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Broadcom's new chip lets your phone use any wireless charging standard
Wonder why only a handful of mobile devices support wireless charging? It's partly because the standards are horribly fragmented: companies have to choose between technologies like PMA, Rezence and Qi, and it's not clear which of those will last. Broadcom might put the issue to bed with its new (and awkwardly titled) BCM59350 chip, though. The hardware lets gadgets charge using any existing wireless technology -- you won't have to hunt for specific charging pads. It can also handle up to 7.5W of power instead of the usual 5W, so your gear might charge faster than it would using old-fashioned wires.
Intel's SD card-sized computer may not be so tiny after all
Back at CES, Intel made a big deal of the fact that it could squeeze a Linux-based PC with Bluetooth and WiFi into the size and shape of an SD card. However, with just a few months to go before the launch of these miniscule Edison development boards, it looks like the chip-maker has changed tack. Instead of being based on the Quark SoC, which was specifically designed for wearables and the Internet of Things, the first Edison products will actually rely on a more traditional Atom chip -- in other words, the same sort used in many current Windows tablets and hybrids. An Edison PC based on Atom should deliver more grunt and connectivity options compared to Quark, and for less money, but it'd be too chubby to ever get accidentally jammed in an SD slot. That's why Intel has been forced to admit that, while it continues to work on Quark, the Edison devices coming this summer will be "slightly larger" than was first claimed.
China's Allwinner also has an octa-core chip, touts powerful graphics
Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei and even Qualcomm are now in the octa-core SoC game, but there's always space for more. The latest member is China's Allwinner Technology, who's best known for making the chipsets inside many low-end devices. Like most of its competitors, Allwinner's UltraOcta A80 silicon (pictured above on a development board) uses ARM's big.LITTLE heterogeneous multi-processing design, meaning it can simultaneously run on all eight cores -- four low-power Cortex-A7 and four high-end Cortex-A15. The chip also features Imagination Technologies' 64-core PowerVR G6230 GPU, which promises to deliver "a twofold increase in graphics" performance when compared to Allwinner's previous flagship SoC, the A31 series. We'll spare you from all the nitty-gritty, but you can learn more in the source links below. Expect to see the UltraOcta A80 in affordable devices "in the next few months."
IBM's speedy graphene chip could lead to super-efficient mobile devices
Chips with graphene inside are theoretically quicker than plain silicon designs, but they've been slow in practice; the manufacturing process often damages the graphene, stripping away its speed advantage. That won't be a big problem with IBM's prototype radio receiver, though. The company inserted graphene transistors into the new chip only after it finished assembling the mostly silicon design, keeping the more exotic material intact. The resulting integrated circuit is about 10,000 times more powerful than previous parts, IBM claims. The test unit hasn't done more than send a text message so far, but it could lead to future wireless radios that are both faster and consume less power. If you eventually get a graphene-powered smartphone with great data speeds and a long battery life, you'll know who to thank.
Huawei joins the octa-core club with a high-spec mobile chip of its own
It's been a year since Huawei's Richard Yu's teased his company's octa-core HiSilicon system-on-chip, and according to the exec's recent Sina Weibo post (screenshot after the break), said product is finally ready. In fact, Yu revealed that his company's launched two new 28nm HPM chips. The octa-core model (likely the K3V3) features the usual quad Cortex-A15 plus quad Cortex-A7 big.LITTLE combo (as implemented by Samsung Exynos 5 Octa); and there's also a new quad-core Cortex-A9 model (likely the K3V2 Pro), which succeeds the 40nm K3V2 that features the same architecture. What's unclear is whether the octa-core chip will allow all eight cores to run simultaneously, but what we do know is that both chips come with a multi-mode LTE modem that will also handle both WCDMA and China Mobile's TD-SCDMA radios. Yu also made a separate post to say we're entering the era of 64-bit octa-core processor (Cortex-A53 plus Cortex-A57) this year, but the message was deleted soon afterwards. What a tease. Anyhow, we have a feeling that Huawei will be showing off its first device powered by its own octa-core chip at MWC next month. That's not to say Huawei's saying goodbye to Qualcomm and MediaTek, though -- Yu confirmed that he'll have more "high-end" devices that will feature chips supplied by these two companies.
MediaTek launches world's first true octa-core mobile chip, first devices due end of year
Qualcomm's nightmare has finally come true. Earlier today, MediaTek officially introduced the world's first true octa-core mobile processor, MT6592, and the first devices to feature it are expected to arrive as soon as end of year. This 28nm chip packs eight low-power Cortex-A7 cores, and courtesy of the Heterogeneous Multi-Processing use model on top of ARM's big.LITTLE architecture (though it's actually "LITTLE.LITTLE" in this case), all eight cores can operate simultaneously -- at up to between 1.7GHz and 2GHz, depending on the bin. MediaTek pointed that Chrome can already make use of all eight cores, and likewise with some map apps, video players plus multi-window function. According to the company's figures, the MT6592 manages to beat what appears to be the quad-core Snapdragon 800 in benchmarks, power consumption (as low as 40 percent) and temperature. You can see the full detail in this article's gallery.
Apple unveils A7 chip, brings 64-bit processing to the iPhone 5s
Apple has just laid claim to a world first: 64-bit processing inside a real, ready-for-sale smartphone. The new A7 processor will power the iPhone 5s with a "desktop-class architecture" consisting of over 1 billion transistors. That's twice as many transistors as were squeezed into the A6 and, for the sake of context, it's not a million miles away from the 1.4 billion transistors found in a current Intel Ivy Bridge desktop-class PC chip. In other words, while ARM's own 64-bit mobile chip design, the Cortex-A57, is still being developed by chip- and phone-makers, Apple's in-house team has pipped them all to the post. Largely as a result of the extra transistors and 64-bit architecture, the A7 is claimed to be twice as fast as its predecessor, both in terms of CPU and graphics performance. Speaking of graphics, Apple also promises that its newly added support for the OpenGL ES 3.0 standard will enable "breakthroughs in performance" for visually intensive games such as Infinity Blade III. And it won't just be games that benefit -- iOS 7 will be 64-bit too, naturally, and Apple's own built-in apps will be "re-engineered" to exploit this next-gen processing capability. (The A7 and iPhone 5s will also be backwards compatible with existing 32-bit apps.) Finally, it's interesting note that the iPhone 5s has a secondary processor, the Apple M7, which is tailored for processing motion and other sensory inputs and is presumably designed for unburdening the main chip and allowing the iPhone 5s to work as a fitness tracker and accomplish other sensory-based tasks without excessive battery drain. Check out all the coverage at our iPhone 'Special Event' 2013 event hub!
Imagination Tech CEO: 'The industry needs MIPS as much as MIPS needs the industry'
At an earlier press event in Shenzhen, Imagination Technologies' CEO Sir Hossein Yassaie delivered a clear message: his company's $100 million acquisition of MIPS isn't a short term strategy. Additionally, he has ambitious plans with the latter's chip architecture -- a well-known rival of ARM and Intel's x86. In his presentation, Yassaie boasted that there are currently over 300 SoCs based on MIPS. And out of the five billion devices shipped with Imagination Tech's IP to date, three billion of them use MIPS. These include phones, tablets (especially in China), wearables, printers, networking devices, storage devices and more.
Qualcomm grows Snapdragon 200 family with six new chips, targets emerging markets
Just because Qualcomm's gone to plaid (aka. reached ludicrous speed) with its Snapdragon 800 flagship doesn't mean the company's been standing still at the other end of the market. The Snapdragon 200 family just received a major boost with the introduction of six new chips geared at China and other emerging markets. Available with dual- and quad-core CPUs, the processors are manufactured using a 28nm process and incorporate HSPA+ (21Mbps) and TD-SCDMA radios. The new SoCs are optimized to provide good multimedia performance and long battery life, with support for dual cameras (up to 8MP rear and 5MP front), multiple SIMs (dual standby, dual active and tri standby), iZat location tech and Quick Charge 1.0. Qualcomm's Adreno 302 GPU rounds up the spec list, making these chips well suited for devices running Android, Windows Phone and Firefox OS. The company's expected to begin shipping these new processors (8x10 and 8x12) in late 2013. Full PR after the break.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP benchmarks: prepare for ludicrous speed
Today we had a chance to play with Qualcomm's latest MDP devices (tablet and phone) which pack the company's mighty Snapdragon 800 SoC (MSM8974).
AMD says it's open to developing chips for Android and Chrome OS after all
It was only last fall that AMD said it didn't see a need to make its new "Hondo" chip for tablets to work with Android in addition to Windows and Linux, but it seems that the company now sees things a bit differently. Speaking with PC World at Computex, AMD Senior VP Lisa Su said that while AMD is "very committed to Windows 8," the company also sees "a market for Android and Chrome developing as well." Details remain light beyond that for the time being, with Su offering no indication as to when those chips might actually land in some devices. It does appear that the company is now working with developers on Android applications for AMD chips, though.
Intel's first LTE chip announced for Bay Trail-powered tablets capable of global roaming
At last, Intel finally has its very own LTE modem chip! Intel's Computex 2013 press conference is going on right now, and a company press release states we'll see a 4G LTE multimode solution paired with its 22nm quad-core Atom SoC for tablets. The XMM 7160 will bring Bay Trail tablets (demonstrated on stage running graphically intense games and streaming 4K video over the integrated LTE) with global roaming capability "towards the end of the back to school season." While it's not clear when consumers can get their hands on this technology, hopefully we'll see something pop up on our end before the end of the year. The talk is still ongoing and we should have more details shortly, check out the press release after the break for now. Richard Lawler contributed to this report.
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 specs compared
Microsoft today announced the next generation of Xbox technology, called the Xbox One. Sony previously announced the PlayStation 4 back on February 20, so we now have a full look at just what both next-generation HD boxes will contain. After the break, we've assembled a chart comparing the two consoles and their various components. The two machines are surprisingly similar, with both using an eight core CPU, the same amount of RAM, and both containing a combo Blu-Ray and DVD drive. But there are some major differences, too: Microsoft has created its own chip for the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4 controller contains that share button and the clickable touchpad. Prices for both units haven't been announced yet, but both will be available later on this year.
AMD reveals G-Series X embedded chips, drops a little ARM-powered bombshell
We're no strangers to AMD's embedded processors, designed for specialist applications such as casino gaming and dashboard infotainment systems. But this latest announcement of an updated G-Series processor reveals something totally unexpected. It's not just that the chip contains four Jaguar cores of PlayStation 4 fame, or that it also includes a Radeon 8000 GPU and I/O module on a single piece of silicon -- although that's all interesting enough. The key thing is actually the "X" in the lower right corner of the logo, which signifies that this is an x86 chip of the type we'd normally expect from AMD. The question is this: Why bother even mentioning the "X" when everyone knows AMD is an x86 stalwart already? Read on and we'll explain its true significance.
TSMC narrows production of 16nm FinFET chips to late 2013, wants 10nm in 2015
For as often as TSMC has extolled the virtues of FinFET chip designs, we've been wondering exactly when we'd find them sitting in our devices. Thanks to competition from rival semiconductor firms, we'll get them relatively soon: the company now expects to produce its first wave of FinFET-based, 16-nanometer chips toward the end of 2013. While they won't be as nice as 14nm-XM chips in the pipeline, the 16nm parts should still offer battery life and speed improvements over the 28nm chips we know today. These improvements also won't be the end of the road -- TSMC anticipates 10nm designs built on extreme ultraviolet lithography late into 2015, and CEO Morris Chang believes there's seven or more years of advancements in manufacturing before Moore's Law starts breaking down. We'll just be happy if we see FinFET reach our phones and tablets in the near term.
Tiny DARPA chip has six-axis inertial guidance for military GPS backup
Before satellites, getting from A to B without radio signals involved cumbersome inertial systems found only on advanced civilian and military aircraft. Those are still the best backup for GPS, and working with the University of Michigan, DARPA has found a way to reduce the once fridge-sized units to half the width of your fingernail. The chips contain everything needed for precise navigation including an accurate master clock, a three-axis gyroscope and three accelerometers, all contained in three hair-width layers. If it gets out of the lab, it would give soldiers another option in the event of an enemy GPS attack or when they're in a tunnel, and might even guide you to that Macy's restroom if it ever hits civilian form.
Samsung Exynos Octa now rocking LTE, destined for Korean market
When Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa was announced, it was believed to be compatible with 3G networks only. As such, the HSPA+ (global) version of the Galaxy S 4 was the only handset to feature the company's eight-core SoC -- the LTE model shipping with Qualcomm's 4G-capable, quad-core Snapdragon 600 instead. That's apparently changed, with the Korean giant tweeting that the Exynos 5 Octa now supports LTE on 20 bands. So why even make a Snapdragon 600 version of the Galaxy S 4, then? Perhaps Samsung can't produce as many chips as Qualcomm to meet the upcoming worldwide demand for its new flagship. This appears likely, with inews24 and new-samsunggalaxys4 reporting that the Exynos 5 Octa with LTE is currently reserved for Korean models only (SHV-E300S, SHV-E300K and SHV-E300L, to be exact). So, anyone fancy a trip to Seoul in the near future?
Intel lands Altera as its biggest chip manufacturing customer to date
Many of us see Intel as self-serving with its chip manufacturing, but that's not entirely true: it just hasn't had very large customers. A just-unveiled deal with Altera might help shatter those preconceptions. Intel has agreed to make some of the embedded technology giant's future field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) using a 14-nanometer process, giving Intel a top-flight customer while giving Altera a leg up over any rivals stuck on less efficient technologies. The pact may be just the start -- Intel VP Sunit Rikhi portrays the deal as a stepping stone toward a greater role in contract chip assembly in an interview with Reuters. We're not expecting Intel to snatch some business directly from the likes of GlobalFoundries and TSMC when many of their clients are ARM supporters, or otherwise direct competitors. However, we'll have to reject notions that Intel can't share its wisdom (and factories) with others.
The PS4's processor and performance: what we know and what we think we know
After all the press events, TV cameos and probing interviews, what do we really know about the PS4? The announcement of the next-gen console is a prime example of having an abundance of specs and a lack of knowledge. Although Sony put out a sheet of stats about the console's processor and memory, many of the words it used -- Jaguar cores, compute units, unified memory -- are more ambiguous than they may sound. Nevertheless, even with all these foggy bits, there are some things -- five, in fact -- that we probably can predict about the PS4's hardware. They're listed after the break in order of decreasing certainty. All the way from confident logic down to... well, not quite flailing around with a butter knife during a power cut, but you get the picture.
Sony preps extra-low power mobile GPS chips, draws on motion sensors for help
Many of us can vouch for smartphone navigation being something of a battery hog. Sony would like us to navigate relatively guilt-free: its D5600 and flash-equipped D5601 chips chew no more than 10mW of power for everything they do. Most of their peers demand more than that just for the RF side of the equation, Sony says. They also won't lean on outside help for their location fix. Both chips talk to GPS, GLONASS and similar systems, but they further share the increasingly common ability to use an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer to get a more reliable position lock. Don't expect thrifty GPS just yet, when Sony ships the basic D5600 in June and D5601 in September; that doesn't even include the time spent to build a phone or tablet around either of the new parts. We'll be patient if they reduce that anxiety over battery life whenever we're getting directions.
