Samsung Electronics, Nest Labs, and Freescale Semiconductor have teamed to form the Thread Group. The seven company-strong group has been formed to generate and develop Thread, another IP-based wireless networking protocol for home automation and control of the burgeoning "Internet of Things" market.
In 2011, Nvidia announced that it would be developing a 64-bit processor with the "Denver" project code name for servers. This week, it appears that the company's view of servers in the future changed, causing the company to look toward ARM chips. Rather than Denver being built for server use, the company says that the chips will make an appearance in the mobile line of Tegra processors.
AMD will begin developing its own custom ARM cores, alongside upcoming ARM-based chips such as the Opteron A-Series "Seattle," the company has announced in an investor webcast. The processor maker has signed a licensing agreement with ARM to create its own custom 64-bit ARMv8 CPU core, codenamed K12, as part of the company's move into an "ambidextrous architecture" strategy, which it calls Project Skybridge.
During a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session, new Intel CEO Brian Krzanich revealed that the chipmaker's relationship with Apple continued to be "very close," despite Apple using its own ARM-based chip designs in its most popular products, the iPhone and iPad. Intel continues to supply Apple with chips and graphics systems for most of its Mac line, however, and Krzanich said the two companies continue to "grow closer," suggesting potential future partnerships.
Chip maker ARM has announced that it is set to acquire Geomerics, a startup that specializes in lighting effects for game developers. The companies are said to have been directly collaborating on projects for several years, however the buyout is promised to bring a tighter focus on improving the graphics capabilities of ARM's mobile processors.
Qualcomm, Nvidia and Broadcom are prepping s 64-bit quad-core chips for introduction in smartphones and tablets in the first half of 2014, reports Digitimes. The report aligns with ARM's roadmap for 64-bit chips that will see its partners begin mass production of 64-bit chips using its Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53 designs in early 2014. Although not mentioned in the report, Samsung is also expected to produce a 64-bit Exynos Octa chip for its forthcoming Galaxy S5 that will use ARM's big.Little arrangement pairing four high-performance 64-bit cores with four low-power 64-bit cores.
Samsung’s mobile business boss Shin Jong-kyun has told The Korea Times that its next-generation of smartphones will incorporate 64-bit technology in their CPUs. Shin’s remarks were prompted when asked what Samsung was going to do in response Apple ‘smartphone first’ 64-bit A7 processor running in the new iPhone 5s. Samsung, like Apple, is an ARM licensee, however Apple’s licence (like Qualcomm’s) extends further in being able to re-engineer ARM’s designs to create custom cores -- Samsung will have to wait for ARM’s own off the shelf 64-bit designs, which are due to start rolling off production lines in late 2013 for devices released in 2014.
Apple has placed just 79th on a new Forbes list of the world's 100 most innovative companies. Entries are actually ranked on an "innovation premium," which reflects how much investors have increased the share price of a company over the value of its existing business, on the assumption that the firm has profitable new products, services, and markets in development. Corporations can also only make the list if they have a $10 billion market cap, a 2.5 percent research and development budget, and at least seven years of public data.
ARM has made a marginal improvement to its revenues in recent months, according to the latest quarterly results. Revenues of $171.2 million ($264.3 million) for the second quarter are slightly higher than the £170.3 million ($263.9 million) in the previous, and represents a year-on-year increase of around 25 percent.
The first fanless low-voltage Core i-series chip from Intel based on the ‘Haswell’ architecture is inbound for a late 2013 debut. This will enable a new generation of Windows and other tablets that will be able to offer full performance in a much thinner, ARM or Atom-like tablet design. Intel says that the new chip will sip just 4.5 Watts, meaning that a 2-in-1 tablet maker like Microsoft will be able to create a Surface Pro 2 that would be much more like the Surface RT in thickness and weight.
Samsung Electronics today introduced the latest addition to the Exynos product family with enhanced graphic performance driven by four ARM Cortex-A15 processors at 1.8GHz with four additional Cortex-A7 cores at 1.3 GHz in a big.LITTLE processing implementation. The new chip reportedly boosts 3D graphic processing capabilities that are over two times greater than the Exynos 5 Octa predecessor.
Compulab has launched its latest ARM-based Linux desktop computer, one with a small size and relatively cheap cost. The Utilite, offered with either an installation of Ubuntu or Android as an operating system, continues the trend of low-power small form factor computers, by packing a system into a 5.3x3.5x0.8-inch case, similar to its Fit-PC range.
ARM processors will be ramping clock speeds to 3GHz in 2014, a statement by the company reveals. Currently, its high-end chip designs for 2013 are being fabricated on a 28nm process. Chips like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and the Nvidia Tegra 4i, built using ARM designs, are fabricated on a 28nm process with clock speeds hitting a ceiling of 2.3GHz.
AMD will be taking its first steps in producing ARM-based processors, according to a new roadmap. The chip manufacturer will be creating "Seattle" processors for the server market which will use ARM Cortex-A57 cores, which could eventually lead to AMD creating ARM processors destined for tablets in the distant future.
ARM has revealed its latest processor for mobile devices, the Cortex-A12, which it has developed for the booming mid-range segment. Also new is the Mali-T62, a new mobile GPU that can be paired with Cortex-A12 cores. The Cambridge, England based chip designer also revealed the complementary Mali-V500 video support chip and POP IP technology that reduces system bandwidth and power requirements, while enabling playback of protected video content using TrustZone verification.
ARM is seeing favorable results again in its quarterly results, continuing on from the rising revenues of the last quarter. The financials for the first quarter of 2013 show revenues rising year-on-year by 26 percent to £170.3 million ($263.9 million), while pre-tax profits earned the company £89.4 million ($136 million), a 44-percent increase compared to Q1 2012.
Mozilla and Samsung will be collaborating on an "advanced technology Web browser engine." Servo will be the two company's attempt at rebuilding a web browser that works with modern hardware in mind, with the initial construction efforts of the browser engine focussed on Android and ARM-based systems.
ARM and TSMC have jointly announced that they have collaborated on the first tape out of ARM’s Cortex-A57 CPU based on its next-generation 64-bit ARMv8 mobile architecture. The new chip design will be ARM’s highest performing chip to date and is targeted for use in tablets, high-end computers and servers. The Cortex-A57 was fabricated on TSMC’s FinFET 16nm process, which gets its name from the tiny fish fin shape of its transistors.
The Chief Executive Officer of ARM will be stepping down from his position in the company on the first of July, in order to enter retirement. Warren East will relinquish his role after 19 years at the company, nearly twelve of those as CEO, and is set to be replaced by the current President of ARM, Simon Segars.
Intel has been in discussions with Apple to fabricate its ARM-based A-series designs, reports Reuters. Executives from the two companies have been investigating the possibility of a contract manufacturing deal that would get Intel into the mobile space, while helping Apple extricate itself from its ties with Samsung. The report follows a similar rumor that first surfaced in mid-2012, which suggested that Intel was targeting Apple’s mobile chip business, albeit with its own x86-based designs.
Processor designer ARM has revealed pre-tax profits have risen 16-percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to the same period the year before. The rise sees the company earning £80 million ($126 million) from revenues of £164.2 million ($262.8 million), itself up by 21-percent from the £137.8 million ($217 million) in Q4 2011.
China-based Hisense has introduced its own range of connected, Ultra High-Definition (no longer officially and technically referred to as 4K) TVs, with the XT880 range. The 50-, 58-, and 65-inch sets all sport 3,840x2,160 resolution and get a number of so-called 'Smart' features such as Wi-Fi for web access and an Android 4.0-based operating system. The remote control will allow users to issue voice commands, while a removable camera will allow for face recognition, gesture control, and video chats over Skype.
ARM today announced a new processor series based on the ARMv8 architecture, the Cortex-A50. The new series will initially include the Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57 processors, and it will bring to bear energy-efficient technologies enabling 64-bit processing in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. ARM says the new designs should enable performance up to three times that seen in today's "superphones" while consuming a comparable level of power.
The A6 processor Apple showed off yesterday in revealing the iPhone 5 is said by some analysts to be a Samsung-produced dual-core Cortex-A15. EETimes cites analysts at Nomura Equity Research in claiming that the device was manufactured using Samsung's 32-nm HKMG process, making Apple among the first device manufacturers to introduce a processor based on ARM's low-power Cortex-A15 design, which was introduced two years ago.
Global Foundries, a contract chipmaker, has signed a multi-year agreement with mobile chipmaker ARM to produce its next-generation mobile system-on-chip (SoC) processors. The factories are equipped to build 20nm and FinFET process technologies. The deal also calls on ARM developing its Artisan Physical IP platform, including cell libraries, memory compilers and POP IP solutions.
Samsung has published a white paper (pdf) outlining the technical details and product highlights of its next-generation mobile processor. The new Exynos 5 Dualseries of mobile processors will be clocked at 1.7GHz and have been manufactured on Samsung's 32nm process using its High-K Metal Gate method. Underpinning the design is ARM's Cortex A-15 architecture, which will pit Samsung's latest chip directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 'Krait' processors.
Jim Keller, a veteran chip designer who started with Digital Equipment Corporation's Alpha processor before eventually starting P.A. Semi and subsequently joining Apple, has left the company to join Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Keller will help lead the company in an effort to develop lower-power but more-efficient processors based on the ARM design, similar to the work he did with P.A. Semi and Apple. AMD recently noted it was now licensing ARM's processor designs.
ARM Holdings defied the flat technology sector by pushing past analysts estimates in returning a 23 percent pre-tax profit of $103 million for the second quartert. According to Reuters, ARM out grew the industry as demand for mobile chips based on the Cambridge company's designs continues to increase. Despite forecast warnings issued by Intel and ARM partner Qualcomm in recent weeks, ARM maintains that it is on track to meet its forecast for the full fiscal year.
Notorious source DigiTimes, citing its usual Chinese manufacturing contacts, claimed that Apple's next-generation iPhone will be powered by a quad-core ARM processor based off of Samsung's Exynos 4 architecture. Other details, such as clock speed, or graphics processor technologies, were not provided. Analysts expect that Apple's move to a quad-core chip is necessary to keep them ahead in the smart phone arms race.
AMD has confirmed plans to license ARM technology for chipsets in upcoming 'ultrathin' notebooks. The company is stopping short of replacing its x86-based CPU and GPU components, however, as an ARM Cortex-A5 chip will serve as an independent core tasked with running applications in a secure environment via ARM's Trustzone technology.
Italy's LiquidTv has just introduced a new dongle that promises to bring not only web access but Android 4.0 to HDTVs equipped with an HDMI port. The product is called SmartKey TV and houses a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU, Mali 400MP GPU, and 512MB of RAM. The 4GB of onboard storage is supplemented by a microSDHC memory card slot.
HTC is said to be frozen out of the introductory phase of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows RT software. Sources familiar with interactions between the two companies tell Bloomberg that Microsoft has locked HTC out from making any tablet devices featuring Windows 8, though the manufacturer could be included in a later wave of device releases next year. Microsoft has maintained tight control over the number of ARM-based devices it is supporting at launch, and the HTC denial is said to be based in part on a disagreement between the two companies on whether or not a proposed HTC device's interface could be customized.
An ARM chip-based Google TV box from Taiwan's Honeywld Technology running on Android 4.0 has the ability to stream media files from portable Android 4.0 devices. In this regard, it's similar to Apple's AirPlay technology that can stream videos and music from iPhones and iPads through the Apple TV to HDTVs. What's more, the box will have the ability to synchronize photos, IDG reported from the Computex trade show in Taipei.
A major manufacturer and Windows partner has criticized Mirosoft's new mobile-oriented OS variant WindowsRT, otherwise known as Windows-on-ARM. The option is meant to bring Microsoft's operating system to the low-powered processors that power many of the most popular mobile devices, but Acer has leveled complaints about Windows-on-ARM, and ARM-processor models are missing from the manufacturer's Windows 8 product line. DailyTech reports that the computer maker is simply dissatisfied with the possibilities of Microsoft's ARM offering, and will not be supporting it from the hardware end.
Asus is bringing out two versions of the Transformer tablet running Windows 8. The Tablet 600 will be an ARM-based Windows 8 RT device, while the Tablet 810 integrates an Intel processor to power a full version of Windows 8. Both tablets will have a RAM boost compared to their Android-based counterparts, but will retain the mobile dock that converts them into small notebooks.
During his talk with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at today's "All Things D" conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook defending the company's China-heavy manufacturing of its most popular product, the iPhone. Cook said that even in its current version, the back of the iPhone could add "several parts of the US" to its "Made in China" label, pointing to ARM chip manufacturing and the Gorilla Glass used for the screen.
ARM's CEO expects computers powered by the company's processors to hold 10 to 20 percent of the notebook PC market by 2015. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Warren East said (sub. required) he expects that ARM will have a bigger impact on the PC market than competitor Intel will have as it attempts to enter the smartphone market.
The Mozilla Foundation, maker of the Firefox web browser, is calling out Microsoft for anticompetitive practices with regard to browser capabilities on the upcoming Windows RT. In a blog post, Mozilla's General Counsel Harvey Anderson takes Microsoft to task for programming decisions that will limit the power and feature set of non-Internet Explorer browsers in the next version of Windows.
Chinese government officials are in the process of attempting to define a national processor architecture standard. If successful, the standard, which EE Times contends might emerge in the next few months, could dramatically alter computing in the world's largest country, and the ripple effects could change the way international companies do business in China.
Samsung on Wednesday ended one of the largest rumors surrounding the new Galaxy S with news of its main processor. The Exynos 4 Quad carries a namesake four ARM Cortex-A9 cores and is made on a newer, smaller 32 nanometer process. Although it clocks in at the same 1.4GHz as in newer Samsung phones, it's roughly twice as powerful while using 20 percent less power, the company claimed.
The market for embedded processors could grow to ten times the size of the market for mobile device chips, according to ARM CEO Warren East. In an interview with Mobile World Live, East indicated that while mobile devices remain a profitable sector for the company, ARM has its eye on getting its components into a much wider array of products.
Samsung's GT-i9300, possibly the third-generation Galaxy, has had its performance leaked through inadvertent postings to GLBenchmark. The 3D tests caught by a Phone Arena reader show that the quad-core Exynos 4412 chip in the device looks to beat any existing Android phone, and likely the iPhone 4S, by a wide margin. In the common-use Egypt test, the i9300 would be roughly a third faster than the similarly quad-core Tegra 3 in the international HTC One X and three times faster than Samsung's own Galaxy S II.
Samsung's May 3 event was spoiled in conspicuous fashion on Friday after Vietnam's Tinhte briefly posted (since pulled) a detailed look at what's now very likely to be the Galaxy S III. Previously seen earlier as the GT-i9300, the hardware appears to have roughly the physical footprint of the Galaxy S II but with a taller, 4.6-inch, 720p screen that uses Android 4.0's onscreen controls. A quad-core 1.4GHz chip (likely the Exynos 4412) makes it clear the device is high-end.
Following launch secrecy details, a second leak Wednesday has dropped hints that the Galaxy S III, or whatever the device is named, may be a breakthrough in speed. The same source for The Verge as earlier said it would use the rumored quad-core chip, likely the Exynos 4412, and deliver "superlative benchmark performance." The part isn't confirmed, but it's likely to be identical to the Samsung chip in the Meizu MX Quad-core, which could be 60 percent faster than the dual-core MX.
Taiwan-area contract manufacturers claimed Wednesday that Intel and Microsoft have ambitious aims of reducing the iPad's dominance of tablets. The Digitimes contacts understood the Wintel combination wanted the iPad down from 70 percent share, as it has had in the past, to under 50 percent by mid-2013. For Intel, Lenovo's strength in its native China would be a key factor.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini during a call discussing his company's latest results revealed that the first phone with one of its company's processors would at last be shipping this week. The executive didn't name the specific phone, but it may be the Lenovo K800, which had originally been promised for May. Other candidates could include the Orange Santa Clara or its near-identical cousin, the Lava Xolo X900.
ARM on Tuesday rolled out a unique variant on the Cortex-A15 designed to bring the next-generation chip to shelves faster and with less power use. A new hard macro variant that has fixed specifications, including quad cores clocked at 2GHz based on a 28 nanometer TSMC-made (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) design, instead of the "soft core" that lets firms heavily customize an ARM design to their own ends. In return, however, it's both faster to implement and uses the same power as the earlier Cortex-A9.
Intel's Developer Forum in Beijing has slipped out a new set of guidelines for Intel-based Windows 8 tablets. The chip designer wants tablets based on its Atom Z2760 chip to largely fit in with a 10-inch, touch-only tablet or a 11-inch version with a keyboard, CNET saw in its copy of the hardware advice. All of the dimensions would be targeted at matching or beating the iPad, with weight under 1.5 pounds, thicknesses below 0.35 inches, and over none hours of at least theoretical battery life.
A new rumor Monday has shown that Apple might be examining the effect of the A5X chip in an iPhone. The 9to5 claim has a version of the new iPad's chip was reportedly sitting in the existing iPhone 4S body as a test mule. The design, codenamed N96, reportedly has the same 1GB of RAM, although no mentions were made of what might be different.
More details of NVIDIA's Tegra 4 have emerged that could point to as much of a leap in speed as with the last generation. Possible leaks from VR-Zone have shown the line keeping the "4-plus-1" quad-core design but jumping to the much newer ARM Cortex-A15 architecture inside, which should give it a leap in speed at the same clock speed. The clock speeds themselves should climb from 1.5GHz to 2GHz to give it brute force improvements.
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