Police officers may soon find themselves patrolling the streets in next-generation vehicles that combine Knight Rider with modern technology to create a cruiser that can handle a good amount of police work on its own. Unveiled recently by Motorola Solutions, the 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV and Detective vehicle combines cutting-edge technology with General Motors’s pedigree to create a product that is as much a partner as it is a car. Included in Motorola’s custom Caprice is a voice-controlled computer system, as many as eight cameras, 4G LTE connectivity and a host of functionality that will help cops patrol the streets more efficiently and effectively. For example, the cameras strategically placed around the vehicle can scan an officer’s surroundings at all times, reading and processing license plate numbers as the officer passes other vehicles. As many as 10,000 plates can be processed per shift, and in the event the registered owner of a scanned vehicle has outstanding warrants or unpaid tickets, the vehicle’s on-board computer system will automatically alert the officer. A promo video showcasing Motorola’s patrol car of the future follows below.

[Via Fast Company]

During an interview with The Telegraph published on Wednesday, Apple’s design boss Jonathan Ive said that his most impressive work at Apple has yet to come. While Apple’s late co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs still takes center stage when the company’s current product line is discussed, Jobs’s knack for surrounding himself with an amazing team was one of the key factors that led to Apple’s success. Among the top executives who had a hand in making Apple what it is today — the most valuable company in the world — is Jonathan Ive, senior vice president of Industrial Design at the Cupertino, California-based company. While Ive is one of the executives behind all of Apple’s biggest hits, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the British designer who will receive knighthood on Wednesday in London says his best work is still buried deep in Apple’s labs.

“It’s a really tough one,” Ive responded when asked by The Telegraph’s Shane Richmond which of his designs he will most likely be remembered for. ”A lot does seem to come back to the fact that what we’re working on now feels like the most important and the best work we’ve done, and so it would be what we’re working on right now, which of course I can’t tell you about.”

Apple is rumored to be working on a number of products that could potentially reinvent its iconic designs. Among them are a smaller version of the iPad tablet, a thinner MacBook Pro, a high-definition television and a completely redesigned iPhone that will launch this fall.

While the flagship smartphone itself will remain under wraps until next week’s press conference, Samsung on Thursday unveiled its next-generation mobile processor, the Exynos 4 Quad, which will power its upcoming Galaxy S3. The new 1.4GHz quad-core SoC is built on 32-nanometer architecture, and Samsung says the chipset will offer significant performance improvements over its previous-generation Exynos processor while consuming 20% less power. “The quad-core processor offers phenomenal multitasking abilities surpassing any single or dual application processor,” Samsung’s VP of System LSI marketing Taehoon Kim said. “Since all the cores must share a single battery, the power management and efficiency in the limited battery capacity are indispensable for mobile computing devices. Given the diverse functionalities consumers are demanding from their mobile devices today, the Exynos 4 Quad meets those high-performance needs while keeping power consumption very low.” Samsung’s full press release follows below.

Samsung’s New Quad-Core Application Processor Drives Advanced Feature Sets in Smartphones and Tablets

Designed on 32nm HKMG process, new energy-efficient chip exceeds 1.4GHz per core

SEOUL, Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the industry’s first quad-core application processor built on the High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) low-power process technology. With unprecedented performance capabilities exceeding 1.4GHz based on the ARM® CORTEXTM A9 quad-core, the powerful, yet energy-efficient Exynos 4 Quad, allows system-level architects to integrate maximized power efficiencies into smartphones and tablets which enables double the processing power at a 20 percent lower power bill over its predecessor, the 45nm process-based Exynos 4 Dual.

“The quad-core processor offers phenomenal multitasking abilities surpassing any single or dual application processor. Since all the cores must share a single battery, the power management and efficiency in the limited battery capacity are indispensable for mobile computing devices,” said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. “Given the diverse functionalities consumers are demanding from their mobile devices today, the Exynos 4 Quad meets those high-performance needs while keeping power consumption very low.”

Multi-core processing delivers enhanced performance, enabling users to accomplish more tasks in a shorter period of time. For example, a task such as streaming video can run on one core while the other cores update applications in the background, connecting to the web and scanning virus-check simultaneously.

Benefitting from a use case where the parallel processing and workload sharing among the four cores is necessary, the Exynos 4 Quad is particularly well-suited for heavy-load applications such as 3D games, video editing, and calculation-intensive simulation.

Due to its 32nm HKMG low-power process and power-saving design, the Exynos 4 Quad has two times the processing capability over the 45nm process based Exynos 4 Dual while consuming 20-percent less power. To improve power efficiency, Samsung adopted hot-plug functionality to support on-off switching for each core as well as the per-core dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), which offers a dramatic reduction in power consumption by adapting different levels of voltage and frequency when changing workloads.

Having identical form factor measurements (12mm X 12mm X 1.37 mm), the Exynos 4 Quad is pin-to-pin compatible with the 32nm process based Exynos 4 Dual, allowing mobile device designers to immediately adopt the new solution without additional cost, engineering or design efforts.

In addition, the new processor incorporates a full HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for high resolution 1080p video recording and play-back, an embedded image signal processor interface for high-quality camera functionality and an HDMI 1.4 interface for sharp and crisp multimedia content transmission.

Samsung developed a power management IC (PMIC), the S5M8767, as a companion chip to power the Exynos 4 Quad processor. By integrating various circuitry such as nine highly efficient and programmable buck converters and 28 low-dropout regulators (LDOs) into the small package of 5.0 mm x 5.0mm x 0.4mm, the S5M8767 is designed to scale up or down the dynamic voltage depending on the clock speed in 6.25mV step for managing power delivery and maximizing battery life at the system level.

Already in production, the Exynos 4 Quad is scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung’s next Galaxy smartphone that will officially be announced in May. Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad is also sampling to other major handset makers.

“The application processor is a crucial element in providing our customers with a PC-like experience on mobile devices. Samsung’s next Galaxy device, which will be officially announced soon, offers uncompromised performance and ground breaking multi-tasking features, thanks to Exynos 4 Quad’s powerful performance and efficient energy management technology,” said Hankil Yoon, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy Team, Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business.

Last year, Samsung introduced a new online hub dedicated to its Exynos processor. Designed to facilitate easy communication with industry partners and end users, the new micro-site takes you a step closer to the ultimate experience Exynos delivers; product information, user experience and information on promotion events. More information can be found at http://www.samsung.com/exynos.

Seagate said in its recent fiscal second-quarter earnings report that it expects the flooding in Thailand to result in a continued hard drive shortage throughout 2012. The company originally reported issues after flooding affected its factories in October, 2011. In addition, analysts have suggested that the floods could increase laptop and desktop PC prices, and hurt overall sales for major computer vendors. Seagate said that it shipped 47 million hard drives during the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which was down just 4% from the same quarter last year. The company confirmed in its earning statement that it has already secured long-term deals to make sure prices don’t inflate further. 

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Sony on Monday announced its latest and thinnest back-illuminated CMOS image sensor that will no doubt help manufacturers create thinner smartphones. “Sony has succeeded in establishing a structure that layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels over the chip affixed with mounted circuits for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates used for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors,” Sony explained in its announcement. “By this stacked structure, large-scale circuits can now be mounted keeping small chip size.” The chip’s features include:

• Large-scale signal processing circuits required for higher image quality and better functionality are built-in
• More compact image sensor chip size
• Even higher image quality of the pixel section by adopting manufacturing processes specialized for superior image quality
• Faster speeds and lower power consumption by adopting the leading process for the circuit section

Sony will begin shipping samples to manufacturers in March. The company’s full press release follows after the break.

Sony Develops Next-generation Back-Illuminated CMOS Image Sensor which Embodies the Continuous Evolution of the Camera Expanding Shooting Enjoyment and Advanced Functionality of Smartphones and Other Devices -

Tokyo, Japan – January 23, 2012 – Sony Corporation (“Sony”) today announced that it has developed a new next-generation back-illuminated CMOS image sensor which embodies the continuous evolution of the camera. This image sensor layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit section for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. This structure achieves further enhancement in image quality, superior functionalities and a more compact size that will lead to enhanced camera evolution.

Hereafter, Sony will position it as the next generation back-illuminated CMOS image sensors, and unwaveringly strive to further develop this image sensor and expand its product lineup, thereby contributing to the further development of user-friendly cameras and to shooting enjoyment.

Features of stacked CMOS image sensor

• Large-scale signal processing circuits required for higher image quality and better functionality are built-in
• More compact image sensor chip size
• Even higher image quality of the pixel section by adopting manufacturing processes specialized for superior image quality
• Faster speeds and lower power consumption by adopting the leading process for the circuit section

Background of development

The popularization of smartphones and other devices in recent years has been accompanied by an increasingly diverse use of camera functionality. This has brought heightened demand for more sophisticated cameras, to ensure adaptability to a wider range of scenes and Sony developed this stacked CMOS image sensor to meet such demand. In addition to the higher pixel numbers, superior image quality and faster speeds which conventional image sensors pursued, the newly-developed image sensors further achieve more highly-advanced functionalities and a more compact size, thus paving the way for enhanced camera evolution.
As the first step towards the commercialization of its new CMOS image sensors, Sony has developed a model with built-in signal processing functionality, an element that usually requires external embedment. Samples will be shipped from March, 2012. Accordingly, models have been developed with Sony’s unique “RGBW Coding” function, which facilitates low noise, high quality image capture even in low light condition, and the proprietary “HDR (High Dynamic Range) Movie” function, which achieves brilliant color even when taking pictures against bright light.

About stacked CMOS image sensors
Conventional CMOS image sensors mount the pixel section and analog logic circuit on top of the same chip, which require numerous constraints when wishing to mount the large-scale circuits such as measures to counter the circuit scale and chip size, measures to suppress noise caused by the layout of the pixel and circuit sections, and optimizing the characteristics of pixels and circuit transistors.

Sony has succeeded in establishing a structure that layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels over the chip affixed with mounted circuits for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates used for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. By this stacked structure, large-scale circuits can now be mounted keeping small chip size. Furthermore, as the pixel section and circuit section are formed as independent chips, a manufacturing process can be adopted, enabling the pixel section to be specialized for higher image quality while the circuit section can be specialized for higher functionality, thus simultaneously achieving higher image quality, superior functionality and a more compact size. In addition, faster signal processing and lower power consumption can also be achieved through the use of leading process for the chip containing the circuits.

Not long ago we published a story about Raspberry Pi, a $35 Linux-based single board computer that is still in development. Now, a Model B version of the device is being demoed and it shows off the small computer’s AirPlay streaming capabilities. The video shows one of Raspberry Pi’s developers using an iPad to stream a video clip to the Raspberry Pi Model B device using AirPlay without a hitch. The developers behind the tiny and affordable computer have said they hope the gadget will eventually be used in schools, although it’s still unclear when the company will begin shipping devices to consumers. A video of Model B working seamlessly with AirPlay follows after the break.

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We just met with Corning during CES in Las Vegas to check out its new Gorilla Glass 2 panels for smartphones and tablets. The new glass is 20% thinner than before, but just as strong and scratch resistant as the original Gorilla Glass. The thinner build will surely help manufacturers make smaller and lighter smartphones. We stayed to watch a pressure test, images of which are in the gallery below, and were impressed with the strength of the glass. Corning said that it’s already shipping the new panels to phone manufacturers and that we will see smartphones on the market soon with the new glass. We were also told that Gorilla Glass 2 will be used in new Windows-powered computers later this year. Be sure to check out our gallery below.

Intel could be preparing to unveil most of its next-generation 22nm Ivy Bridge processors ”on or around” April 8th according to a recent rumor. The company is set to introduce 25 different models in total, DigiTimes reported, including 17 chips designed for use in desktop PCs and eight for notebooks and ultrabooks. Intel will announce the following desktop processors in April according to the report: the Core i7-3770K, 3770, 3770S, 3770T as well as the Core i5-3570, 3550 and 3450. The desktop processors will reportedly range in price from $184 to $332. The following notebook CPUs will also be announced: Core i7-3920Qm ($1,096), 3820QM ($568) and the 3720QM ($378). Intel is allegedly working on the Core i5-3520M, 3360M, 3320M for notebooks and the Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U for ultrabooks, but those processors may not be announced at the same time; the company is expected to unveil several other models for both notebooks and desktops in May. Intel has said its Ivy Bridge chips will offer a 37% performance increase over its 32nm chips.

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Samsung on Wednesday announced the Exynos 5250, the company’s latest system-on-a-chip (SoC), which packs two ARM Cortex-A15 processors clocked at 2GHz. Samsung said the dual-core chip, which will be used primarily in high-end tablets, offers about twice the CPU performance of its existing products that are equipped with a pair of ARM’s 1.5GHz Cortex-A9 processors. The Exynos 5250 supports 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution displays and also offers more than four times the graphics performance of existing ARM Cortex-A9 chips. Samsung expects to mass produce the Exynos 5250 during the second quarter of 2012. The full press release, translated from Korean to English, follows after the break.

Samsung Electronics, the industry’s first Cortex-A15-based development of the mobile AP

- The industry’s first Cortex-A15 core applied 2.0GHz ‘Exynos 5250′
- The industry’s first ultra-high resolution WQXGA (2560 * 1600) display support

CHANDLER, Ariz. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – November 30, 2011 – Samsung Electronics, the industry’s first next-generation Cortex-A15 equipped with 2.0GHz (gigahertz), high-performance dual-core mobile AP ‘Exynos 5250′ was developed.

‘Exynos 5250′ a 32-nm low-power HKMG (high-k metal gate, High-K Metal Gate) process was applied, one can process two instructions per second by 14 billion (14,000 DMIPS) based on the existing 1.5GHz dual Cortex-A9 Core Products (7,500 DMIPS), compared to about twice the CPU performance has been improved.

Primarily in high-end tablet PC mounted ‘Exynos 5250′ which evolved into a high-resolution ultra-high resolution according to the tablet market trends WQXGA (2560 * 1600) displays are supported.

In addition, when implementing a still image of the mobile device of the AP without additional signal transmission timing of the display screen with the images stored in the controller itself implements (Panel Self Refresh feature) at the system level power consumption is reduced.

‘Exynos 5250′ 3D graphics performance for 3D graphics processing speed significantly strengthen the existing Cortex-A9 based products has been improved compared to the more than four times. Stereoscopic 3D display in mobile environments (Stereoscopic 3D Display) and you can enjoy high-end 3D gaming is.

In particular, rapid data processing, 3D graphics, implementation, and support high resolution display of the most important memory bandwidth (Memory Bandwidth, per second, the ability to read and store data in memory) This 12.8GBytes/sec was improved by 2 times compared to existing products.

The Samsung Electronics ‘Exynos 5250′ release of the sample and mass production plans for the second quarter of next year.

Vice President of System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics yidojun the “Cortex-A15 with dramatically improved the processing power of next-generation mobile AP core,” said “Samsung Exynos 5250 users with low power and high performance of the mobile environment to provide a new level,” he said.

The team at iFixit recently tore open Barnes & Noble’s brand new Nook Tablet to get a closer look at its inner workings see how they compare to Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The group found that the Nook Tablet is powered by a dual-core TI OMAP 4 processor clocked at 1GHz, and it has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal SanDisk storage. It also has a 4,000 mAh battery under the hood that’s rated for up to 11.5 hours of reading time, 3.5 hours longer than the previous generation Nook Color device. The Nook Tablet received a repairability score of 6 out of 10 points, which is worse than the Kindle Fire’s 8/10 score. The LCD can be easily replaced because it isn’t fused to the bezel, however one would need to remove the motherboard in order to replace the battery, and there are “excessive amounts of adhesive” and even hidden screws that made the teardown a bit more tedious than usual.

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The group at iFixit recently tore open the Amazon Kindle Fire to get a good look at its hardware. The group discovered that the device is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor clocked at 1GHz that is paired with an older Texas Instruments WL1270B 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi chip. Overall, the Kindle Fire didn’t have too many complicated parts, which resulted in a solid 8/10 repairability score from iFixit. The team said its rear case is easy to take off, users only need a regular screw driver to open the tablet, and the LCD isn’t fused to its the glass cover, which means it should be fairly easy to replace if it breaks. Unfortunately, however, the glass pane is fused to the bezel, and it will require a heat gun to separate the components. A video from DirectFix, another site that tore apart the Kindle Fire and examined its innards, follows after the break.

 Read [iFixit] Read [YouTube]

Qualcomm announced Wednesday that it is now shipping its 4G LTE Gobi 4000 platform to OEMs. The platform combines its 3G/4G wireless modems, the MDM9600 and the MDM9200, and the Gobi API that will allow manufacturers to create devices with support for LTE/HSPA+ and LTE/EV-DO networks. “To make Gobi 4000 available to as many consumers as possible, Qualcomm has worked hard to ensure that OEMs can use the platform on many commonly used personal computing, tablet and e-reader operating systems, including Windows and Android, and hardware architectures, such as our powerful Snapdragon dual-core and quad-core processors,” Qualcomm CDMA Technologies senior vice president of product management Cristiano Amon said. Many manufacturers use Qualcomm’s Gobi technology, including Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Novatel and Sierra Wireless. Apple uses older Gobi technology in its CDMA iPad 2 and iPhone 4, which means it’s very possible that we’ll see Qualcomm’s Gobi 4000 platform used in a 4G iPhone and iPad. In addition to the Gobi 4000 announcement, Qualcomm announced 8 new S4 processors (the MSM8660A, MSM9260A, MSM8630, MSM8230, MSM8627, MSM8227, APQ8060A, and the APQ8030) that use the company’s Krait CPU. The chips were designed for next-generation smartphones and tablets and are expected to hit the market early next year. Read on for Qualcomm’s full Gobi 4000 press release.

Qualcomm Announces Commercial Availability of Gobi 4000 Platform for 4G LTE Connectivity

Fourth Generation Gobi Platform Provides High-speed 4G LTE Connectivity with Backward Compatibility to EV-DO and HSPA+ Networks

SAN DIEGO – November 15, 2011 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced availability of Gobi™ 4000, its latest addition to the Gobi family of embedded data connectivity platforms. Based on Qualcomm’s leading multimode 3G/4G wireless modems, the MDM9600™ and MDM9200™, and a common software interface (Gobi API) for connection management development, the Gobi 4000 platform allows customers to offer both LTE/HSPA+ and LTE/EV-DO designs to meet the growing demand for embedded 3G/4G connectivity in mobile devices worldwide. Gobi 4000-based modules are now available from Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless.

“Embedded modules based on our new Gobi 4000 technology are designed to give consumers an uncompromised mobile connectivity experience, both in terms of download speeds and flexibility,” said Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “To make Gobi 4000 available to as many consumers as possible, Qualcomm has worked hard to ensure that OEMs can use the platform on many commonly used personal computing, tablet and e-reader operating systems, including Windows® and Android, and hardware architectures, such as our powerful Snapdragon™ dual-core and quad-core processors.”

Qualcomm’s latest Gobi-enabled 4G platform features the Gobi Application Programming Interface (API) with LTE extensions and is compatible with leading connectivity standards, including CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A and B, HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+, and LTE with integrated backwards compatibility to HSPA and EV-DO. The Gobi 4000 platform also includes software enhancements for select MDM™ chipsets that enable a common software interface to help connect, locate and manage 3G/4G devices regardless of wireless interface and operating system. This interface will help streamline product development efforts, spur application development among third-party software developers, and deliver greater flexibility to device manufacturers.

As one of the largest providers of wireless chipset and software technology in the industry, Qualcomm has a diverse chipset and software product portfolio spanning multiple device classes. System designers now have the flexibility to choose an embedded Gobi 4000 platform for high-speed 4G LTE support, or an embedded Gobi 3000 platform for worldwide 3G connectivity. Qualcomm also offers its family of Snapdragon all-in-one processors with the option for integrated multimode 3G/4G, dual-band Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth, FM radio connectivity and differing numbers of CPU cores for the most power-efficient designs.

“Qualcomm’s Gobi 4000 platform provides the 4G LTE support our customers demand for mobility in Dell’s Latitude E6420 laptops,” said Kirk Schell, executive director and general manager of Dell’s Business Client Product Group. “We look forward to giving our customers fast 4G network connections and increased productivity with the addition of the Gobi 4000 modules to our mobile broadband technology offerings.”

“Combining the performance, security and reliability of our ThinkPad laptops with Qualcomm’s Gobi platform has proven to be a compelling solution for our customers,” said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, ThinkPad Marketing, Lenovo. “We look forward to continuing this tradition of delivering quality broadband mobile computing solutions with the addition of Qualcomm’s Gobi 4000 technology to our ThinkPad laptops’ connectivity options.”

“We are offering multiple 4G LTE platforms incorporating Qualcomm’s Gobi 4000 technology within our Expedite® Module portfolio,” said Rob Hadley, CMO, Novatel Wireless. “With our long-standing tier-one carrier and OEM relationships and our leading design, integration and certification expertise, we are excited to help our customers bring commercial 4G LTE-capable laptops, tablets and the rapidly growing number of other devices requiring 4G connectivity to market.”

“Sierra Wireless has been using Qualcomm’s Gobi technology in our embedded wireless modules for quite some time, including in our AirPrime™ MC7700, MC7710 and MC7750 modules for LTE networks, which we introduced late last year,” said Dan Schieler, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile Computing for Sierra Wireless. “Our customers value the performance and flexibility that Gobi technology offers, and we are pleased to continue our collaboration with Qualcomm to provide the new Gobi 4000 technology in our product line.”

NVIDIA has finally announced its quad-core ARM Cortex A9 Tegra 3 processor, previously codenamed “Kal-El,” that will deliver “PC-class performance” for tablets and smartphones. NVIDIA said the new chip will offer 3 times the graphics performance of its dual-core Tegra 2 chip and it will consume up to 61% less power. If a user is listening to music or using a phone in a way that does not demand a lot of power, the new chip will automatically throttle down to use a companion core. Once a user fires up a game, browses the Web, or performs a task that needs the extra power, the Tegra 3 processor disables the companion core and activates all four processing cores. In addition to the four cores and the companion core, Tegra 3 also has a 12-core GeForce graphics processing unit with support for stereoscopic 3D, new video engines for playing 1080p HD video and more. NVIDIA said Tegra 3 is in production now and one of the first products to ship with it will be the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Read on for the full press release and a video that shows off the chip’s gaming capabilities.

NVIDIA Quad-Core Tegra 3 Chip Sets New Standards of Mobile Computing Performance, Energy Efficiency

 Tegra 3’s fifth ‘companion’ core enables ultra-low power consumption, while advanced quad-core processors drive record-breaking performance

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Nov. 8, 2011— NVIDIA today ushered in the era of quad-core mobile computing with the introduction of the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 processor, bringing PC-class performance levels, better battery life and improved mobile experiences to tablets and phones.  The world’s first quad-core tablet with the Tegra 3 processor is the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

Known previously by the codename “Project Kal-El,” the Tegra 3 processor provides up to 3x the graphics performance of Tegra 2, and up to 61 percent lower power consumption. This translates into an industry-leading 12 hours of battery life for HD video playback.

The Tegra 3 processor implements a new, patent-pending technology known as Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP). vSMP includes a fifth CPU “companion”, specifically designed for work requiring little power. The four main cores are specifically designed for work requiring high performance, and generally consume less power than dual-core processors.

During tasks that require less power consumption – like listening to music, playing back video or updating background data – the Tegra 3 processor completely shuts down its four performance-tuned cores and, instead, uses its companion core. For high-performance tasks – like web browsing, multitasking and gaming – the Tegra 3 processor disables the companion.

“NVIDIA’s fifth core is ingenious,” said Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow at Insight 64. “Tegra 3’s vSMP technology extends the battery life of next-generation mobile devices by using less power when they’re handling undemanding tasks and then ratcheting up performance when it’s really needed.”

The Tegra 3 quad-core CPUs are complemented with a new 12-core NVIDIA GeForce® GPU, which delivers more realism with dynamic lighting, physical effects and high resolution environments, plus support for 3D stereo, giving developers the means to bring the next generation of mobile games to life.

For the millions who play games on mobile devices, the Tegra 3 processor provides an experience comparable to that of a game console. It offers full game-controller support, enabling consumers to play games on their tablet or super phone, or connect to big screen HDTVs for a truly immersive experience. It also leverages NVIDIA’s award-winning 3D Vision technology and automatically converts OpenGL applications to stereo 3D, so consumers can experience 3D on a big screen 3D TV (via HDMI™ 1.4 technology).

The Tegra 3 processor provides the industry’s….

·         Fastest web experience – with accelerated Adobe Flash  Player 11, HTML5 and WebGL browsing, and an optimized Javascript engine

·         Fastest applications – with blazing performance for multimedia apps, such as photo and video editing

·         Fastest multitasking – for switching between common uses, such as playing music and games, and background tasks

·         Fastest, highest-quality gaming – including new Tegra 3 processor-optimized NVIDIA Tegra Zone™ app  games such as Shadowgun, Riptide GP, Sprinkle, Big Top THD, Bladeslinger, DaVinci THD and Chidori.

Highlights / Key Facts:

·         The Tegra 3 processor redefines power consumption and mobile-computing performance with:

o    The world’s first quad-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU

o    New patent-pending vSMP technology, including a fifth CPU core that runs at a lower frequency and operates at exceptionally low power

o    12-core GeForce GPU, with 3x the graphics performance of the Tegra 2 processor, including support for stereoscopic 3D

o    New video engines with support for 1080p high profile video at 40 Mbps

o    Up to 3x higher memory bandwidth

o    Up to 2x faster Image Signal Processor

·         40 games are expected to be available by the end of 2011, and over 15 Tegra 3 games are under development for Tegra Zone, NVIDIA’s free Android Market app that showcases the best games optimized for the Tegra processor.

·         The Tegra 3 processor is in production. Developers can order the Tegra 3 Developer Kit to create applications for devices with Tegra such as tablets and super phones, at developer.nvidia.com/tegra.

ARM announced the Cortex-A7 MPCore processor on Wednesday, which it is touting as its most power efficient mobile processor yet. The Cortex-A7 is just one-fifth the size of the Cortex-A8 but provides 5x the energy efficiency and greater performance. The single-core chip was designed for use in budget-friendly smartphones that will be priced under $100. ARM explained that it can create a system on a chip (SoC) with better performance and longer battery life by taking advantage of “Big.LITTLE” processing, which combines a Cortex-A15 MPCore with a Cortex-A7 processor. The first smartphones to use the new chip are expected to hit the market in 2013. Read on for the full press release from ARM.

ARM Unveils its Most Energy Efficient Application Processor Ever; Redefines Traditional Power And Performance Relationship With big.LITTLE Processing

19 October 2011

Addresses one of today’s industry challenges: extending consumers’ always on, always connected mobile experience with both improved performance AND longer battery life

Cambridge, UK – 19th October 2011 – ARM today announced the ARM® Cortex™-A7 MPCore™ processor – the most energy-efficient application class processor ARM has ever developed, and big.LITTLE processing – a flexible approach that redefines the traditional power and performance relationship. The Cortex-A7 processor builds on the low-power leadership established by the Cortex-A8 processor that is at the heart of many of today’s most popular smartphones. A single Cortex-A7 processor delivers 5x the energy-efficiency and is one fifth the size of the Cortex-A8 processor, while providing significantly greater performance. The Cortex-A7 processor will enable a rich user experience in sub-$100 entry level smartphones and help connect the next billion people in developing markets.

One of today’s technology most significant challenges is how to create a System on Chip (SoC) that meets the conflicting consumer demand for devices with both higher-performance AND extended battery life. Big.LITTLE processing, enabled by Cortex-A7, achieves this by pairing the best of the high-performance Cortex-A15 MPCore and ultra-efficient Cortex-A7 processors. Big.LITTLE processing allows devices to seamlessly select the right processor for the right task, based on performance requirements. Importantly, this dynamic selection is transparent to the application software or middleware running on the processors.

ARM Partners supporting these technologies include Broadcom, Compal, Freescale, HiSilicon, LG Electronics, Linaro, OK Labs, QNX, Redbend, Samsung, Sprint, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments. Quotes and video comments can be found below and at http://www.youtube.com/ARMflix

Mobile usage has changed significantly and today consumers are increasingly using their smartphone for the majority of their connected lives. This includes high-performance tasks, such as web browsing, navigation and gaming, and less demanding ‘always on, always connected’ background tasks, such as voice calls, social networking and email services. As a result, the mobile phone has become an indispensible compute device for many consumers. At the same time, new mobile form factors, such as tablets, are redefining computing platforms in response to consumer demand. This is creating new ways for consumers to interact with content and brings what was once only possible on a tethered device to the mobile world.

By developing big.LITTLE processing and the Cortex-A7 processor, ARM has addressed the challenge for technology that can deliver both high-performance, required for content creation and consumption, while also delivering extreme power efficiency for extended battery life. This is particularly pertinent as smartphones and tablets continue to evolve into the primary platforms that consumers use to interact with our increasingly connected world.

Cortex-A7 – extending ARM low-power leadership
The efficiency of the ARM architecture is the reason why ARM processors use less power and occupy a smaller footprint. The Cortex-A7 processor occupies less than 0.5mm2, using 28nm process technology, and provides compelling performance in both single and multicore configurations. Used as a stand-alone processor, the Cortex-A7 will deliver sub-$100 entry level smartphones in the 2013-2014 timeframe with an equivalent level of processing performance to today’s $500 high-end smartphones.

The ARM vision of the entry level smartphone market is to redefine usage in the developing world by helping connect the next billion people to Internet content and services over mobile devices.

Big.LITTLE processing – the right processor for the right job
Big.LITTLE processing combines two different, but compatible processors within the same SoC and allows the power management software to seamlessly select the right processor, or multiple processors, for the right task. The processors appear identical from an applications software perspective.

The ‘LITTLE’, lowest-power processor – in this case, the Cortex-A7 – runs the Operating System (OS) and applications for basic always-on, always connected tasks, such as social media and audio playback. The OS and apps can then be seamlessly migrated to the higher-performance processor as demands increase for high end tasks, such as navigation and gaming. The time for this migration is in the order of 20 microseconds.

This flexible approach of choosing the right processor for the right job enables highly optimized processing which results in significant energy savings for common workloads.

System IP and tools ensures coherency and optimization for multicore solutions
The efficient and seamless switching of workloads between the two processors is supported by advanced ARM system IP, such as AMBA® 4 ACE Coherency Extensions. This ensures full cache, I/O and processor-to-processor coherency between the Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7, and across the complete system. Software and applications can therefore continue to run unhindered, and unnoticed by the user, as the tasks are rebalanced to provide the optimum big.LITTLE user experience.

Big.LITTLE power management software is developed by ARM ecosystem partners months ahead of silicon availability using ARM DS-5 tools and Fast Model virtual prototyping technology. The virtual platform, available now to lead partners, contains the Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 processors, as well as cache coherent interconnect System IP, allowing full system software development.

Samsung announced is Exynos 4212 processor on Thursday, a new dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip. Samsung said the 4212 offers a 25% increase in processing power, 50% higher 3D performance and “double the logic density and a 30% lower power-level over the previous process generation” chip, which currently powers most of its Galaxy S II smartphones. The Eynos 4212 will be used in both tablets and smartphones; currently, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 8.9 run dual-core Tegra 2 chips from NVIDIA. The Exynos 4212 processor also supports 1080p HD video recording and playback. Samsung expects to begin sampling the Exynos 4212 during the fourth quarter of this year. The company also announced a new 16-megapixel CMOS image sensor for tablets and smartphones, as well as a 1.2-megapixel HD video module that will be included in future device for video chat. Read on for the full Exynos press release from Samsung.

Samsung Unveils its Next High-Performance Application Processor for Smartphone and Tablet Devices

Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum 2011

TAIPEI, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the latest addition to its Exynos product family – the Exynos 4212 – a dual core ARM Cortex™-A9 application processor, designed on Samsung’s advanced 32nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) low-power process. With best-in-class performance, the dual-core Exynos 4212 offers mobile device systems architects a new solution designed to support a high-quality user-experience and energy-efficient requirements of smartphones and tablet devices. Samsung’s new Exynos application processor is displayed at the eighth annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum held at the Westin Taipei.

“As innovative technologies appear on the mobile landscape, the market continues to embrace further developments and performance acceleration in mobile computing”

“As innovative technologies appear on the mobile landscape, the market continues to embrace further developments and performance acceleration in mobile computing,” said Seh-Woong Jeong, executive vice president of System LSI sales & marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is addressing this trend with its powerful low-power Exynos family of processors based on its proven design technology and cutting-edge process technology for performance and power improvements at the system level.”

Leveraging its deep sub-micron expertise in high-performance/low-power technology, Samsung designed the Exynos 4212 on its 32nm low-power HKMG logic process technology with dual Cortex-A9 cores. Samsung’s 32nm HKMG process node is specifically tuned to offer a competitive, cutting-edge platform with double the logic density and a 30 percent lower power-level over the previous process generation.

In addition to the 25 percent increase in processing power, the new processor features an enhanced graphics processing unit (GPU) that is capable of delivering 50 percent higher 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung.

The Exynos 4212 incorporates a rich portfolio of advanced codec accelerators that support digital still images, video recording and play-back at 1080p full-HD resolution, an image signal processor and an on-chip HDMI 1.4 interface.

Samsung’s new Exynos 4212 application processor will be sampling to select customers in Q4 2011.

Samsung also launched a new website dedicated to its Exynos family of application processors. Designed to facilitate easy communication with industry partners and end users, the new micro site offers detailed product and event information as well as user experiences. More information can be found at www.samsung.com/exynos.