ZTE Apache 8-Core Smartphone In The Pipeline?

So you think that your smartphone has it good with all four cores running underneath the hood, don’t you? What is next on the books – half a dozen cores? Apparently not, as we have word on the street that ZTE of China has an Apache 8-core smartphone that comes complete with a 28nm ARM15 Mediatek chip under the hood, and this powerhouse of a chipset looks set to debut sometime next year.

No idea on whether 8-cores are going to have smartphone manufacturers come knocking on ZTE’s door, hoping to get a slice of 8-core action, as Huawei’s quad-core offerings which were announced earlier this year did not really make that much of an impact. I guess it is a game of patience this time around, where we will need to adopt the wait-and-see attitude before counting ZTE’s efforts to be a dud. For the sake of whichever smartphone that will carry this rumored chipset, hopefully the battery has the kind of capacity required to power all eight cores throughout the working day without running out of juice by lunch time.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BlackBerry App World Carrier Billing Integration Now In 50 Plus Carriers, Samsung demonstrates how they stress test their phones in new video,

MediaTek plans for quad-core chips in budget smartphones by early 2013

MediaTek chip

As much as MediaTek is known for powering budget smartphones, the company is keen to make a fast track into the big leagues. Or bigger, at any rate. General manager Xie Qingjiang explains to China Times that MediaTek should have a quad-core, 28-nanometer mobile processor in production between the fall and the very start of 2013 — not bad for a firm that just introduced a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 design this summer. Smartphones built around the new part should arrive before the first quarter of 2013 is over. Details aren’t available for the processor in question, although it’s reasonable to say that MediaTek is more likely to serve a cost-conscious crowd than to compete in the lofty realms of the similarly 28nm Snapdragon S4 Pro. The move to quad-core could nonetheless be a welcome spike in performance for an audience that often has to settle for old technology.

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MediaTek plans for quad-core chips in budget smartphones by early 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 22:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Liquid Gallant Solo makes brief cameo, Android 4.0 smartphone lives up to its name

Acer Liquid Gallant Solo makes brief cameo, Android 40 smartphone lives up to its name

Just last month, Acer’s Liquid Gallant Duo teased itself for preorder on the Expansys website, which promised to be an affordable Android 4.0 smartphone for those in need of dual-SIM capabilities. Now, a slightly less capable handset — the Liquid Gallant Solo — has reared its head, and as you might expect, it’s a single SIM affair. Other than this omission, however, the Solo offers much of the same specs as before, which includes a single-core 1GHz MediaTek MT6575 SoC, a 4.3-inch qHD display, a 5-megapixel camera and a 1,500mAh battery. Similarly, the phone also features 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot. In terms of connectivity, users can expect quadband GSM and 3G support on 2100 / 900MHz networks. Like the Liquid Gallant Duo, the Solo’s public presence was short-lived, as the user manual (linked below) has since been pulled from Acer’s website. Its price also remains a bit of a mystery, but given the dual-SIM exclusion, it seems a safe bet that the Solo will retail for less than the £149 ($230) price of the more capable Duo. Hopefully we’re not far off from a more official debut.

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Acer Liquid Gallant Solo makes brief cameo, Android 4.0 smartphone lives up to its name originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics

Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics

Rambus has lost the ITC dispute it filed with most of the electronics industry back in the day. Only LSI and STMicroelectronics remained as respondents after the company negotiated settlements with Freescale, Broadcom, MediaTek and NVIDIA. In its decision, the court found that some of the patents were unenforceable, while others ceased to be under the “clean hands” doctrine because Rambus had allegedly destroyed relevant documents. Company general counsel, Thomas Lavelle, has said in a statement that its next move might be to make an appeal to the Federal Circuit — where it’s hoping for better luck.

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Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MediaTek partners with Twitter on feature phone integration

MediaTek made headlines not too long ago when it promised to bring dual-core processors to phones costing $199 and under. Now the company has announced a partnership with Twitter that will see the social network integrated with devices featuring MediaTek chips so that users in emerging markets can get in on the tweeting action. MediaTek will bundle Twitter into its reference design for phones as a result of the partnership.

MediaTek will include Twitter in its MRE middleware, enabling “smart-feature phones” that will run Twitter with minimal hardware requirements. Manufacturers can keep offering cheap handsets, and Twitter will reaching a massive user base of customers used to purchasing affordable phones. The app that will be included is said to be a native experience comparable to Twitter for iPhone or Android.

The first chipset that will feature Twitter integration is the MediaTek MT6255, although MediaTek says that Twitter will expand to all of its solutions later on. That would open up the massive Chinese and Asian market to Twitter, as well as other developing markets that current buy devices using MediaTek’s silicon.


MediaTek partners with Twitter on feature phone integration is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
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MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free

MediaTek MT6577 helps push dualcore Android 40 smartphones under $200 contractfree

It isn’t hard to get an Android 4.0 phone under $200 if you’re willing to sign your life away with a contract. Getting one that’s worthwhile at that same figure contract-free, however, requires some jumping through hoops. MediaTek must be an acrobat, as it just released the MT6577, a chip design for the most entry level of smartphones. The part’s frugal focus doesn’t keep it from stuffing in a dual-core, 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, a PowerVR SGX series 5 for graphics and an HSPA modem for 3G. Those specifications would only have been cutting-edge in 2011, but they’re very speedy for a starter device in 2012 — fast enough to drive Google’s OS on a 720p screen while supporting 1080p video. The MT6577 is a drop-in replacement for its MT6575 ancestor, and it’s accordingly going to be used very quickly by “leading global customers” this summer. Knowing MediaTek’s most recent clients, that could soon lead to a sea of very affordable phones from Gigabyte, ZTE and others that have no problems eating an Ice Cream Sandwich.

Continue reading MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free

MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program

WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming programIt was over a year ago now that we heard about the WiFi Alliance‘s intention to certify hotspots and simplify the potential for mobile handovers. Now, it’s just announced hardware testing of its WiFi-CERTIFIED Passpoint program, which promises to let phones and mobile devices automatically discover and connect to compatible networks. The specification used is the result of cooperation between service providers and equipment manufacturers, with the aim of creating an industry-wide solution for shared WiFi access and roaming agreements. Already hardware from the likes of Cisco, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm has received Passpoint certification, leaving the ball in the court of service providers, once testing is complete.

Continue reading WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program

WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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