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Panasonic, DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu create IP for multi-standard LSI chip; supports LTE, GSM, W-CDMA and HSPA+
Marvell was first to introduce a single-chip LTE world modem with support for multiple mobile standards late last year, and now Panasonic Mobile Communications, NTT DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu have developed intellectual property (hardware and software) for something similar of their own. Specifically, the quartet has gone further with the chip aspect. They've tested an "engineering sample" of a large-scale integration chip (pictured) for modems in mobile devices, and claim that it uses twenty percent less juice than larger two-chip designs. That consolidation, also makes it cheaper to produce. Past that, the chip has successfully provided "interconnectivity between the mobile networks of major vendors," getting it a step closer to production. The silicon lets modems play nice with FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, GSM, W-CDMA and HSPA+, specifically, and LTE-Advanced support is in the cards for the future. Although Panasonic, DoCoMo, NEC and Fujitsu are the main partners, other "major players" are said to be on board for a "joint venture," with the goal of commercializing it in countries outside of (and including) Japan. The word's mum on when we can expect the chip to make it past the sampling phase, but in the meantime, hit up the press release after the break for more knowledge.
Fujitsu quad-core phone hands-on (video)
We've finally managed to get some time with Fujitsu's incoming quad-core handset and it's pretty close to completion. The quad-core phone's approaching its very final model, with just a bit of finishing and tightening left to do on what we're seeing here at MWC 2012. It's still water-friendly, wielding a Tegra 3 chip and brandishing a 13.1-megapixel camera. So what are you waiting for? Our impressions and video are right after the break.
Mobile World Congress 2012 preview: what will we see?
Without hesitation, February always seems to be the most hectic time of the year for the mobile industry, thanks primarily to the annual Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. The show has long been considered the proper venue for phone and tablet vendors to show off their latest and greatest innovations. Naturally, the internet is been set ablaze with plenty of rumors and even a few official product announcements from companies hoping to benefit from some solid pre-show buzz.In this guide we'll take you on a tour and walk through the hardware we already know will be shown off at MWC, as well as what we should likely expect to see and the things we'd really love to hear more about but probably won't. Join us after the break, won't you?
Fujitsu readies its 'final model' quad-core smartphone for reveal next week
We laid our hands on Fujitsu's quad-core prototype at the start of the year, it now looks like the phone's now ready to show itself outside the confines of a perspex box. Wielding a Tegra 3 chipset, there's still no official name for the incoming handset, but we're promised admirable battery life and those increasingly typical (for Japan, at least) water resistant credentials. We've also been told that this will be close to -- if not the -- final model of the handset, so we should get to test out that fingerprint sensor in person. Sure, it's not the only quad-core device we're expecting to see at MWC, but we'll welcome it with open arms -- if it does make the journey outside of Japan.
Fujitsu's super-slim, super-powerful phones could come to Europe
We've been enviously eyeing Fujitsu's super-thin, super-powerful phones for a very long while. At CES, we were able to swing an early look at its unnamed Tegra 3 Arrows prototype and the question we asked, over and over, was if we'd ever see these devices in the west. A knowing smile followed with the response that it would "depend on the carriers involved." A report in the Financial Times seems to confirm that the company's planning to take Europe by storm as it unveils the finished model at next week's Mobile World Congress -- albeit with the same caveat that carriers are still yet to sign on. The report adds that Fujitsu will include biometric security, NFC and LTE in all future handsets: just more teasing for those nations still to adopt the standard.
Fujitsu roadmap hints at Windows 8 arrival in Q4, reveals Ultrabooks and slates too
This slide was reportedly displayed at a press conference yesterday, but perhaps it gives away a little bit more than Fujitsu -- or at least Microsoft -- would have intended. The box on the far right appears to show a tablet with a Metro-style UI and it clearly says "Win8 Launch" and "Q4 2012," even though there is still no official launch schedule for the operating system. Of course, the slide might specifically be referring to the introduction of a Fujitsu tablet running Windows 8, in which case the OS itself may be planned to launch earlier -- and indeed previous leaks and rumors have suggested the new Windows will be a summertime baby.In other news, the slide also notably shows two Ultrabooks planned for May, perhaps taking the little and large approach we've seen from Samsung, as well as a hybrid slate and possible Transformer Prime rival, due in September. Will it be enough to reverse the manufacturer's fortunes?
Fujitsu announces Stylistic Android tablet for taking care of business, working overtime (updated)
The BlackBerry PlayBook blues got you down? Fujitsu thinks you should consider riding the Android train to work. The company today announced the awkwardly named Stylistic M350/CA2 Android tablet, a seven-inch enterprise-focused slate aimed at folks looking for a sales terminal, catalog displayer or e-reader. The Stylistic has a WSVGA display and a battery that should give you around six hours on a charge. You can pick one of these guys up in mid-February, if you're in Japan. An equally exciting press release can be found after the jump.Update: Residents of Hong Kong may recognize this 1GHz Gingerbread slate as the MH350, which was launched way back in September. To be honest, the build quality isn't that impressive in real life, but given that this new version weighs a tad more than its Hong Kong counterpart (420g vs. 385g), there may still be hope. Oh, but it is still Gingerbread.
Fujitsu slashes profit target by 42 percent, blames Thai floods
NEC revealed its financial woes to the world yesterday and now Fujitsu is doing the same. The Japanese computer giant originally expected to make ¥60 billion ($790 million) in the fiscal year ending March 31st, but its latest estimate suggests ¥35 billion ($460 million) may be closer to the mark. Whereas NEC admitted there'd been a fall in demand for its products, Fujitsu has so far put the blame squarely on the recent flooding in Thailand, which hit PC sales by disrupting supplies of HDDs.
Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer (updated)
Fujitsu's K supercomputer was on our radar before it was even completed, and naturally, we let you know when it smoked the competition and became the supercomputing speed king. So, when we had the opportunity to see a piece of K at Fujitsu's North America Technology Forum today, we couldn't pass it up. In case you forgot, K is a massive machine powered by 864 racks with 24 boards per rack housing SPARC64 CPUs. We got to see one of those boards, and Yuichiro Ajima -- who designed the inter-connection chips (ICC) on them -- was gracious enough to give us some more info on this most super of supercomputers.As you can see in the gallery above, each board has extensive plumbing to keep the SPARC silicon running at a manageable 32 - 35 degrees Celsius (90 - 95 Fahrenheit) under load. Underneath that copper cooling system lies four processors interspersed between 32 memory modules (with 2GB per module) and four ICCs lined up next to the board's rack interconnect ports. Currently, the system takes 30 megawatts to do its thing, though Ajima informed us that K's theoretical max electricity consumption is about double that -- for perspective, that means K could consume the entire output of some solar power plants. When asked if there were plans to add more racks should Fujitsu's supercomputer lose its crown, Ajima-san said that while possible, there are no plans to do so -- we'll see if that changes should a worthy opponent present itself.Update: Turns out the K's power consumption resides around 13 megawatts, with a max consumption of 16MW at its current configuration. The facility in Kobe, Japan where K resides can deliver up to 24 megawatts, so expansion is possible, but none is currently planned.
Fujitsu M532 tablet rears head in video, promises Ice Cream Sandwich and Tegra 3?
Fujitsu hasn't been a major player in the mobile race on this side of the pond, but it looks like the company's working to change that -- better late than never, right? Last week we spent some time with its "world's thinnest smartphone," the F-07D, and now TechFokus claims to have gotten its hands on a Tegra 3-packing tablet from the Japanese manufacturer that's supposedly set to launch in May. Aside from the aforementioned NVIDIA processor, the slate's also said to come equipped with an "HD" (1280 x 800) display, 16GB of onboard storage and the usual front and rear shooters, at 3 and 8 megapixels, respectively. The tablet, dubbed Stylistic m532, is expected to carry a €499 (around $630) price tag, and although it is currently rocking Honeycomb, it's expected to hit the masses adorned with Ice Cream Sandwich. By the looks of it, there's nothing to write home about here, but you can be the judge by checking out the video after the break. [Thanks, Julian]
The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 1
For some of you reading this, you may simply never have known a world before the internet existed by virtue of your age. It's not your fault, but as generational divisions go, this was a biggie. The internet saturates so much of our lives now that it's even difficult for those of us born prior to the '90s to remember how we functioned without smartphones, Google searches, and terabytes of cheap entertainment on demand. I think there were video game arcades in the mall or something. Because of this, some of you will not understand the import of how it felt when technology advanced to the point that people could reach out online and interact with others, first through written communication and later through applications and games. What we take for granted in today's MMOs -- the constant presence of thousands of real humans interacting with us in a virtual space -- simply blew the minds of those who first encountered it. And way back when, those encounters depended on the person and technology available. Some folks had access in the '60s and '70s to the early form of the internet and email in universities and government offices, but these close encounters of the virtual kind only started to make its way into households in the '80s (and even then, mostly to those plugged into the geek community). The developers of these programs -- the MUDs, the BBSes, CompuServe, etc. -- were truly pioneers forging a path while trying to figure things out on the fly. So it amazed me to hear that I've been missing out on a key part of MMO history by overlooking Lucasfilm's Habitat, which wasn't quite an MMO by modern standards and yet created a graphical virtual world with many of the elements that were adopted into later projects. In our two-week look at Habitat, we'll see just how eerily similar this 1986 title is to what we know today -- even though it came out on the Commodore 64.
Exclusive: Fujitsu's Arrows prototype, new quad-core Tegra 3 smartphone eyes-on (video)
We've been hitting Fujitsu phones for a while, looking in awe at the super-thin gear that remained firmly in the hands of the Japanese. Fortunately the Consumer Electronics Show is the perfect time for the company to further tease us with a product that might just make a trip to the west. Yesterday we got our mitts onto the Arrows Mu and today we've got a really special exclusive: a first look at the prototype of the quad-core packing Arrows super-phone. So, what delights are tucked inside and is this going to be the phone of 2012? Head on past the break to find out.
Fujitsu leaks quad-core Tegra 3 smartphone, unwraps Ice Cream Sandwich
Did the performance chops of the Transformer Prime whet your appetite for quad-core Android? Perhaps the UI of Ice Cream Sandwich is almost enough to push you over from your iPhone. Well, Fujitsu may be the surprising choice for your next phone. Pushing the envelope way beyond the Arrows μ F-07D, Fujitsu's let slip that it has another phone up its sleeve. In a leaflet distributed at CES Unveiled, the brief specification reads like a wish list: a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) right out of the gates. Now, whether we'll see it in the flesh as CES unfolds this week, well, only Fujitsu knows.
Fujitsu Arrows μ F-07D hands-on (video)
It was only a few short months ago that Fujitsu's F-07D cropped up at the FCC and took a swing at the "world's thinnest" smartphone title. Since that time, the handset's taken on a new name -- the Arrows μ -- and has launched on NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Today at CES Unveiled, we got a chance to get up close and personal with the device which, despite hitting a high water mark for slim profile, doesn't exactly attempt to compete with high-end specs. Instead this Android 4-incher runs Gingerbread atop a single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 processor clocked at 1.4GHz and is complemented by 1GB of RAM, 5.1MP rear camera and 1400mAh battery. So, does it hold up to its slight reputation? Join us after the break as we answer that question and delve deep into our first impressions.
Fujitsu's Arrows ES IS12F has the light stuff, baby, heads to KDDI January 7th
A little junk in the mobile trunk never hurt nobody, but don't tell that to Fujitsu, where thin is clearly in. The company's gone all out on its latest handset -- the Arrows ES IS12F -- for Japanese carrier KDDI, hitting marks for both svelteness and ruggedness: pairing a 6.7mm profile with a Gorilla Glass and scratch-resistant body coating (think: the Brawny Man as a phone covered in Teflon on a Master Cleanse). This 4-incher's outfitted with an 800 x 480 AMOLED display, single-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor running Android 2.3, 5.11 megapixel rear shooter and, in keeping with the Arrows tradition, it's also waterproof. If you're living in the Land of the Rising Sun, you can snag this slight smartphone in Ruby Red and Gloss Black starting January 7th. Sorry, chubby phone chasers, you're gonna have to sit this one out.
NTT Docomo, Panasonic, Samsung and more team up to take on Qualcomm over cellphone chips
Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo just announced (as had been rumored) it's forming a joint venture with five partners -- Samsung, Panasonic, Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Semiconductor and NEC -- to develop and sell chips for mobile devices. According to the press release the fabless JV will get started once all involved finish hammering out the details and focus on creating LTE-connected products for the global market. NTT Docomo is investing $5.8 million to create a subsidiary, Communication Platform Planning Co., in preparation with one of its executives as CEO. Currently Qualcomm makes the majority of chips found in smartphones, but it appears to have some high-powered competition on the way soon.
IRL: Spotify, Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 and Oakley's AP backpack 3.0
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. In this, our last edition of IRL before worldwide eat-Chinese-food-and-go-to-the-movies day, we're unpacking our gifts a few days early. Darren replaced his document scanner after his old one went to wherever it is that deceased scanners go, Joe finally settled on a gadget bag stylish enough to go with his skinny jeans and Brian's given himself the gift of a Spotify premium account. So how's it going, here in real life? Head past the break to find out.
Fujitsu, SuVolta push SRAM to its efficiency limits, demo 0.425 volt chip
Get the power requirements down for your next generation of RAM and you can have a raise in your allowance. For the perfect example of two companies that learned to play nice together and deserve a little something extra, Fujitsu Semiconductor and SuVolta today announced the successful demonstration of their ultra-low-voltage SRAM blocks at the International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington, DC. The new SRAM, which sips a mere 0.425 volts (nearly half that of previous chips), uses SuVolta's PowerShrink CMOS platform with Fujitsu's energy-efficient process technology. The companies showed that a 576Kb block of SRAM can run at just 0.4 volts by cutting its CMOS transistor threshold voltage variation in half. It's all very technical and, speaking of which, you'll find all those science-y details and diagrams in the PR after the break. Now, whip us up a crucial component that sips half the power it used to and you'll get a boost in your allowance and an approving tussle of the hair.
Fujitsu Arrows ES IS12F coming to Japan next year: thick name, thin phone
KDDI's au network in Japan has revealed that it'll be stocking the slender Fujitsu Arrows ES IS12F starting January 2012. Fujitsu fans may recall seeing a very similar handset with the same (mostly) 6.7mm profile when NTT DoCoMo's version sashayed into those stuffy FCC offices. The phone runs on a single core processor, which is responsible for powering the image-stabilizing five megapixel camera and Gingerbread OS. The 4-inch, 480 x 800 AMOLED screen is cocooned in the same water resistant armor found on other Arrows devices, helping to protect those essential keitai functions like the One-Seg digital TV tuner and IR receiver. The skinny smartphone will go on sale in both black and red options for KIDDI, while NTT DoCoMo customers will have to settle for black.
Fujitsu Arrows Kiss F-03D ladyphone tells you sit up straight, eat your greens
Here in the US, a ladyphone is bit of a hard sell as we saw with the HTC Rhyme but in Japan it's a different story. Fujitsu is trying to woo girls with the Arrows Kiss F-03D, which comes with apps designed to get users into shape -- or bully them to tears. Beauty Body Clinic monitors your posture and orders you to stand up straighter, Sukkiri Alarm wakes you when it thinks you're ready and Karada Life is a pedometer app offering "health maintenance" advice -- probably suggesting a salad the next time you're at KFC. If that hasn't put you off, you'll want to know it's running a single-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255, a 3.7-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display and an 8.1 megapixel camera 'round back. If you can stand the nannying, you'll also notice it can handle OneSeg broadcasts, mobile wallet payments and the Okudake-Juden wireless charging system. It'll make its way into the purses of unsuspecting NTT DoCoMo victims customers at an as-yet-unspecified price on November 25th.
