Smartphone

Allwinner, a Chinese maker of application processors for mobile devices and consumer electronics, recently introduced the world’s cheapest 64-bit application processor. The system-on-chip, which costs just $5, will power high-performance tablets and CE devices with 4K ultra-high-definition displays. The Allwinner A64 SoC integrates four ARM Cortex-A53 general-purpose cores, an unknown …

ARM Holdings, a leading developer of mobile processors and solutions, on Tuesday introduced its second-generation high-performance 64-bit core based on the ARMv8-A architecture. While ARM has not revealed a lot of details about its new core, it said that it significantly increases performance compared to existing offerings and is the …

Last year Sony Corp. sold off its PC division to an investment company. Besides, the company span off its TV division into a wholly owned subsidiary called Sony Visual Products in a bid to put its costs under control. This year the company is considering options for its TV and …

Back in the days, Nokia Corp. sold loads of premium 8-series feature phones with hefty price tags that featured unique design and materials. In the late nineties Nokia even established a special company – Vertu – which produced ultra-expensive and distinctive phones. The 8-series smartphones lost popularity rather quickly after …

Although Nvidia Corp. decided not to use its custom ARMv8-compatible 64-bit “Denver” core inside its Tegra X1 system-on-chip, the company claims that it can use it inside other application processors. What is unclear is when and inside which application processors. “The reason we did not use Denver on Tegra X1 …

Nvidia Corp. on Monday introduced its latest addition to the Tegra family of system-on-chips for mobile devices, the Tegra X1. The new application processor features the latest ARMv8 64-bit cores, Maxwell architecture graphics, ultra-high-definition video support as well as a massive amount of camera throughput. The all-new Nvidia Tegra X1 …

Microsoft Corp. is expected to showcase its Windows 10 operating system running on various consumer devices – such as smartphones or tablets – later this month, hence, the OS in its current form is ready to run on such gadgets. Apparently, if a publication from a web-site is to be …

Google on Friday revealed that Marvell Technology Group and Nvidia Corp. are working on application processor modules for upcoming Ara smartphones. Previously a number of companies have publicly expressed support of the project Ara, but no one has revealed any particular plans. The disclosure from Google is generally the first …

Microsoft Corp. is working on a new low-cost smartphone based on the Windows Phone 8 operating system. The new handset will target the same market segment as Nokia Asha and Nokia X devices. The first phone in the Lumia 400 range will feature 4” display with 480*800 resolution, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 …

Acer Group reportedly plans to introduce a smartphone based on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone operating system next year as a part of its plan to significantly increase shipments of its smartphones in 2015. Acer released its last Windows Phone 7.5-powered handset in 2011 and since then has offered primarily Google …

Bill Fernandez, the first official employee of Apple, has worked on multiple devices and technologies, but now he is a well-known expert in user interfaces. In a recent interview the man, who introduced Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, said that battery technology is the biggest obstacle for developing of mobile …

Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10 operating system will eventually power billion of devices, the company revealed this week. Apparently, the new OS will target not only PCs, tablets and smartphones, but also various devices that belong to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) world. While Microsoft did not explicitly confirm it, it looks like …

Qualcomm Technologies this week introduced its next-generation 4G/LTE multimode solution for mobile devices, such as smartphones and media tablets. The new Goby 9*45 modem is the world’s first 4G/LTE-Advanced Category 10 cellular modem that supports download speeds of up to 450Mb/s. The solution will be integrated into mobile and other …

Less than a month after reporting lower-than-expected revenues and profits because of challenges on the market of smartphones, Samsung Electronics is reconsidering its investments in development of handsets. Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones and smartphones, has the broadest family of smartphones among all suppliers. While this …

Sharp Corp. this week demonstrated the world’s first display with incredible 736 pixels per inch (ppi) pixel density. The company said that it will be able to commercially ship such display panels in calendar 2016. The experimental 4.1” panel from Sharp has resolution of 2560*1600 (WQXGA), which is not a …

For a number of times in the past Microsoft Corp. dropped support of its mobile platforms as soon as it launched brand-new operating systems, which greatly destroyed loyal customer base of Windows Mobile and Windows Phone. Fortunately, this is not going to happen with Windows Phone 8 as the company …

While it is considerably easier to expand market presence by releasing devices tailored for certain market segments, this is not a route that BlackBerry plans to choose, according to its chief executive officer. John Chen believes that instead of releasing many new hardware devices, the company needs to offer competitive …

Nokia Corp. said late last week that it will make an important announcement about its future on the 17th of November, 2014. The statement re-launched a series of rumours and speculations that the company plans to re-enter the market of smartphones with a device powered by Google Android operating system. …

Sales of Microsoft Corp.’s Lumia smartphones in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 (ended on the 30th of September, 2014) set up a new all-time record for the brand. Unfortunately, shipments of Windows Phone-based Lumia are still well below not only direct rivals, but Nokia’s own smartphones several years ago. …

Google plans to build a special online store that will sell components for modular smartphones that belong to the Project Ara initiative. The intention means that Google will certify modules for smartphones and ensure their quality, which is a rather hard task. Besides, small-volume manufacturing of custom modules will mean …

Microsoft Corp. on Friday published the first images of Lumia smartphones that lack Nokia brand. As it appears, the future handsets from the world’s largest software developer will carry Microsoft trademark. The company also said Friday that the first Microsoft Lumia smartphones will be released shortly. Microsoft does not plan …

Sony Corp. is expected to stop making entry-level and mid-range smartphones in the future, a news-agency reported on Thursday. The company is projected to cut its annual sales target for smartphones for the second time this year. Originally Sony planned to sell 50 million smartphones this fiscal year (which ends …

Microsoft Corp. this week officially started to phase out the Nokia brand-name from its smartphones. A post on Nokia France’s Facebook page claims that shortly the page will be renamed to Microsoft Lumia. The software giant yet has to show the visual of the new name as well as new …

Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled its all-new Exynos 7 application processor for mobile and consumer electronics devices. The features eight processing cores, high-end graphics engine, 4K ultra-high-definition video output and a number of other innovations. The chip is made using Samsung’s latest process technology and will power numerous future devices …

Carl Zeiss, a leading manufacturer of optical lenses and devices on their base, on Friday introduced VR One, a virtual reality headset that is potentially compatible with nearly all high-end smartphones. The device lacks any electronic components and costs just $99/€99, but there is virtually no software for it at …

At a recent developer event Google re-emphasized plans to show a fully-functional prototype of its modular Ara smartphone platform in late 2014 and revealed some additional details about the project. Apparently, Google’s plan is to keep everything simple and therefore the majority of modules of Ara handsets will be hot-swappable. …

Intel Corp. and Tsinghua Unigroup, a China state-owned limited liability corporation, confirmed that they have signed an agreement under which Intel will acquire 20 per cent stake in the Chinese holding company, which controls two developers of mobile system-on-chips (SoCs), for $1.5 billion. It is believed that that the SoC …

Intel Corp. has quietly acquired a 20 per cent stake in a Chinese holding company that controls developers of system-on-chips for smartphones and other mobile devices, according to two media reports. It is expected that the chip designers will develop application processors for mobiles powered by Intel’s x86 cores, which will …

Earlier this year Intel Corp. announced that reference designs of mobile systems based on its next-generation code-named “Skylake” microprocessors will features Rezence wireless charging technology as well as WiGig ultra-fast wireless interconnection technology. Apparently, the company plans to ensure that not only mobile gadgets feature the new tech, but there …

It is not a secret that Microsoft Corp. plans to eliminate Nokia name from its smartphones going forward in order to emphasize its own brand. What is surprising is that the company also wants to eliminate Windows Phone name as well, possibly, in order to highlight that there will be …