Hasta La Gadget!

MediaTek told us to only expect its tablet-focused SoC in the summer, but it’s clearly something of a keener: we’re already looking at the part today. The new MT8125 builds on the familiar formula of a quad-core Cortex-A7 processor and PowerVR Series5XT graphics, with most of the improvement coming from a higher 1.5GHz clock speed. That extra grunt helps the chip handle up to a 1,920 x 1,200 display on top of earlier support for 13MP cameras and 1080p videos. Focusing on tablets gives MediaTek some freedom in configurations, too — it can offer the SoC with basic EDGE cellular data, full HSPA+ or WiFi alone. Customers won’t have to wait long to try the MT8125 when tablets like Lenovo’s IdeaTab S6000 series should be using it now, although there’s no word on how much of that hardware will reach the US.

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Lenovo

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Source: MediaTek

Spark Devices wants the inclusion of WiFi in devices to be a matter of when, not if — and if its new Spark Core gets to market as planned, tinkerers might never have a moment of doubt. The tiny board combines an Arduino-compatible ARM Cortex-M3 platform with a TI CC3000 WiFi chip that not only simplifies getting online, but could save the DIY crowd from having to touch projects afterward. Owners can flash the firmware with new code over WiFi, for a start. A free Spark Cloud service also allows for custom apps that interface with the Core through seemingly anything with an internet connection: if you want to reconfigure a homebrew security camera from your phone, you can. While Spark Devices is relying on crowdfunding to fuel its connected strategy, the company is comfortably past its $10,000 goal and should deliver both the Spark Core ($39) and optional shields to new contributors around September.

[Thanks, Greg]

Filed under: Misc, Networking

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Source: Kickstarter

ARM has teamed up with Sonics Inc. in order to make their future SoCs much more battery friendly. By licensing Sonics’s patent portfolio of over 138 properties, including the property to use Sonics’s Dark Silicon techniques, ARM will be able to develop chips that will be able to offer a big improvement in power savings without sacrificing either performance or efficiency.

With Sonics’s Dark Silicon technology, ARM will be able to develop new SoCs that are efficient in power savings. The new SoCs wil be able to switch off cores for longer periods of time, power on and off your devices more quickly, and also be able to better scale performance and functionality in proportion to battery life in order to increase power efficiency.

Power management has become increasingly important to consumers, who want devices that are powerful, but can also last more than a few hours on a single charge. ARM’s implementation of Sonics’s patents in its future Cortex chips will put it ahead of Intel/AMD x86, that is until Intel’s Haswell chips hit the market. The Haswell chips promise up to 24 hours of battery life on a single charge, so unless ARM can match that, it may be overshadowed before it has the chance to appeal to the market.

Sonics is a leader of system IP for cloud-scale SoCs. Its patent portfolio contains properties that are “fundamental to the development and implementation of on-chip interconnect products” that are used in the SoCs. Under the rule of ARM’s new CEO, Simon Segars, ARM plans on using Sonics’s patents in its future SoCs in order to invade Intel’s territory of x86 processors, and eventually the territory of Intel’s 64-bit processors as well.

Sonics ARM patent agreement may bring Dark Silicon to your smartphone is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Although we’ve seen a deluge of tinker-friendly boards, many of them share a dirty secret: they’re borrowing someone else’s OS. The creator of the new CoAction Hero board, Tyler Gilbert, doesn’t think that’s good enough for those who want both control and ease of use. His stackable ARM Cortex-M3 design runs its own real-time platform, CoActionOS, that supports Raspberry Pi-style features like file systems and multitasking while abstracting the hardware enough to remove some of the usual headaches. Coding for the CoAction Hero is much like writing a desktop app, and a Qt-based developer kit helps owners write their own interface without knowing the circuitry inside-out. The board is being crowdfunded and won’t ship until July if all goes according to plan, but a relatively low $10,000 target and $29 minimum pledge for a device should get the Hero into the hands of intrepid project builders.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Kickstarter

If you follow the gadget market with respect to tablets, smartphones, Android-powered TV sticks, and other products, you may be familiar with the name Allwinner. The company makes some of the most common processors in the gadget market used by a number of companies around the world. Allwinner has announced that its latest mobile application processor, called the A20, is now shipping inside customer devices.

This particular SoC is notable because Allwinner says that is the world’s first dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 SoC. The SoC features a dual-core core Cortex-A7 CPU along with a dual-core Mali400MP2 GPU. The SoC supports H.264 2160p video playback and 1080p video playback at 30 frames per second. It also supports 720p 60 frame per second video capture.

The A20 also features an integrated HDMI transmitter, LVDS interface, and integrated TV decoder. It supports dual camera sensors and is Google CTS approved and GMS ready. The SoC supports Android 4.2.2. The manufacturer says that the architecture promises five times the energy efficiency and 50% greater performance than previous generation Cortex-A8 architecture SoCs.

This processor is also likely that land in some existing products as an upgrade. The A20 is pin to pin compatible with Allwinners A10 chipset. The company doesn’t offer any details on specific products coming to market using the new SoC, but this will likely be a very popular product with Chinese gadget makers.

[via Allwinner]

Allwinner says A20 SoC is now shipping in customer products is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.