Posts tagged cortex
Apple announces iPhone 4S: A5 processor, HSDPA/CDMA, 8 MP, dual antenna
Oct 4th
Many expected Apple to launch a redesigned iPhone 5 at its phone event earlier today, but the company instead announced the iPhone 4S, an upgraded iPhone 4 that includes:
- Dual-core Apple A5 processor (ARM Cortex A9)
- Both HSDPA and CDMA radios built in (instead of separate variants, as in the iPhone 4)
- 8 MP camera with 1080p video recording
- Dual antenna (to split send/receive and address iPhone 4 “death grip” issues)
- Siri voice control
Apple also announced a Find My Friends feature that lets iPhone users track their friends on a map, similar to Google Latitude.
In the US, the new phone will be available on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint for $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB), and $399 (64GB) on a 2-year contract. Meanwhile the iPhone 4 (16GB) will drop to $99 and the iPhone 3GS will be free, both on 2-year contracts.
Presales of the iPhone 4S begin Friday, and the phone should hit stores by October 14.
Source: Apple
Qualcomm ships dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon CPU for smartphones
Jun 3rd
Qualcomm just shipped the first dual-core smartphone processor, a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon chip. The new third-generation QSD8260 and 8660 chips are based on a die-shrunk 45nm version of the 1 GHz QSD8250 chip found in phones like the HTC HD2, EVO 4G, and Google’s Nexus One and should use less power while packing a lot more computing horsepower.
The third-generation Snapdragon CPUs offer a next-generation Adreno (ATI Imageon) GPU with support for Open GL ES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1, hardware acceleration for 1080p HD video encode/decode, and video output resolution up to WXGA (1280×800) with 24-bit color. They also pack a dedicated low power audio engine (to allow the rest of the CPU to go to sleep when you’re just playing music) and low power GPS electronics (to reduce power consumption in navigation apps).
The 8260 model packs an HSPA+ radio (GSM), while the 8660 supports both HSPA+ (GSM) and EV-DO Rev. B (CDMA). Qualcomm will also offer the QSD 8672, a 1.5 GHz version for tablets and larger devices that began sampling several months ago.
The CPUs are based on the same Scorpion core design as current Snapdragon chips, implementing the ARMv7 instruction set but offering slightly better performance clock-for-clock than ARM’s reference design, Cortex A8. For more information, check out our Smartphone Processor Guide.
No info on when the new chips will hit production smartphones, but we’re probably looking at early 2011 at the earliest.
Full press release after the break.
Windows Phone 7 Series Minimum Hardware Requirements
Mar 17th
Microsoft revealed the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series devices at the MIX conference, shown below. Nothing too surprising here- we’re looking at some pretty high-end specs. WP7 does not support external memory cards, so the phones must have 8GB or more built-in flash storage.
The specs list “ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better” for the processors, referring to ARM Cortex A8 processors (used in the iPhone 3GS and other high-end phones) and Qualcomm’s Scorpion core from its Snapdragon chipsets (found in the HTC HD2, Google Nexus One, and others). We’re told there are more specific performance requirements, though. For more information on mobile processors, see our Smartphone Processor Guide.
Screen
Capacitive touch with 4 or more contact points
WVGA (800×480) or HVGA (480×320) resolution
WVGA (800×480) or HVGA (480×320) resolution
Sensors
A-GPS, Accelerometer, Compass, Light, Proximity
Camera
5 megapixels or more, flash required, camera button required
Multimedia
Common detailed specs, Codec Acceleration
Memory
256 MB RAM or more, 8 GB Flash or more
GPU
DirectX 9 acceleration
CPU
ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better
Making Sense of Smartphone Processors: The Mobile CPU/GPU Guide
Mar 14th
Smartphone manufacturers these days boast of their phones’ computer-like capabilities, from desktop-like internet browsing to HD video playback. They toss around spec sheets filled with processor names like ARM11, Cortex A8, Snapdragon, Tegra, OMAP, Armada, and more. What do these all mean, and how do the various chips compare? That’s what we’re going to take a look at today. More >
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