We met up with ARM president Simon Segars at Mobile World Congress to talk about the company’s recent milestones — 8-core big.LITTLE processors, the powerful yet efficient Cortex-A50 architecture (which we discussed with James Bruce last year), MediaTek’s Cortex-A7 quad-core SoC (the first of its kind) and Samsung’s octa-core Exynos 5 chip — to name a few. Hit the break to watch our video and read the interview transcript.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile
The developers at Panic didn’t start their days with the intention of ripping open a Lightning Digital AV Adapter, but that’s exactly what happened once they suspected it held some secrets. At first, the group hooked the cable up to various iOS devices expecting 1080p mirroring, but were greeted with 1,600 x 900 as the highest possible resolution. A bit bewildered, they noticed MPEG artifacts, which led them to believe the dongle was acting as a small AirPlay-like receiver that supports streaming and decoding. Now entirely suspicious, the team tore the cable asunder and exposed an ARM SoC apparently packing 256MB of RAM. According to the devs, it’s possible that the Lightning connector’s small number of pins prevented Cupertino from delivering raw HDMI output, so they were forced to improvise with the added silicon. We’ve reached out to Apple to nail down just how the cable works.
Filed under: Peripherals, Apple
Via: Apple Insider, The Next Web
Source: Panic Blog
Over at Panic, a mystery developed as the folks there attempted to do a little bit of video capture via “various iOS device.” Apple‘s digital Lightning AV adapter for the iPad mini and the iPhone 5 is supposed to be capable of full 1080p, but when utilizing the device, they discovered its maximum resolution was only 1600×900. In light of this incongruity, they put on their sleuthing hats and began searching for the answer.
In addition to the lower resolution than they were supposed to get, the folks over at Panic also noticed poor video output quality, with noticeable artifacts around text. Neither the low resolution nor the artifact problem were present when using the old AV adapter, however, adding to the mystery, and so they began to speculate about what could be different between the two.
They developed the theory that the Lightning Digital AV Adapter was actually functioning as something akin to an AirPlay receiver, rather than directly sending a nice clean HDMI signal to the output display. This seemed unlikely, however, not only because of the strangeness of it, but also because of the small size of the device. And so they did what any reasonable people would do – they got a hacksaw and gutted it.
As it turned out, their guess was (possibly) right. Inside the adapter, they discovered a whole lot of tiny components, as well as an ARM chip with the part number H9TKNNN2GD with 256MB of RAM. There’s a good chance, then, that some type of streaming is going on rather than plain ol’ HDMI-out. The obvious question now is “why?” No one knows. The only thing that is certain is that you shouldn’t expect good quality video output.
[via Panic Blog]
Panic cracks open Lightning Digital AV Adapter, makes unexpected discovery is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter is 50 bucks. That’s expensive. Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter hooks up your iOS devices’ Lightning port to HDMI. But it lags and gives artifacts. Apple’s Lightning Digital AV adapter actually hides a tiny computer inside in the cable…wait what? Yes. More »
Just over a month after announcing the Tegra 4 processor, Nvidia’s back with another mobile chipset, the Tegra T4i, which comes with an integrated LTE modem. It’s designed specifically for use with smartphones. Where the Tegra 4 is all about raw power for big phones and tablets, the Tegra 4i is a marvel of tiny efficient design. More »
With NVIDIA‘s reveal of the Tegra 4 System-on-Chip we saw the next generation of processing power with the ability to work with a separate piece of architecture for 4G LTE connectivity – with the Tegra 4i, NVIDIA integrates it all onto one single-chip solution. What you’ll see here is a smaller footprint made for smartphones on the mass market with a whole lot of next-generation power, but on such a level as you’ll find on the Tegra 4. Tegra 4i is NVIDIA’s way of pushing the latest and greatest in Tegra processing power to smartphones in a big way.
While the Tegra 4i (codename: “Grey” up until this week) is handling massive amounts of smartphones across the market across the world, NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 (originally called codename: “Wayne”) will be handling Tablets and what NVIDIA calls Superphones. This is a term NVIDIA has been using since all the way back when the original Motorola ATRIX was introduced to define their forward-looking approach to mobile computing. With Grey, NVIDIA retains a power greater than that of the Tegra 3 and gives it a boost while an i500 modem is integrated in with it.
The Tegra 4i works with R4 ARM A9 CPU architecture, this still employing 4-PLUS-1 technology with a fifth battery-saver core that works with low-power tasks for battery conservation. This is compared with the Tegra 4 which works with four ARM A15 cores (plus a fifth with the same technology onboard). The Tegra 4i also works with a 60 Core GPU arrangement rather than the 72 Core setup the Tegra 4 has.
This little beast known as the Tegra 4i is what NVIDIA calls the “highest performing single chip smartphone processor [in the world]” when this article is published. While we’ll only be able to test this for ourselves when we’ve gotten our hands on the hardware, it would appear that their first show of power relies on the power per millimeter squared results from NV R&D, as you’ll see in a press deck shot here:
NVIDIA also shows a comparison between the S800 Krait CPU (used in some key competitor processors, mind you) and the CPUs of both the Tegra 4 and 4i. You’ll see here that the max Perf and Perf / clock are superior on the Tegra 4, while the size of the core is smallest on the Tegra 4i’s R4 A9 CPU, as is what NVIDIA says will be the raw ability to conserve battery power. It’s the Perf per millimeter squared, again, that shows the intense power of the Tegra 4i, working at more than double the ability of the Tegra 4 (based on size ratio, of course).
With Tegra 4i you’ve got a a new quad-core architecture with ARM R4 A9 cores clocked at 2.3GHz each. You’ve got your integrated i500 (Icera, that is) modem, and 60 GPU cores. Inside you’ve also got an integrated video engine, image signal processor, optimized memory interface, and some fabulous computational photography architecture (going by the name “NVIDIA Chimera”) as well.
With the NVIDIA Tegra 4i we’re seeing another revelation in the abilities of the Tegra 4 family (including Tegra 4 and 4i at this point) to shoot great photos. With the reveal of the Tegra 4i, we’ve been shown (in brief) not only that this processor will enable phones to work with NVIDIA Chimera’s “Always On HDR”, but “Tap to Track” and “HDR Pano” as well. This is also the first time we’ve heard the brand “NVIDIA Chimera” attached to the suite of computational photography architecture features.
With Tap to Track you’ll be able to tap on your device’s viewfinder to keep focus and lighting based on a single object – and not just a person. Tap to Track is able to lock on to any kind of object and will retain a sensor on that object as long as it (or they) remain in view. This will be fabulous for tracking a soccer ball, for example.
With HDR Pano you’ll be working with panographic photos that collect multiple exposures instantly – not unlike the Tegra 4′s previously announced Always On HDR. Here you’ll get vibrant and wonderfully thick-colored panographic photos every time you shoot.
With the Tegra 4i, NVIDIA begins creating reference platforms for each new processor. In this case it means you’ll be seeing a 5-inch display-toting smartphone with 1080p resolution across the front, an 8mm thin body, and 4G LTE connectivity. This device also works with PRISM 2, DirectTouch, and the full-on Tegra 4i build for NVIDIA Chimera Computational Photography Architecture use – snap away!
In the end with the Tegra 4i you’ve got the second wing in a flying processor bird that is NVIDIA’s next-generation Tegra 4 family. With the NVIDIA Tegra 4i the company has presented their solution for entering the mass market in a way they’ve not attempted in the past. With this release, the Tegra smartphone floodgates can officially be opened.
Have a peek at the timeline below to gain more insight into what the Tegra 4 family is bringing to the market in the coming weeks and months. Expect the NVIDIA Tegra 4i to be in smartphones within the next few months and mass adoption to be on the market around the start of 2014.
NVIDIA Tegra 4i detailed: quad-core with wide market appeal is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Did NVIDIA say it would stick to one new mobile processor design per year? If so, it’s not worried about its own rules: meet the Tegra 4i. The 4-plus-1 chip formerly known as Project Grey is a Tegra 4 mostly in name, and goes for integration rather than raw power. It sheds the newer Cortex-A15 architecture of the Tegra 4 for a spruced-up 2.3GHz Cortex-A9 with the i500 LTE modem built directly into the chip die — a move that cuts the surface area in half and simplifies the hardware, even as it supposedly outruns equivalent competition. The design is more than just an overclocked Tegra 3 with 4G inside, though. The 4i touts 60 graphics cores versus the 12 of its ancestor, and inherits the high dynamic range photography and video engine of the Tegra 4. NVIDIA is demonstrating the 4i’s chops through the Phoenix (pictured above), a 5-inch, 1080p reference Android smartphone that builders can use as a starting point. There’s no immediate customers mentioned for the CPU, although we suspect those are coming soon.
Speaking of that camera technology, NVIDIA has also given it a name. Chimera, as it’s now called, isn’t just about making HDR available for every photo and video. The mix of CPU and GPU processing can capture HDR panorama shots without requiring a single-direction sweep, letting a would-be Ansel Adams ‘paint’ the panorama out of order. The autofocusing engine is also smart enough to include subject tracking with an exposure lock. Both 8-megapixel Aptina and 13-megapixel Sony camera sensors can already support Chimera, which gives us a clue as to just what imaging we can expect with the first batch of Tegra 4 and 4i devices.
NVIDIA Introduces Its First Integrated Tegra LTE Processor
Tegra 4i Delivers Highest Performance of Any Single-Chip Smartphone Processor
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-February 19, 2013- NVIDIA today introduced its first fully integrated 4G LTE mobile processor, the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(R) 4i, which is significantly faster yet half the size of its nearest competitor.
Previously codenamed “Project Grey,” the Tegra 4i processor features 60 custom NVIDIA GPU cores; a quad-core CPU based on ARM’s newest and most efficient core- the R4 Cortex-A9 CPU- plus a fifth battery saver core; and a version of the NVIDIA i500 LTE modem optimized for integration. The result: an extremely power efficient, compact, high performance mobile processor that enables smartphone performance and capability previously available only in expensive super phones.
“NVIDIA is delivering for the first time a single, integrated processor that powers all the major functions of a smartphone,” said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of the Mobile business at NVIDIA. “Tegra 4i phones will provide amazing computing power, world-class phone capabilities, and exceptionally long battery life.”
Tegra 4i’s new 2.3 GHz CPU was jointly designed by NVIDIA and ARM, and is the most efficient, highest performance CPU core on the market.
“Tegra 4i is the very latest SoC solution based on the ARM Cortex-A9 processor and demonstrates the ability of ARM and our partners to continue to push the performance of technology and create exciting user experiences,” says Tom Cronk, executive vice president and general manager, processor division, ARM. “ARM and NVIDIA worked closely to further optimize the Cortex-A9 processor to drive performance and efficiency in areas such as streaming and responsiveness. This is an example of the collaboration and innovation that enables ARM technology-based solutions to be market drivers through multiple generations of SoC solutions.”
Utilizing the same architecture as Tegra 4’s GPU, Tegra 4i features five times the number of GPU cores of Tegra 3 for high-quality, console-quality gaming experiences and full 1080p HD displays. It also integrates an optimized version of the NVIDIA i500 software-defined radio modem which provides LTE capabilities, and makes networking upgradability and scalability fast and easy.
“NVIDIA’s Tegra 4i appears to outperform the leading integrated LTE chip significantly, and also benefits from an integrated ‘soft-modem’ that can be re-programmed over-the-air to support new frequencies and air interfaces – something other modem vendors can only dream of,” said Stuart Robinson, director, Handset Component Technologies Program at Strategy Analytics.”
Tegra 4i mobile processor’s camera capabilities include the NVIDIA Chimera[TM] Computational Photography Architecture recently announced in Tegra 4. This delivers many advanced features, including the world’s first always-on high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities, first tap to track functionality and first panoramic photos with HDR. NVIDIA also introduced its “Phoenix” reference smartphone platform for the Tegra 4i processor to demonstrate its unique mobile technologies. Phoenix is a blueprint that phone makers can reference in designing and building future Tegra 4i smartphones to help get them to market quicker.
NVIDIA Introduces Groundbreaking Camera Technology with Chimera – World’s First Mobile Computational Photography Architecture
Tegra 4 Family Delivers First Always-On HDR Photos and Video, HDR Panoramic and Tap-to-Track Capabilities to Smartphones and Tablets
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Feb. 19, 2013-Forging a path for the next wave of advanced, consumer-focused mobile imaging experiences and applications, NVIDIA today announced new capabilities delivered by the NVIDIA(R) Chimera[TM] Computational Photography Architecture.
Available in the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(R) 4 family of mobile processors, Chimera[TM] architecture offers a number of features never before available on mobile devices, including always-on high-dynamic range (HDR) photos and videos, HDR panoramic and persistent tap-to-track capabilities.
NVIDIA developed Chimera to enable mobile photography to be as flexible and creative as it is convenient. Its suite of new features, supported by enormous visual computing power, delivers capabilities far beyond what’s currently available, even in high-end dedicated DSLR cameras, to mainstream smartphones and tablets.
“NVIDIA’s Chimera architecture takes mobile imaging far beyond what consumers have come to expect from the phones and tablets,” said Brian Cabral, Vice President of Computation Imaging at NVIDIA. “Capabilities that until now have been reserved for professional photographers – like instant HDR and HDR panoramic shots and flawless image tracking – are now within easy reach for the rest of us.”
Previous mobile device architectures have made it difficult to use the best tools for different parts of complex image processing. Chimera architecture removes those boundaries by providing the power to conduct nearly 100 billion mathematical operations per second to perform image processing, using computational techniques used in X-ray CT scanners, deep space telescopes and spy satellites.
First revealed at CES 2013, the architecture redefines mobile imaging with always-on HDR photos and videos. This allows camera users to instantly capture high-quality, HDR images similar to how the human eye sees the world – in a vast array of locations and scenes, and under diverse lighting conditions.
Additional new features include HDR panoramic, which takes wide-angle, or “fish-eye,” shots that normally require an expensive digital single-lens reflex camera. The Chimera architecture captures a scene while the camera moves – from side to side, up and down or diagonally – effectively “painting” a panorama in real time from many angles and in any order the user wants. In contrast, competing offerings must either be moved in one direction along a single horizontal plane, or require significant amounts of post processing – taking up to 35 seconds – to stitch together the panorama.
In another industry first, the Chimera architecture includes persistent tap-to-track technology, which allows users to touch the image of a person or object to focus on within a scene. The camera then locks in on that subject whether it moves or the camera is repositioned to a better angle, while maintaining proper focus. Persistent tap-to-track also adjusts the camera exposure depending on any movement, helping avoid under- or over-exposure of the image’s subject or background.
NVIDIA Chimera is available as technology integrated into the Tegra 4 family, including Tegra 4 – the world’s fastest mobile processor – and the new Tegra 4i – the first integrated Tegra LTE processor.
Support from Leading Industry Players
Device makers can use the architecture to create differentiated imaging solutions to ship with their smart phones and tablets. The architecture also provides an application programming interface (API) that developers can use to create enhanced imaging apps for the growing Android mobile customer base.
Two important players in the camera imaging sensor market, Sony and Aptina – with others to be announced – have already added support for the Chimera Computational Photography Architecture. Sony’s Exmor RS IMX135 13 MP sensor and Aptina’s AR0833 1/3″ 8MP mobile imaging sensor support Chimera architecture, bringing always-on HDR capabilities to market. Device makers can now adopt this technology into their Tegra 4-powered devices; dramatically enhancing their photo and video capabilities.
“NVIDIA’s Chimera architecture with our AR0833 sensor delivers mobile customers an amazing photo and video experience,” said John Gerard, Senior Director of Mobile Products at Aptina.
Chimera Computational Photography Architecture Key Features:
o. First always-on HDR photos and videos
o. First HDR panorama
o. First persistent tap-to-track technology
o. First single-flash HDR capture
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Sony, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA
Marvell made waves last year with its 802.11ac wireless chips, but the company’s looking to make a splash in 2013 with a new quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 SoC. Called the PXA1088, the new silicon’s calling card — other than those four CPU cores — is its ability to beam 3G data to mobile devices anywhere in the world thanks to auto-roaming and compatibility with 21Mbps HSPA+, TD-HSPA+, EDGE, and WCDMA networks. In addition to those cellular radios, it also has an Avastar 88W8777 chip that brings WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and FM radio, plus it has a GPS and GLONASS location processor on board.
Worldwide connectivity isn’t the PXA1088’s only trick, either. It’s got some serious video chops thanks to a hardware 1080p encoder and decoder, and a GPU from Vivante compliant with OpenGL ES 2.0 and 1.1 as well as OpenVG 1.1. Can’t wait to get your grubby mitts on a phone packing Marvell’s latest? The company tells us that several well-known OEMs will be rolling out devices with the PXA1088 in the first half of the year. Of course, we’re hoping to see a few of them ourselves next week at Mobile World Congress, so stay tuned.
Marvell Announces Industry’s Most Advanced Single-chip Quad-core World Phone Processor to Power High-performance, Smartphones and Tablets with Worldwide Automatic Roaming on 3G Networks
Expecting commercial device production in 2013
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Feb. 19, 2013) – Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL) today announced the Marvell(R) PXA1088, a highly integrated quad-core application and communications mobile System-on-Chip (SoC) that provides high performance, low-power mobile computing; support for all global broadband standards, enabling seamless global roaming; and the latest wireless connectivity technology. Marvell’s PXA1088 is the industry’s most advanced single-chip solution to feature a quad-core processor with support for 3G field-proven cellular modems including High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Time division High Speed Packet Access Plus (TD-HSPA+) and Enhanced Data for GSM Environment (EDGE).
“Marvell is proud to deliver our single-chip quad-core world-mode mobile platform. This is a testament of our great technology innovation capabilities and engineering prowess to bring our unified platform from dual-core to quad-core to the smart device marketplace with multi-mode capabilities and automatic roaming on 3G networks around the world. We’re very excited that global OEM/ODM partners have embraced and committed to this platform,” said Weili Dai, Co-Founder of Marvell. “I believe our industry leading single-chip platform will drive mass market adoption of high-quality, high-performance, very affordable smartphone and tablet solutions worldwide to enrich people’s connected lifestyle.”
The Marvell PXA1088 solution incorporates the performance of a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 with Marvell’s mature and proven WCDMA and TD-SCDMA modem technology to provide a low-cost 3G platform for both smartphones and tablets. The advanced application processor technology of the PXA1088 enables a breakthrough end user experience for multimedia and gaming applications with universal connectivity. Marvell’s complete mobile platform solution includes the Avastar(R) 88W8777 WLAN + Bluetooth 4.0 + FM single-chip SoC and the L2000 GNSS Hybrid Location Processor, and an integrated power management and audio codec IC.
Marvell’s PXA1088 is backward pin-to-pin compatible with its dual-core single-chip Unified 3G Platform, the PXA988/PXA986, enabling device partners to upgrade their next-generation mobile devices to quad-core without additional design cost.
Marvell will showcase the PXA1088 alongside a range of mobile devices powering the Connected Lifestyle at booth 6C44 (in Hall 6) at Mobile World Congress, February 25-28, at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.
Additional PXA1088 Features:
o. Support for advanced WCDMA Release 7, TD-SCDMA HSPA+ Release 8, and class 12 EDGE
o. 3G protocol stack certified on all major carrier networks and validated via extensive IOT, GCF and field trail testing
o. Support for popular full-feature operating systems and industry-standard development tools
o. Multi-radio platform capabilities with WLAN/Bluetooth solutions
o. Integrated power management and audio Codec IC
o. High-performance graphics engine for OpenGL ES 2.0 and 1.1, as well as OpenVG 1.1
o. Hardware 1080p decoder and 1080p encoder
o. 12mm x 12mm JEDEC standard package-on-package stacked memory option or discrete package option
o. Supports the latest Android OS
Currently, the PXA1088 platform is sampling with leading global customers. Products based on this platform are expected to be commercially available in 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
As one would hope in dealing with two products that share the same name, Microsoft has maintained strong consistency between the Surface with Windows RT and Surface Pro. Allowing for a bit of girth variation, there’s a similar industrial design as well as common features that have been nearly universally lauded (the snap-on keyboards) and lambasted (the underwhelming cameras). There’s also an identical user interface as far as “modern” Windows apps are concerned.
This has created an interesting lab test to see what customers really want from a Windows tablet in 2013. The early and unsurprising results indicate that it’s really backward compatibility — even at a premium of half the battery life and nearly double the price. Lenovo, which offers its Yoga 11 convertible as a Windows RT tablet, will also bring out the device in a Windows 8 version. Indeed, if one is attracted to some of the advantages that Windows RT offers on its ARM-based variants, such as the Snap and Share features, multiple devices with integrated keyboards, broad driver support and desktop Office compatibility, its toughest competitor is Windows 8.
Is Minecraft the new Doom? It feels that way, as it’s increasingly playable on every platform under the sun — including the finally available Raspberry Pi port. After a false start in December, Mojang has posted Minecraft: Pi Edition for consumption on the tiny ARM PC. The public release is a cut-down version of Pocket Edition that fits into the system’s limited resources, including networking if you’ve bought the $35 Raspberry Pi unit. The limitations reduce the chances that you’ll be creating virtual electronics with a device that was originally meant for very real electronics, but try not to let the irony sting: it’s a chance to create blocky virtual worlds on a computer that costs less than a good night on the town.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Mojang
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