metajunk » ARM

Atheros debuts first Bluetooth 4 / 802.11n system-in-package

Joseph L. Flatley — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:01:00 +0000

You know Atheros, right? The company known for its various wireless networking products has just announced a little something called the AR6233. Billed as "the first SIP solution to support the new Bluetooth 4.0 standard," this system-in-package (that's what SIP stands for -- but you already knew that) sports the aforementioned Bluetooth radio, as well as 802.11n "with a near-zero impact on the battery life of portable devices." Sounds like just the thing for your handcrafted boutique cellphone startup! The architecture works with ARM or x86 processors, and is expected to be in volume production in Q2, 2011. PR after the break. Continue reading Atheros debuts first Bluetooth 4 / 802.11n system-in-package

Atheros debuts first Bluetooth 4 / 802.11n system-in-package originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild

Sean Hollister — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:36:00 +0000

We know it's a little tough to get excited about a chip, even if that chip is the hotly anticipated Samsung Orion. Still, bear with us, because this isn't your average slab of cellphone silicon -- the Orion's got a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a quad-core Mali 400 GPU on board. We spotted it at the ARM Technology Conference this week where it was pimping "Linaro" Linux middleware, as well as some stock Android 2.2. Unfortunately, the development boards still have a few kinks, so representatives couldn't show it pumping all those pixels to nearby HDTVs -- though we did get a butter-smooth demo of Futuremark's old Cyber Samurai benchmark running on the smaller screen. There are still rumors of this chip hitting some products late this year, but next year is much more likely. Either way, we're expecting some pretty impressive benchmarks from this thing when it inevitably winds up in the next Galaxy Tab or a flagship phone of some sort.

Gallery: Samsung Orion 1GHz SoC with Mali 400 GPU

Samsung Orion dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621

Donald Melanson — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:03:00 +0000

Barnes & Noble provided most of the specs for the Nook Color when it launched the device on Tuesday, but notably absent was any word on the processor that powers the e-reader. Thankfully, Texas Instruments has now come out confirmed that the Nook Color uses its ARM Cortex A8-based, 45nm OMAP3621 processor (still no word on the speed). What's more, the processor is actually part of TI's eBook Development Platform, which the Nook Color also relies on. That's particularly interesting considering that the processor and platform support a few features that the Nook Color does not, not the least of which is 3G connectivity. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a future Nook Color that takes advantage of those features, but at least we know it's not too much of a stretch for Barnes & Noble to add them.

Update: Texas Instruments pinged us to say the chip within the Nook Color hums along at 800MHz.

Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can Intel Compete in a Mobile ARMs Race? [Fight]

Tom Halfhill - MaximumPC — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Both Apple's iPhone and iPad and Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips are based on ARM architecture, as are almost all cell phone processors. But where is Intel and the x86? Can the world's largest semiconductor company thwart the public's embrace of ARM? More »

Samsung’s Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we’ve all been waiting for

Vlad Savov — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 06:16:00 +0000

We still consider Samsung's Hummingbird application processor to be among the very best for mobile computers, but this morning Sammy itself is stepping up the charge to make it look real old real fast. The freshly announced dual-core Orion promises to whip us all into a frenzy of geek lust with "5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung," 1080p video encoding and decoding at 30fps, embedded GPS, a native triple display controller, and on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface. Those last two bits mean you can drive two displays on your mobile device while feeding a third, such as a HDTV, all thanks to the one all-powerful chip inside. Availability for "select customers" is coming late this year, with mass production set for the first half of 2011. To say we're looking forward to it would be a massive understatement. Continue reading Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for

Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Globalfoundries takes ARM Cortex-A9 into 28nm land, looks forward to 20nm chips in 2013

Vlad Savov — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:12:00 +0000

Forget the numbers, here's what matters: Globalfoundries' new production capabilities will lead to "smooth production ramp-ups and faster time-to-market" for its customers. Now consider that this promise relates to scrumptious 28nm Cortex-A9 SOCs and feel free to rejoice. The chip fabricator has just declared itself ready to take orders for ARM's systems-on-chip built using its high-k metal gate 28nm fab process. This fulfills its pledge for mass production in the latter half of 2010, but lest you think Globalfoundries is resting on any nanoscale laurels, it also has a 20nm roadmap to tell you about. It's very simple, really: expect even smaller, even more power-efficient silicon in 2013. We don't know if the future will be bright, but it sure looks like it's gonna be small. Continue reading Globalfoundries takes ARM Cortex-A9 into 28nm land, looks forward to 20nm chips in 2013

Globalfoundries takes ARM Cortex-A9 into 28nm land, looks forward to 20nm chips in 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New ARM architecture (likely Eagle) better suited for OS virtualization

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:17:00 +0000

Looks like that fake Pre with the iOS / BlackBerry OS split personality is a little ahead of its time, but ARM -- supplier of the architecture that underpins most of the world's smartphones -- likes the idea. In a recent talk at Stanford, ARM program manager David Brash talked up some of the highlights of new "extensions" to the existing ARMv7-A platform, and though he apparently never mentioned Eagle by name, it seems safe to assume that he was referring to the capabilities that Eagle would bring to the table when it launches in the next couple years. Notably, the extensions will break through ARM's current 4GB RAM limit by mapping 4GB windows of memory to each virtualized operating system, which dovetails nicely -- suspiciously nicely, in fact -- with VMware's recent talk of wanting virtualized phones capable of seamlessly switching between multiple platforms without any hacky bootloader solutions. We're definitely game for that, but considering that Eagle is still years away from retail reality, we're not bothering to clear space on our credit limit just yet.

New ARM architecture (likely Eagle) better suited for OS virtualization originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TI picks up first license for ARM’s Eagle CPU core, mass market devices still a couple of years off

Vlad Savov — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:54:00 +0000

The mythical next generation of ARM's Cortex-A series, the Eagle, has made a reappearance in the news this week, but much of the mystery remains. Texas Instruments has now revealed itself as the first licensee of the new core, while also waxing poetic about its deep involvement and collaboration with ARM on its design and particular specifications. No, nobody was kind enough to let us in on what those specs might yet be, but since -- technically speaking -- the Eagle CPU hasn't even been announced yet, that's probably fair enough. For its part, TI expects to be first to market with its OMAP systems-on-chip integrating the latest Cortex core, but that won't be happening for a good while yet, as most projections peg the Eagle's landing to be no sooner than 2012. Guess we'll just have to make do with some dual-core Snapdragons until then.

Continue reading TI picks up first license for ARM's Eagle CPU core, mass market devices still a couple of years off

TI picks up first license for ARM's Eagle CPU core, mass market devices still a couple of years off originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MeeGo becomes infotainment operating system of choice for BMW, GM, Hyundai and more

Sean Hollister — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:36:00 +0000

It's getting to the point where it's not terribly easy to keep track of all the in-car entertainment initiatives our wondrous connected future has in store, but here's two names you'll want to remember: GENIVI and MeeGo. The former is an industry alliance that now includes automakers GM, BMW, Hyundai and Peugeot Citroen alongside the likes of ARM, NVIDIA, Nokia and Intel, and MeeGo is the Linux-based OS that they've just decided will soon be powering our cars. Don't expect this to affect your daily drive anytime soon, but in the long run we wouldn't be surprised to hear that the Moblin-Maemo base underpins future revisions of Terminal Mode and OnStar.

MeeGo becomes infotainment operating system of choice for BMW, GM, Hyundai and more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft becomes official ARM licensee, could an MS microprocessor be next?

Tim Stevens — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:53:00 +0000

ARM processors are so hot right now, especially in the mobile space, where they power many of the greatest smartphones, tablets, and mobile devices coming down the turnpike. Microsoft is apparently looking to merge in on that action, becoming an official ARM licensee. It's unclear exactly what MS will be doing with its new found technical rights, but General Manager KD Hallman said "With closer access to the ARM technology we will be able to enhance our research and development activities for ARM-based products." This likely means Microsoft will be better optimizing Windows Embedded and Windows Phone for the processor architecture, but also opens the door for Ballmer & Co. to create their own magical microprocessor and, ultimately, use it to rule the world with an iron fist. Terms of the agreement were not given, but hopefully nobody in Redmond had to lose any appendages to seal the deal. Continue reading Microsoft becomes official ARM licensee, could an MS microprocessor be next?

Microsoft becomes official ARM licensee, could an MS microprocessor be next? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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