Analysts debate P.A. Semi’s role in forthcoming Apple wares

It’s easy to forget that Apple snapped up P.A. Semi for a song way back when, but now that we’re just days, hours and seconds away from Apple’s expected tablet reveal, a new wave of processor-related conjecture is hitting the fan. Richard Doherty, director of technology consulting firm Envisioneering Group, has come forward with some exceedingly detailed rumors on said tablet, a touchscreen MacBook and an OS X-based unicorn that lives in the cloud. As the story goes, Apple’s pickup of P.A. Semi was primarily an effort to acquire a huge pool of engineering talent to use for its own internal designs, and now Doherty is saying that “before the year is out, Apple will have the most powerful, lowest-cost SoC in the industry.” According to him, there’s nothing from “ARM licensees or Intel that could challenge the power-per-watt, the power-per-buck, the power-per-cubic-millimeter of size,” and he anticipates that four new products are in the pipeline from Cupertino. Need details? How’s about a touchscreen iMac, an “iPod touch on steroids” with a 5-inch display, and “two different versions of media pads in the 7- to 9-inch (screen size) area.” Alright Dick, you just put your reputation on the line — here’s hoping you’ve got your story straight.

Update: Looks like UBS Investment Research has been hearing something similar. According to it, the forthcoming tablet “will be powered by a processor designed by P.A. Semi and built by Samsung.”

Analysts debate P.A. Semi’s role in forthcoming Apple wares originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cydle M7 Android tablet has TV tuner, external monitor capabilities

Cydle’s M7 isn’t the best tablet we’ve seen this year. In fact, it’s hardly even a tablet — it has a built-in stand that allows it to stand at attention in either landscape or portrait mode. When not in use, the stand actually flips around and acts as a screen cover — which is a little comforting when thinking about this soft 7-inch resistive touchscreen bumping against sundry objects in a laptop bag. The Android software on the device right now is ultra beta, so we weren’t able to see the internal ATSC TV tuner in action, but it does set the $199 device apart from some of its slate brethren, though our favorite feature might actually be the simple ability to use this device as an extra PC monitor. You know… it’s the little things in life. Under the hood there’s an ARM11 processor at 800MHz. The M7 should be launching in the Spring, and you can check out some video of the unit after the break if you’re into that sort of thing.

Continue reading Cydle M7 Android tablet has TV tuner, external monitor capabilities

Cydle M7 Android tablet has TV tuner, external monitor capabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices

Remember CES last year, when Creative debuted the Zii and — true to its marketing pitch — everything you know changed? Looks like the company (in the form of its subsidiary, ZiiLabs) is teaming up with ARM this go ’round to further blow minds with its new SiVO Digital Home Platform. Harnessing the newly released Zii Labs ZMS-08 (not to mention ARM’s 1GHz Cortex-A8 processor), the digital media hub boasts 1080p HDTV playback, 3D graphics, support for all your favorite media (including H.264, H.263, XVid and DivX, WMV9/VC1, MP3, WMA8 lossless, AAC-LC, and FLAC), web browser, Adobe Flash Player 10, and Adobe AIR. If you’re an OEM, ODM, or just a huge fan of Stem Cell computing, you’re in luck — this bad boy is making its debut this week in LV. PR after the break.

Continue reading Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices

Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marvell debuts quad core Armada ARM processor for kicking your mobile apps in the face

Marvell’s already been showing some pretty great devices (like Spring Design’s Alex, pictured) based on its Armada 500 (smartbook / nettop) and 600 (mobile) processors, but apparently that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The real meat is in Marvell’s newly announced quadcore versions of those very same GHz+ chips, which should put mobile devices into a different league power-wise — at least until Marvell’s competition hops on board. There’s no telling how much these will cost or when they’ll show up, but Marvell says they’re aimed at the “mass consumer market” and “high volume gaming applications.” Gaming, huh? Perhaps Tegra 2 has a little bit of competition in the prospective DS 2 chip race.

Marvell debuts quad core Armada ARM processor for kicking your mobile apps in the face originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM demos the Cortex-A9’s web browsing skills on video

We’ve been hearing reports of the ARM Cortex-A9 holding its own with the ever-present 1.6GHz Atom processor for quite a while now, but ARM is now taking advantage of CES to do a bit more up-front boasting — like this recently-posted video demoing the processor’s browsing performance against an average netbook. While it’s obviously not entirely scientific, the Cortex-A9 does seem to lag only slightly behind — which is all the more impressive considering that the ARM is running at just 500MHz compared to the Atom’s 1.6GHz. Equally impressive: ARM’s fine taste in websites. Head on past the break for the video.

Continue reading ARM demos the Cortex-A9’s web browsing skills on video

ARM demos the Cortex-A9’s web browsing skills on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!)

Marvell has a new smartbook design on display here with its Armada 510 processor under the hood, and it’s one of the skinniest we’ve seen yet. What’s more surprising, however, is that the device is actually built pretty well, and we even enjoyed the classic-style keyboard spread across its 12.1-inch expanse. The unit was built by an unnamed ODM who is currently shopping it around to manufacturers (or perhaps someone’s bitten already, who knows), and we’re getting a ballpark $200 pricepoint and a promise of about 4 hours of battery life with regular use. Apparently the big trend with these low-power ARM processor-based laptops is to trim down on battery size and therefore cost, and so we’ll have to see where the market settles on preferred batter life: 4 hours might be too few, but at $200 it’s surely tempting. The machine runs full Ubuntu plenty well, including 720p movies, and we were even digging the screen brightness and color — basically, if Marvell’s partners can get this on the market in short order, it might have a significant leg up on the rest of the smartbook competition, at least in terms of sheer quality and sex appeal.

Update: We grabbed a quick video — check it out after the break!

Continue reading Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!)

Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo Skylight: its first ARM / Snapdragon-based smartbook, coming in April for $499

Remember that Snapdragon-powered Lenovo smartbook we peeked back in November of last year? No? Fret not, as the aforesaid outfit has just come clean with the details surrounding the previously elusive device. The Skylight is Lenovo’s first-ever smartbook, and while we’re still struggling to see what niche these things are designed to fill, we definitely can’t knock the internals. It’s the industry’s first ARM-based, Qualcomm smartbook, and it’s powered by a 1GHz processor. Other specs include a 10.1-inch display (1,280 x 720), a customized version of Linux, 20GB (total) of flash storage, 2GB of cloud storage, an 8GB miniSD card, twin USB ports, 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi and a battery capable of humming along for ten hours on a full charge. It’s also apt to be a lot like the unorthodox IdeaPad U1 Hybrid on the software front. The clamshell enclosure weighs under two pounds, and the integrated AT&T WWAN module ensures that you can get connected wherever a tower is available. The unit will ship this April with 18 preloaded web gadgets (including portals to Amazon MP3, Facebook, Gmail and YouTube), and pricing is set for $499 (MSRP). We’re told that AT&T will offer it up as well, but it’s unclear whether or not it’ll subsidize the Skylight should you commit to a two-year DataConnect contract. Rest assured that we’ll be getting some face time with this bugger in short order, but till then, you can peek the press release and a promo /hands-on video just after the break. Oh, and we should mention that we snapped an extremely brief hands-on with the machine a small bit ago, and we’re still flabbergasted by how thin it was. Expect a more thorough look tomorrow!

Continue reading Lenovo Skylight: its first ARM / Snapdragon-based smartbook, coming in April for $499

Lenovo Skylight: its first ARM / Snapdragon-based smartbook, coming in April for $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Freescale reveals 7-inch smartbook reference design, hopes to see it ship for $200

Freescale Semiconductor is helping to kick this year’s CES off with a bang, as its latest reference smartbook design actually has somewhat of a sexy flair to it. Currently, the model is little more than a great idea, but the company is hoping to have it available for partner evaluation starting next month. In theory, at least, this “smartbook tablet” would boast an ultrathin form factor, weigh around 0.8 pounds and get powered by a 1GHz i.MX515 processor. Other specs would include 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 1,024 x 600 touch panel, 4GB to 64GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, optional 3G WWAN module, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, a USB 2.0 socket, audio in / out, 3 megapixel camera, inbuilt 3-axis accelerometer, an ambient light sensor and a 1,900mAh battery. We aren’t quite sure what kind of bulk discounts Freescale is counting on, but it’s hoping that this design will “enable a second generation of smartbook products with prices less than $200.” We dig the ambition and all, but we’re guessing OEMs will actually want to turn a profit should they sign on to sell something like this.

Continue reading Freescale reveals 7-inch smartbook reference design, hopes to see it ship for $200

Freescale reveals 7-inch smartbook reference design, hopes to see it ship for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s Chrome OS-based netbook specs leak out

We’ve already seen that early builds of Google’s Chromium OS can be hacked onto existing machines, but those Chrome OS netbooks that the software giant has planned for next year have remained curiously elusive until now. According to both IBTimes and Netbook News, the company is in talks with a number of outfits in order to bring at least a few sub-$300 options to the market that are well suited to power through its first non-mobile operating system. For starters, we’re told that the 10.1-inch machine will be ARM-based, while NVIDIA’s Tegra platform (likely the second generation) steers the graphical ship. There’s also promise of a multitouch panel (1,280 x 720 resolution), 64GB SSD, WiFi, 2GB of RAM, integrated 3G connectivity, Bluetooth, an Ethernet jack, an undisclosed amount of USB sockets, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, a multi-card reader, a 4- or 6-cell battery and optional GPS. Wilder still, a $200 configuration could very well pop up, and it looks as if (at least initially) Google will sell the device(s) directly through its own website — much like Fusion Garage has done with the Joojoo tablet. ‘Course, it’ll still take some arm twisting to get the low-end crowd to try anything not labeled “Windows,” but if anyone can do it, it’s the company that inexplicably kept Gmail in “beta” for over five years.

Google’s Chrome OS-based netbook specs leak out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Direct Insight debuts SODIMM-sized, ARM-based computer-on-a-module

Well, it may not exactly be the computer everyone’s been pining for, but those that have dreamed of an ARM Cortex-A8-based computer on a SODIMM module now finally one to call their own. That comes in the form of Direct Insight’s new TRITON-TX51, which outdoes the Nokia N900 with an 800MHz Cortex-A8 processor, along with Freescale’s i.MX515 system-on-a-chip, 128MB DDR400 RAM, 128MB of NAND flash, and a touchscreen controller that can drive screens at resolutions up to 1,280 x 768. You’ll also get some other things nice to have on a computer like a 10/100 ethernet controller and a USB 2.0 interface, and even a reasonably capable PowerVR graphics engine that can do OpenGL ES 2.0 and hardware 720p decoding for MPEG-4/H264 video. Look for this one to land sometime next month for €150 (or just over $220).

Direct Insight debuts SODIMM-sized, ARM-based computer-on-a-module originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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