At present there are about half of a dozen different general-purpose processing cores for various low-power system-on-chip solutions. There are high-performance, low-power, big and small cores. But when all of these metrics are taken into account, ARM and Intel have the edge over their rivals. Massive popularization of mobile and …
Read More »Lenovo to spend $2 billion on R&D of servers and smartphones
Lenovo Group, the world’s largest maker of personal computers and one of the fastest growing high-tech companies, plans to spend about two billion of U.S. dollars on research and development of smartphones and servers in the next three years. The money will help the company to enter new markets with …
Read More »Samsung kicks off production of 14nm Exynos system-on-chips
Samsung Electronics has announced that it had begun mass production of a new Exynos 7 system-on-chip for mobile and multimedia devices using 14nm FinFET process technology. The news Exynos 7 Octa processor will likely power the company’s upcoming mobile devices, including flagship smartphones. Samsung started to mass produce chips using …
Read More »Nvidia refocuses Tegra business: targets gaming and automotive markets
For many years Nvidia has tried to enter the market of system-on-chips for media tablets and smartphones with its Tegra application processors. Even though the company has managed to win a number of contracts, in the recent years competitors like Intel, Qualcomm and MediaTek left Nvidia almost no chances to …
Read More »Intel: As AMD exited the server market, ARM chips get chances
At present Intel Corp. controls shipments of around 98 microprocessors for servers on the planet. Advanced Micro Devices is no longer a significant competitor for the chip giant, but a crowd of ARM-based chip developers seems to be. Server customers and makers need alternative processors to Intel Xeon, which is …
Read More »Allwinner A64: a $5 64-bit quad-core chip for 4K tablets and CE
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 …
Read More »Windows 10 for phones will be out soon, but not today
While some of us were hoping that the rumours of a fourth of February release for the preview of Windows 10 for phones were true, it turns out this is not the case. Microsoft representatives have confirmed that the preview, which will run on all phones running Windows Phone 8.1, will be coming …
Read More »ARM introduces new-generation Cortex-A72, second-gen 64-bit core
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 …
Read More »Intel retains position of top tablet SoC supplier
Intel Corp. maintained its position of the top supplier of application processors (APs) for non-Apple tablets in the third quarter of 2014, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. Thanks to the fact that Intel’s roadmap includes various low-cost chips for mobile devices as well as solutions from Rockchip and …
Read More »Microsoft confirms cancellation of Lumia 2520 tablet
Microsoft Corp. has confirmed that its Nokia Lumia 2520 media tablet is no longer in production. Essentially, it means that there are no more devices powered by the company’s Windows RT operating system that are manufactured in high-volume quantities. Last week Microsoft halted production of its own Surface 2 slate …
Read More »AMD to unify platforms for high-end FX chips, mainstream APUs
At present Advanced Micro Devices, just like Intel Corp., has two desktop platforms: socket FM2+ for mainstream accelerated processing units and socket AM3+ for high-end FX central processing units. When AMD introduces its new chips in 2016, the company will unify the two platforms, a media report claims. AMD’s forthcoming …
Read More »Microsoft ceases production of its Windows RT-based Surface tablets
Microsoft Corp. has announced that it had ceased production of its Surface 2 media tablet. The Surface 2 is generally one of the two devices based on Microsoft Windows RT operating system that is available commercially. This week Microsoft sold out the remaining stock of the Surface 2 products and …
Read More »AMD preps ‘Bristol Ridge’ APUs: ‘Carrizo’ for desktops
Although Advanced Micro Devices does not have plans to bring the code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units to the market of traditional desktop computers, it is expected that a similar chip will actually make it into desktops. Unfortunately, this will happen only next year and it is unlikely that it will …
Read More »AMD to lower R&D spending on computing and graphics products
Advanced Micro Devices said this week that in the light of changing market environment and dropping revenues it will reprioritize its research and development (R&D) investments. The company will lower spending on creation of computing and graphics (CG) products and will boost funding of enterprise, embedded and semi-custom (EESC) projects. …
Read More »Microsoft Surface will not be updated to Windows 10
Microsoft Corp.’s troubled Surface RT media tablets will not be updated with Windows 10 operating system, even though the new OS is compatible with ARM-based system-on-chips. While devices running Windows RT will get some of functionality of Windows 10, they will never get all of the advantage of the new …
Read More »Standing or sitting, this desk has your back
Desks, as most of us know them today, are things that don't change height to accommodate changes in posture or how we use them. You have your desk and it is forever stuck at the height it was when you bought it, or if it's a flat pack, then whatever height you …
Read More »AMD: x86 will remain the central server micro-architecture
Even though Advanced Micro Devices and a number of other chip designers expect ARM architecture to gain a significant part of the server market in the coming years, even AMD itself admits that the good-old x86 will remain the architecture of choice for the vast majority of servers in the …
Read More »AMD: We will release new APU, GPU products starting in the Q2 2015
Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it will release new products that will help it to regain share on the markets of central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) starting in the second quarter 2015 and going into the second half of the year. The comments from …
Read More »AMD pins hopes on ‘Carrizo’ APUs as sales of CPUs and GPUs drop
Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it pins a lot of hopes on its code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units after posting a major decline in sales of microprocessors and graphics adapters for personal computers. According to AMD, the “Carrizo” APUs will finally help it to boost PC chip market …
Read More »Intel: Our processors will remain inside Apple Mac computers
Rumour about Apple’s plan to develop its own microprocessors for its Macintosh laptops have been circulating for many years now, but at present Intel Corp.’s microprocessors provide considerably better performance than Apple’s ARM-based chips. Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel, believes that the company’s chips will continue to be …
Read More »MediaTek readies system-on-chips with 10 and 12 cores
The latest mobile application processors from MediaTek already offer performance comparable to that of mobile system-on-chips from companies like Qualcomm. Apparently, the company is working on two new SoCs that promise to offer truly unbeatable performance. Unfortunately, it is completely unclear whether the new APs will be used for mobile …
Read More »MediaTek introduces its first platform for wearable devices
MediaTek, a leading designer of inexpensive application processors for smartphones, has introduced its first platform for wearable computing devices based on Google Android Wear software. This is the first highly-integrated solution for wearable devices from a maker of affordable mobile chips. MediaTek MT2601 is powered by two ARM Cortex-A7 1.2 GHz …
Read More »Nvidia committed to its ‘Denver’ processor, will use it in future SoCs
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 …
Read More »Nvidia details Tegra X1: 8 cores, 256 stream processors, 4K video and 20nm
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 …
Read More »First images of Windows 10 smartphone published
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 …
Read More »Marvell and Nvidia are working on processor modules for Project Ara smartphones
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 …
Read More »Rackspace to lower reliance on Intel, set to use OpenPower servers
Rackspace, one of the world’s largest web hosting and cloud companies, this week officially became a member of the OpenPower foundation, the organization that develops “open-source” servers powered by next-generation IBM Power microprocessors as well as chips based on the Power architecture. The move means that the company will reduce …
Read More »Sony’s head-mounted display turns any glasses into smart-glasses
Sony Corp. has announced its Single-Lens Display Module that can turn any eyewear into smart-glasses. Just like Google Glass, Sony’s SLDM integrates its own application processor, sensors, battery and camera. The device will be shown off next month at the Consumer Electronics Show as a prototype, mass production will start …
Read More »Microsoft readies low-cost Nokia 435 smartphone
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 …
Read More »AMD could power yet another gaming device – chief financial officer
An accelerated processing unit from Advanced Micro Devices could power yet another gaming device, chief financial officer of the company implied this week. The high-ranking executive did not provide any details, but given the revenue opportunities the company outlined with the deal several weeks ago, we are talking about a …
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