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ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC getting Tegra 2 treatment ahead of March launch?
More from DigiTimes this morning and its chatty sources within NVIDIA and Taiwanese supply chains. First up is talk that ASUS' 10-inch Eee Pad -- presumably, the Android loving EP101TC said to cost less than $399 -- will launch in March of 2011 with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 taking care of the processing duties. DigiTimes' sources also remind us that Tegra 2 tablets are on the way from Dell, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba in addition to smartphones from ASUS, Motorola, and LG. Good to know, but for as long as Tegra 2 has been discussed, we've yet to see the SoC ship inside anything worth getting too excited over. And don't even mention the Boxee Box, they switched to Intel at the last minute, remember? Maybe Dell's Looking Glass tablet will change all that when it launches any day now.
Marvell's quad-core Armada processor won't see tablets or phones, destined for a mystery game platform
Looks like that quad-core Armada processor won't be having apps for breakfast after all -- confronting Marvell's Jack Kang at Mobilize 2010, he told us the chips proved too power-hungry for devices without a dedicated cord. That doesn't mean we won't see them soon, however, as the man let slip that it's actually the quad-core chip that will appear in a new game system, though we can probably rule out the Nintendo 3DS for the same reason as the phones. Marvell's still hoping to get in the mobile market in a big way, though, and that's what the tri-core Armada 628 is all about, which uses low power profiles to save battery life. According to Kang, however, the system's actually a little more exciting than that -- its two up-to-1.5GHz cores kick in when the system's under a multimedia strain, but actually shut off completely for day-to-day use, relying instead on the third 624MHz processor which slowly sips your battery juice. All we know is, we'd better find out which devices will sport these chips, and soon -- our curiosity is beginning to gnaw.
Caption Contest: NVIDIA CEO flaunts tattoo on stage, still serving cans of whoop-ass
Oh sure, NVIDIA might not have had any physical chips to show off at the GPU Technology Conference earlier this week, but CEO Jen-Hsun Huang did have one very, very special exhibit up his sleeve. Paul: "And below the logo is a picture of all the shipping devices running Tegra 2." Don: "Here are the new logo designs we've been working on, Mr. Huang." Ross: "Take a cue from Peter Moore and go with temporary. You never know where you'll be in even just a few years' time." Chris: "Huang's Boxee Box tramp stamp, of course, would remain a secret." Joanna: "And this is why I hate gun, er GPU shows." Darren: "Whatever. At least it's not a Zune tattoo." Richard Lai: "Yo Intel, this is how embedded is done." Vlad: "Jen-Hsun's displays of support for Notion Ink are starting to get out of hand..."
Marvell unveils 1.5GHz triple-core application processor, all current smartphones look on in envy
Marvell's decided to whip out the "game changer" tag for its latest slice of silicon, but when you read the spec sheet that accompanies it, you might be willing to forgive it. Just this once. The new Armada 628 application processor delivers three cores, two of which crank along at 1.5GHz, and enough graphical prowess to churn 200 million triangles a second. You might remember we were once impressed by the Hummingbird's 90 million -- yeah, not so much anymore. The 628 is capable of 1080p 3D video and graphics (meaning it can sustain two simultaneous 1080p streams, one for each eye) and pledges to have an "ultra" low power profile: more than 10 hours of 1080p video or 140 hours of music playback are on offer. If that's not enough, it's also the first mobile SOC to include USB 3.0 support, adding yet another speed crown to its bulging resume. Now if it can also be SuperSpeedy in coming to market, that'd be just swell.
NVIDIA CEO: Tegra 3 almost done, Tegra 4 on the way, expect a new Tegra annually
Though NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference is primarily about the applications of GPU computing, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang hasn't shied away from revealing new silicon, and he just promised something quite unexpected to attending press: new Tegra chips. Though the Tegra 2 has yet to leave a single dent on the consumer marketplace -- the Boxee Box famously tossed it out -- Huang told us that not only is a Tegra 3 almost done and a Tegra 4 currently underway, but that we should expect a new Tegra SOC "every single year." Forgive us for being a mite skeptical of the company's ability to attract customers, but the only notches we see on Tegra's belt are the Zune HD... and Microsoft's failed Kin.
Intel plans to shrink its Atom chip circuits to just 15 nanometers, and other glorious tales of wonder
Earlier this week at IDF Intel dropped some very, very tiny news on us... namely that the Atom SoCs will soon include circuits which are 22 and 15 nanometers in size. The smaller, 15 nanometer width is the size of about 60 atoms -- seriously. Intel's processors, which are categorized by the size of their circuitry, are currently 32 nanometers at their smallest. So, we'd say you should be on the lookout for them but... yeah, well, you know where we're going with this.
ARM reveals Eagle core as Cortex-A15, capable of quad-core computing at up to 2.5GHz
Way to take the wind out of our sails, ARM -- no sooner does your dual-core Cortex-A9 finally ship, do you reveal an even more powerful smartphone, smartbook and server-slaying beast. The Cortex-A15 MPCore picks up where the A9 left off, but with reportedly five times the power of existing CPUs, raising the bar for ARM-based single- and dual-core cell phone processors up to 1.5GHz... or as high as 2.5GHz in quad-core server-friendly rigs with hardware virtualization baked in and support for well over 4GB of memory. One terabyte, actually. Like we'd heard, the ARMv7-A "Eagle" chips are destined for Texas Instruments, but ST-Ericsson and Samsung as also named as "lead licensees," so we fully expect to see some badass silicon powering a Galaxy when the 32nm and 28nm parts ship in 2013. Press release and video after the break, replete with ARM partner companies fawning over the new hotness. We can't really blame them.
Qualcomm: 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon devices to arrive at end of 2011, 1.2GHz in Q1
Bad news: Qualcomm's just informed us that while it's still on track to ship the juicy 1.5GHz dual-core QSD8672 Snapdragon in Q4 this year, the end-user devices aren't expected to hit the market until the end of 2011 -- potentially almost a whole year later than its previous "early next year" or "by Christmas" prediction. What a shame. On a slightly more positive beat, though, the lesser 1.2GHz dual-core MSM8x60 chipset should be heading towards consumers early next year. Alas, this won't change the fact that we'll still need something to fill the void until 2011 -- Windows Phone 7, we're looking at you.
Globalfoundries takes ARM Cortex-A9 into 28nm land, looks forward to 20nm chips in 2013
Forget the numbers, here's what matters: Globalfoundries' new production capabilities will lead to "smooth production ramp-ups and faster time-to-market" for its customers. Now consider that this promise relates to scrumptious 28nm Cortex-A9 SOCs and feel free to rejoice. The chip fabricator has just declared itself ready to take orders for ARM's systems-on-chip built using its high-k metal gate 28nm fab process. This fulfills its pledge for mass production in the latter half of 2010, but lest you think Globalfoundries is resting on any nanoscale laurels, it also has a 20nm roadmap to tell you about. It's very simple, really: expect even smaller, even more power-efficient silicon in 2013. We don't know if the future will be bright, but it sure looks like it's gonna be small.
Marvell says Armada chips will power new game platform
Marvell's been teasing potent little processors for over a year now, but we've yet to see the firm's Armada appear in anything we'd actually want... but co-founder Sehat Sutardja just let slip that Marvell silicon will power a genuine game console of some sort. "Approximately 15% of the sequential increase [in quarterly sales] was due to the initial production revenue from our ARMADA application processors, primarily as a result of a major customer preparing to launch a new gaming platform," he told investors in a conference call last week, which roughly translates to "We just sold a load of processors for a new game console, yo" if our business-speak is correct. While there's absolutely nothing connecting this transaction to Nintendo's 3DS (which was confirmed to have a Pica200 GPU), we honestly can't think of a single other game platform slated to launch anytime soon -- so don't be surprised if there's a quad-core Armada 600 under that variably-stereoscopic hood. [Thanks, Roxanne]
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.
Texas Instruments' Blaze tablet coming to developers this August
Back in February when Texas Instruments announced its ARM-based OMAP 4 system-on-chip 'Blaze' dev platform, we sort of figured it might be tablet-bound. And, here it is -- Blaze is going to be a tablet! Not a shocker, but we're glad to hear it, of course, since the tablet wars are hotter than ever and we love a good fight. So, what do we know about TI's entry in the game? Hardware wise it's going to be a 10.4-inch XVGA touchscreen LCD with two USB ports. Internally, we hear it'll boast a 1GHz OMAP4430 cpu, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, and FM, plus external camera and pico projector modules. The tablet is not set for retail release, but for developers, but we're still pretty excited to see this one come out to play.
Apple's A4 is like Samsung's S5, except where it's not
Though the Apple iPad and the Samsung Wave most assuredly share the same brain, EE Times would like you to know there's more to a chip than its core -- analyzing Apple's system-on-a-chip designs in detail back to early iPhones, the publication noticed that Cupertino's silicon both has custom design quirks on top of ARM and shows heavy influence from Samsung as well. EE Times claims that while the A4 and Samsung S5PC110 are similar, there are certainly differences, enough to call the A4 a custom design. Essentially, Apple has a taken a one-size-fits-all product originally engineered to meet the needs of a broad range of OEMs and reduced its complexity, footprint, and cost to match Apple's particular goals. As far as whether PA Semi or Intrinsity had a hand in that design, the authors suggest only the latter seems very involved. What all this means for intellectual property questions is anyone's guess -- we'll let the lawyers fight that one out -- but when you encounter diehard fans that claim one's ripping off the other, at least now you'll be able to calmly explain the situation. Find the deep technical dive at our source link.
ARM, Samsung, IBM, Freescale, TI and more join to form Linaro, speed rollout of Linux-based devices
My, my -- what have we here? No, seriously, what is this hodgepodge of (rival) companies, and why have they suddenly decided to high five each other here at Computex? Frankly, we're still trying to piece it all together, but after sitting through a Linaro launch event in Taipei, we're beginning to get a better handle on the relationship that Samsung, ARM, IBM, Freescale, ST-Ericsson, Texas Instruments and the Linux Foundation have just made official. The outfits mentioned above are coming together to form the UK-based Linaro (a not-for-profit entity), which currently has 25 engineers but will see that figure shoot up to nearly a hundred around the world in the coming days. In short, the new firm -- which will have an annual budget in the "tens of millions of dollars" but below "$100 million" -- is seeking to "speed the rollout of Linux-based devices," with one of the key points being this: Linaro will "provide a stable and optimized base for distributions and developers by creating new releases of optimized tools, kernel and middleware software validated for a wide range of SoCs, every six months." Read on for more...%Gallery-94261%
Movies could be available as a VOD rental before DVD, Blu-ray -- for $20 to $30 each
The MPAA has often stated its desire to offer movies through video on-demand ahead of their release on DVD or Blu-ray -- provided the analog hole was closed -- and now that it has been, the Wall Street Journal reports Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. are considering a pitch from Time Warner Cable to do just that. The price for cutting the usual four month wait for home viewing to just 30 days? As much as $20 to $30 for a rental. Sony's already tried experimenting with a higher price point on early delivery of Hancock and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to BRAVIA HDTV owners, but at least they threw in a free Blu-ray copy with the former. So far the studios have only agreed that their current release strategy needs some sort of change, but unless they add some sweeteners we don't see this one shifting us from our current rental/purchase habits.
NVIDIA puts its Tegra 2 eggs in Android's basket, aims to topple Apple's A4
Microsoft's Kin One and Kin Two might not turn out to be the most auspicious devices for Tegra's debut in the smartphone arena, but NVIDIA seems to be learning from its mistakes. Admitting that the company committed too strongly to Microsoft with the first-gen iteration, Jen-Hsun Huang has now said that the second generation of Tegra will look to Android devices first and foremost. This newfound focus will materialize with both smartphones and tablets in the third and fourth quarter of this year, and will, according to Jen-Hsun, offer device makers a viable competitor to Apple's A4 SOC. In other news, NVIDIA has now shipped "a few hundred thousand" Fermi cards, and has also achieved 70 design wins with its Optimus graphics switching technology. Eleven of those are now out in the wild, but the vast majority are still to come, mostly as part of the seasonal "back to school" refresh at the end of the summer. These revelations came during the company's earnings call for the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, and you can find the full transcript at the source below. [Thanks, TareG]
Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor
See the marking on that chip with the Apple logo? No, not the "N90" codename indicating that it's from Apple's next generation GSM iPhone, the other text. If we're not mistaken then we're seeing "339S0084" on that chip from today's fourth-generation iPhone teardown. Guess what? According to Chipworks, that's the Apple A4 microprocessor fabricated by Samsung and the presumed work of Apple's acquired PA Semi and Intrinsity engineers. The "APL0398" text is also the same as that found on the iPad's speedy and power sipping A4 system-on-chip. The other markings differ however. What that means isn't entirely clear yet but we're digging.
FCC will let the MPAA disable analog outputs, kind of
The Motion Picture Association of America has been trying to get a waiver for the FCC Selectable Output Control (SoC) ban since it went into effect -- the ability to only allow content to flow from a HDCP protected HDMI port. Up until now there has been lots of debate and no action. The bad news is that the MPAA can now use SoC to protect high value content, the good news is the FCC really locked down exactly when it can be used. Basically any movie that's never been released on disc (DVD or Blu-ray) can be protected with SoC for 90 days. The reason the FCC granted this partial waiver was because the content affected isn't currently available to cable and satellite anyways -- in other words consumers who own older HDTVs, without HDMI ports, don't currently expect access to these movies. So for those with older hardware nothing changes, and for those with the latest and greatest, you'll be able to rent newer movies from home. And for everyone else there's the HDfury2 -- no, they'll never learn that DRM is a big waste of time and money. Full waiver after the jump.
Samsung's figured out how to keep HDTVs running cooler
Now that practically every flat panel ships with an array of smart and app store friendly features included, keeping the processors doing all the heavy lifting cool is an issue. Enter Samsung's ultra Low Temperature Chip On Film (u-LTCOF) that spreads out the heat from the system-on-chip over a larger area and is designed specifically for its new 3DTVs using LCD/LED and plasma display technology. The tech goes back to '07, but Samsung plans to produce the new version around Q4 and replace the old metal film with "viscoelastic silicone" that should be about 20 percent more efficient. All in all that's great, and we're going to let it finish, but hopefully the company can also address that "Samsung whine" so many owners have complained about over the last few years.
