put the existing flex champion, Toshiba's Z830, on notice. Still, with an estimated starting price of half an Ultrabook (roughly in the $500 to $600 range), we'll leave it up to you to decide exactly how much you value torsional rigidity. Other then that, viewing angles seemed good from the brief demo reel we watched, and there's plenty of connectivity onboard, with two USB 3.0 ports, mini-DisplayPort and HDMI flanking the left, followed by audio jacks, another USB, Ethernet and power along the right. Looks like thin and lights are about to get a whole lot more interesting later in the year, which, frankly is great -- it's about time Chipzilla got some worthy competition.
Ultrabook or tablet? Compal shows off hybrid reference design (video)
We knew CES would bring a slew of Ultrabooks, but who could have predicted 2012 would be the year of the franken-gadget? So far this week, we've seen Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga, two hybrids from Gigabyte and a pair of 13- and 5.5-inch tablet prototypes from Toshiba. And that's saying nothing of Intel's Nikiski prototype and its promise of accelerometer-based gaming on Ultrabooks. With that as our backdrop, we have the Compal QAV20, a reference design sitting in Intel's booth, alongside all the plain, months-old laptops we've already reviewed. From afar, it looks like the Samsung Series 7 Slate, but up close you'll see it has a larger, 13.3-inch, 1366 x 768 display, along with a keyboard dock. On the inside, meanwhile, it packs a Core i5 ULV CPU -- the same guts you'll find inside other Ultrabooks.In our brief hands-on, we were stunned by how light the fiber glass device feels -- certainly, it's much less dense than the similarly sized Yoga. The dock itself is home to various ports, including Ethernet, dual USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI and a headphone jack. And though it's no Transformer Prime dock, it's still light enough that you shouldn't have problem stuffing it in your bag. No word on what, if any, OEMs will re-badge this, but no matter -- we've gotten video and photos for you to peruse even if this thing never makes it to market. And no, we didn't film this in the Batcave; Intel just loves it some blue mood lighting.
Texas Instruments demos first OMAP 5, Android 4.0-based reference design, promises it in laptops next year (video)
Texas Instruments promised us a new helping of OMAP right around a year ago, and sure enough, OMAP 5 processors will be sampling to partners as early as next week. Texas Instruments' Remi El-Ouazzane (VP of OMAP) just debuted an OMAP 5-based reference design (or "development platform," if you will) on our CES stage, a solid four years after OMAP 3 debuted on a nondescript Archos tablet. OMAP 5 brings along a pair of cores and plenty of power savings, a dual-GPU architecture and more raw horsepower than the average simpleton is used to handling in a single palm. We saw quite a bit of swiping through Android 4.0.1, and as you'd expect, everything looked decidedly snappy. 720p video at 30 frames per second is no real chore, with the platform capable of pushing 1080p material at 64 frames per second (130 frames per second without screen refresh limitations). Of course, with everything being hardware accelerated, we can't feign surprise about its future on netbooks and laptops. To quote Remi: "This is the greatest platform on Earth right now... way ahead of Apple, and it's the first Cortex-A15 (which runs 2x faster than the Cortex-A9) product on the market. When running two Cortex-A15 chips at 800MHz, it's more or less the same performance as running two Cortex-A9s at 1.5GHz. You'll see [commercially available products] ramping up with this stuff in late 2012 or early 2013. We are also running Windows 8 on the latest OMAP; it runs perfectly well, and we've been working very closely with Microsoft. We're working on multiple form factors -- tablets, thin-and-lights -- and we think ARM is going to bring tablets to the masses."He also made clear that he's hoping to bring more and more Android into the enterprise, therefore accelerating the proliferation of the OS as a whole. Moreover, he told us to "expect" OMAP 5 in laptops and Ultrabooks running Windows 8, and alluded to the possibility of seeing the first ones by CES 2013. Have a peek at the first-ever reference demo in the gallery below, and have a look at the video just past the break.
Intel demos Medfield-based smartphone reference design at CES (video)
There we go! Head past all the months-old Ultrabooks in Intel's CES booth, and you'll stumble across something less pedestrian: a reference smartphone, based on the chipmaker's Medfield platform. How it looks is irrelevant, really -- that chintzy, fingerprint-prone slab of plastic offers no hints as to what the Samsungs and HTCs of the smartphone world are going to create. What matters here is what's inside: this 4-inch handset packs a single-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 chip, XXM 6260 modem and Intel GMA graphics, along with your requisite WiFi radio, accelerometer, etc. (Intel had Gingerbread installed, though that'll hardly be current by the time Medfield starts shipping.) Though battery life will naturally vary by manufacturer, this particular device houses a 1,460mAh juicepack promising 45 hours of audio playback, eight hours of 3G voice calls, five hours of 3G browsing or 14 days of standby. At the same time, Intel was demoing Modern Combat 2, as you can see in that lead shot, and playing HD video playing through the phone's micro-HDMI slot. Look closely at those videos below, and you'll see the output is mostly smooth with some slight stuttering, though trust us when we say video playback and gaming were more fluid on the device itself. Have a peek below and judge for yourselves, and hopefully one day in the not-too-distant future we'll be able to size up the battery life situation too.
Marvell shows off ARM-powered Google TV, looks a lot like Google TV
Tonight at CES Unveiled Marvell gave us a peek at the future of Google TV with this tiny box, running the latest version of the software on one of its recently announced Armada 1500 ARM processors. It was controlled by a standard Logitech Revue keyboard/trackpad combo, and we couldn't really get a feel for any potential performance differences but the box was sitting there, fanlessly, cheaply and efficiently doing its thing. We'll probably know more about the actual hardware you'll be able to buy in the future tomorrow, but for now you can peep a few more pics of this reference box in the gallery. Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
ZiiLabs demos Ice Cream Sandwich on its Jaguar 7 tablet, looks swift and tasty (video)
It's been few months since ZiiLabs introduced more hardware designs for its Jaguar line of OEM-oriented reference tablets, and now, the company has released a brief demo video of its seven-inch variant tasting Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Up until this point, we'd only seen the devices rocking Honeycomb atop Zii's ZMS-20 dual-core processor, but it appears to handle Google's latest frozen treat -- specifically Android OS version 4.0.1 -- with relative ease. The clip highlights quick transitions through a few menu interfaces, followed by a showcase of the slate's OpenGL graphics and StemCell media acceleration with decidedly smooth looking multitouch interactions. Curious to see for yourself? You'll find the whole 57 seconds of video goodness just past the break. [Thanks, Tim]
ZiiLabs unleashes Jaguar3 super slim slate reference design
ZiiLabs' first foray into the tablet market, the ZiiO series, didn't exactly get our gadget senses tingling, but that hasn't stopped the company from churning out reference designs for OEMs looking to cash in on the tablet craze. The latest in its line of Jaguar designs is the Jaguar3, a 10.1-inch tablet packing the company's 1.5GHz dual-core ZMS-20 or quad-core ZMS-40 SoC and both front (of unknown resolution) and rear facing cameras (up to 12 megapixels). Sporting a magnesium case with a svelte 8.1mm or 7.4mm-thin profile depending on your preference and pocketbook, it packs a 1200 x 800 capacitive multitouch display running Android 3.2. In addition to the menu of hardware options, ZiiLabs is offering audio upgrades courtesy of Creative's Sound Blaster technology, plus custom software for HDR support and panoramic picture-taking. That's quite an impressive menu of options for you OEMs to choose from, now let's get some of these things to market, shall we? PR's 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.
Intel's convertible Keeley Lake concept laptop shows off Cedar Trail, we go hands-on (update: video)
Just before Intel's keynote at Computex, we decided to stop by at the chip maker's busy booth to see what it has up its sleeves. Luckily, we spotted a couple of Keeley Lake proof-of-concept convertible laptops, which are here to demonstrate what can be achieved using Cedar Trail processors. As you can see, the 12.1-inch screen sits on a swivel hinge, thus allowing users transform this fairly slim laptop into a tablet within seconds. Oh, you can also use the built-in Wireless Display technology to stream some sweet HD action over the air, provided that you have compatible devices. Alas, Intel says there are no commercial plans for this particular device, so hopefully someone will pick up this design. Update: We now have a quick video of Keeley Lake after the break. Enjoy! %Gallery-124834%
Intel promises smartphones in 'first part of next year,' we put fingers in our ears
After Intel's early smartphone ambitions failed to bear fruit, experiencing delay after delay, the company seemingly decided it'd be a bad idea to give reporters so much as a ballpark release date. Well, the company's confidence must have returned, because CEO Paul Otellini just told investors that those 32nm Medfield smartphones are indeed on the way. "You'll see the first Intel-based phones in the first part of next year," he said at the company's annual investor meeting today, adding later that there will be "phones shipping in the market from major players" at that time. Here's hoping. Why all the delays? Intel blamed its partnership with Nokia, calling it a mistake. "In hindsight, Nokia was the wrong partner to have picked," said Otellini, but told attendees that the time both companies spent working together won't be wasted entirely: Intel is currently shopping around their co-developed handset as a reference design.
Qualcomm shows off MSM8660's slick video performance on development kit (video)
If you've been closely tracking the development of Qualcomm's 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8660, you would've already seen AnandTech's impressive set of benchmark results back in early April. But of course, it'd be more convincing to actually see this chipset in action, so Qualcomm's latest videos of its Mobile Development Platform should satisfy your curiosity. As demoed after the break, this Snapdragon's Adreno 220 is seen effortlessly handling in-page HTML5 video streaming, Flash video streaming, and 1080p playback. And as a sideshow, Qualcomm even put its current-gen single-core QSD8255 head-to-head with a rival dual-core chipset -- no doubt a Tegra 2 in an LG Optimus 2x -- and easily won the Flash video contest. All of this might lure you into getting the MDP as your next everyday phone, but here's the bad news: this professional kit will cost you a dear $1,350. So unless you're feeling very generous, you'd probably want to wait for the consumer devices to arrive in the summer -- think EVO 3D, Sensation (with GSM-flavored MSM8260, naturally), and TouchPad.
Samsung's Exynos 4210 flexes 3D gaming muscle at GDC 2011 (video)
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.
Intel and Capgemini to develop tablet for home energy management
If Google and Microsoft can get in on the home energy management wave then hey, why not Intel? Chipzilla is teaming up with Capgemini SA to create a "tablet-style computer" that lets humans control the power consumed by their appliances. Later, presumably when there are enough of these smart devices on the grid, it could allow utilities to more intelligently manage its electricity allocation. According to Intel's Joe Jensen, general manager for low-power embedded processors, "energy is a big part of our project to extend the fringe of computing out to the next thing." Indeed, under Paul Otellini's lead, Intel is targeting fuel pumps at the corner gas station, advertising signs, and even exercise equipment as it seeks opportunities beyond traditional computing devices -- a market Intel believes to be worth about $10 billion. The goal of the Intel / Capgemini initiative is to offer a full-service smart-grid solution, according to Steven Harris, head of smart home services at Capgemini. Mind you, Intel's involvement shouldn't come as a total surprise here, seeing as how it was showing off wall panels for real-time utility management in the -- groan -- "digital crib" way back at CES in 2010. That's one such device, pictured above. Update: Corrected spelling from "Cap Gemini" (as Businessweek presented it) to "Capgemini" -- this isn't 2004 anymore. We also managed to unearth the official press release announcing Intel's Home Energy Dashboard reference design built around the Atom processor. You'll find that after the break.
Samsung nabs Tegra 2 for Galaxy Tab 2, Google makes Tegra the Honeycomb reference platform?
It sounds like all of NVIDIA's wrangling and cajoling finally paid off, if a couple of analysts are to be believed -- both say the company's dual-core Tegra 2 chipset is racking up wins in the tablet space. We've seen it seemingly raise the bar for smartphone silicon in the LG Star and tease us in slate after slate, but Citigroup's Glen Yeung says that Samsung has "placed a sizeable order with Nvidia for Tegra 2 chips in the first half of 2011, geared for both tablets and smartphones," and BMO Capital Markets analyst Ambrish Srivastava anticipates the next Galaxy Tab will be one of the devices that use it. If that sounds obvious, remember that Samsung was supposed to be producing a dual-core chip of its own. What could cause companies to embrace Tegra 2, if that's indeed what's happening? Any number of reasons, to be sure, but Glen Yeung also says that Google has made Tegra the reference design for Honeycomb, aka Android 3.0, and so Tegra 2 may sound like a fast track to victory in the budding tablet space. Here's hoping it's a good choice for consumers, too.
10.1-inch Galaxy Tab teased with prototype panel?
Does that look like a 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab to you? Sure does to us though Tech-on! is calling it an "electronic book reader" prototype from Samsung. Thing is, when was the last time you made a 3G video call using a dedicated ebook reader? The 10.1-inch panel is a 1.8-mm thick LCD prototype on display right now at the FPD International trade show in Japan. It features a 1,024 x 600 pixel panel resolution, 250nits brightness, 1,000:1 contrast, and covers 50 percent of the NTSC color gamut. Oh, and it's said to be unbreakable thanks to the new 0.44mm / 28g resin panel (excluding the backlight unit) that replaces the typical 1.26mm / 130g glass LCD panel. And while this particular slim panel won't be ready for commercialization for another two or three years, there's nothing stopping Samsung from bunging a production-ready LCD into the 10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011. Check the new LCD in profile after the break.
Harman AKG teams up with Quincy Jones on Signature Line of headphones
Gone is the day when headphones could be respectable without some kind of corporate tie-in or Lady Gaga endorsement. Alas, even Harman's revered AKG division has roped in the venerable Quincy Jones for its new (wait for it) Quincy Jones Signature Line. We're talking three models here, ready for launch in October and ranging from the Q 701 "reference class" over-the-ear cans (pictured), the Q 460 lightweight headphones, and Q 350 buds. The Q 701 features ergonomically-shaped cushions of velvet, an "unbeatable" linear frequency response covering 10Hz to 39.8kHz, a 45-mm high excursion driver, and detachable 99-percent oxygen-free cables. The portable $229.99 Q 460 on-ear headphones feature a 3D-axis folding system and an iPhone compatible in-line remote with microphone and play, pause, and skip functions. The in-ear Q 350 also bring iPhone compatible and target the "audiophile on the go" with $149.99 to burn. Seems fitting for a man with 79 Grammy nominations (and 27 awards) to benefit from his name. And you can feel better about him selling out knowing that an undisclosed sum from every pair of headphones sold goes towards the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium -- a foundation dediqated to eduqating Ameriqan kids about musiq. Ironic, because the Grammys might actually be relevant if American music corporations knew anything about good music.%Gallery-101028%
Aava Virta Android reference platform will be the first shipping Moorestown smartphone
Sure, Intel might not be planning for Moorestown-based smartphones to hit the market for at least another six months, and the LG GW990 might have died a quiet death, but that's not stopping Aava from getting right in the game with its Virta Android, an Atom Z600-based reference smartphone designed for developer testing. Slated to ship in Q3, the Virta features a Moorestown processor, a 3.8-inch 864 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, quad-band EDGE radios with AT&T 3G support, WiFi, Bluetooth, a five megapixel video camera, and a microSD slot. We're assuming the shipping version will look a lot like the prototype Aava device we've been seeing for a while now, but Aava has some fancier renders up on its site, so we'll see what happens and how much this costs when this thing arrives.
Qualcomm eBook concept preview: MSM7227 and Android onboard
My, how the tablets have turned. Despite valiant efforts, even Acer can't resist the temptation of diving into the ever-expanding e-reader market, but rather than going head to head with Amazon's Kindle, the company seems to be readying at least one unique creature for release into the mainstream. Thanks to a stop at Qualcomm's lair here at Computex, we think we may have found the company's numero dos. In just about every respect, the simply-titled eBook is nothing at all like the LumiRead; in fact, it looks (sort of) like an iPhone 4G after pulling a Mark McGwire. We weren't told just how large the screen was, but as you can tell from the gallery below, it's quite long. The device was reportedly made as a way to showcase Qualcomm's aging MSM7227 processor, and while there's obviously no way to know if this thing is / isn't headed for the production line, it was running Android underneath. Unfortunately, responsiveness wasn't this thing's strong suit, and it was fairly obvious that the software wasn't exactly fully baked (we surely hope not, anyway). That said, the form factor could certainly be honed into something practical, and we're sure they could get the UI humming along a bit smoother if they really put their minds to it. For now, it's the gallery below... or nothin'. Update: Qualcomm pinged us to say that this here device is actually courtesy of Foxconn (rather than Acer). We will point out, however, that the placard on display clearly states otherwise. Make of it what you will. %Gallery-94051%
Chumby prototype with Marvell innards spotted at MWC 2010
Even though they don't make retail devices, the booths of component makers like Qualcomm, Broadcom, TI, and Marvell at trade shows are often great venues for actually seeing retail devices -- these guys have to help showgoers make the connection between a boring chunk of silicon and an end product if they're hoping to score orders, after all. Indeed, Marvell's tent at MWC this year is a veritable cornucopia of Good Things, and we couldn't help but notice that they're showing what appears to be one of Chumby's not-for-sale reference designs sporting an 800 x 600 display with an 800MHz Marvell Armada core (hence the appearance here in the booth). For the record, we're told this is a successor to last year's reference platform known as "Silvermoon" that had been running on a 1GHz PXA168 and that there's a chance it'll be available in retail form later this year. The UI's attractive, but not really as multi-functional as Sony's Dash -- you can think of this as more of a giant Chumby One, really, with some extra screen elements designed to take advantage of the significantly higher resolution. There's no guarantee this'll ever be produced -- or if so, when -- so for the time being, our video UI tour after the break is about as close as you're going to get.
Comsys joins GSM and WiMAX into holy matrimony under Android as ComMAX CM1125
It looks like the next generation of little green robots just got a little bit faster, with Comsys Mobile announcing its ComMAX CM1125 reference design at Mobile World Congress 2010 (and beating HTC to the punch). It'll apparently find life inside Windows Mobile handsets as well, where it will not only offer WiMAX, but bring GSM/Edge, WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth, and even FM radio to the table, all in a design with "exceptionally low power operation." It's said to be able to switch from WiMAX to Edge seamlessly, though we image that transition would feel something like being inside KITT on Turbo Boost and hitting the Emergency Braking System. No word on when we'll see phones at retail based on this design, but we'll endeavor to bring you more information on this design (as well as more Knight Rider references) as the show progresses.
