Hasta La Gadget!

At Verizon‘s unveiling event where they announced a line of new DROID phones, Motorola also unveiled a new processor, which they’re calling a computing system. The X8 features eight cores that consist of a dual-core application processor by Qualcomm, a quad-core graphics processor, a single-core contextual processor, and a single-core natural language processor.

All three of the new DROID smartphones are based on this new computing system, which sports 24% faster CPU performance and GPU processing that’s twice as fast than before. Details on this new eight-core system are extremely sparse right now, but we do know that it was made in partnership with Qualcomm, but we’re not sure what kind of Qualcomm processor is inside.

The processor is being used in all three DROID devices, which consists of the DROID Mini, DROID ULTRA, and DROID MAXX. These devices are latest in the DROID series for Verizon, and they go on pre-order starting today, with availability beginning on August 20 (DROID Mini will see a slight delay to August 29).

The DROID Mini is the entry-level device in the bunch, with a compact design that sports a 4.3-inch HD display and wireless charging capabilities. Essentially, it’s the successor the DROID RAZR M from last year. As for the DROID ULTRA and MAXX, these sport larger 5-inch HD display, with the MAXX boasting a 3500 mAh battery for “two days” of battery life.

Details are still a bit scarce at this point, especially with the new X8 SoC, but hopefully we’ll hear more info about it soon. Verizon announced all of the goodies today in a matter of ten minutes without really going over details, so stay tuned as we update later today.

Motorola X8 8-core computing system official with Qualcomm backing is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Qualcomm is well on its way to getting the Snapdragon 800 processors out there, but in the meanwhile, it has announced support for Windows RT 8.1. Both Microsoft and Qualcomm are working together in the matter, and some time later this year it is expected devices, such as tablets, are going to be rolled out running Windows RT 8.1 and Snapdragon 800 processors.

For its part, Microsoft is going to be rolling out the Window RT 8.1 update in the Windows Store later on this year. Unfortunately, Qualcomm doesn’t say when specifically the new devices running both the hardware and software will start to become available, nor what kind of devices will be rolling out, only that it expects them to start hitting shelves later in 2013.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors, in addition to supporting Windows RT services and features, offer speeds-per-core up to 2.2GHz, USB 3.0 for connectivity, and a multi-mode integrated 3G and 4G LTE modem. The combination of this hardware and software, says Qualcomm, enables the creation of thin devices that run cool, thusly not requiring a fan, while also offering long battery life.

Said Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President of Product Management Luis Pineda: “Qualcomm Technologies is committed to the Windows ecosystem and we are excited to be supporting Windows RT 8.1 with our flagship Snapdragon 800 processors … Snapdragon 800 processors deliver significant performance improvements across the entire SoC along with support for new Windows RT 8.1 features and services.”

Microsoft likewise praised the collaboration, saying that the Snapdragon 800 processors will give Windows customers new advantages over previous offerings, such as “outstanding device performance” and the integrated 4G LTE feature.

Windows RT 8.1 devices slated to offer Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Though the code-named “Haswell” generation of Intel Core processors has been finding itself the subject of reports and detail talks from the company that makes it for many, many months, it’s today that the 4th generation of Intel processors gets its official ushering in to the public. This June 4th – that’s just a couple days away – marks the point at which Intel suggests it’s time to upgrade the innards of the generation of “2-in-1″ computing: that’s convertible computers – flipping screens, removable displays, and everything in-between.

Intel suggests that the PC has been moving through an era of re-invention since the introduction of the “Utrabook” category in 2011 at Computex – and what do you know, Computex is once again just around the corner – starting on June 4th, the same day Haswell will be on the market. By 2012, Intel says, the Ultrabook had reached mainstream pricing and brought on touchscreen abilities – there saw the 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge Intel Core processor family as well.

Now in 2013 Intel sees “2-in-1″ computing moving forward. These are computers that are sometimes “tablet first”, otherwise “notebook first”, working with differentiation opportunities galore. To work with this odd set of machines as well as the desktop family, Intel has revealed a set of processors both inside and outside the Ultrabook environment.

For the mobile family there are H, M, U, and Y processors. Haswell’s H category works with Quad Core and Intel Iris Pro graphics, while M works with Quad Core and Dual-core 2-Chip. Starting with U, Haswell processors are designed for Ultrabooks, the U category bringing an SoC with Intel Iris graphics options, the Y category bringing in the SoC with the lowest power made specifically for detachables.

Desktop Haswell processors exist in the K-Series for enthusiasts, these being unlocked and ready for overpowering. There will also be performance and mainstream Haswell architecture for both performance and mainstream applications in both quad-core and dual-core configurations, with low power going to the S-Series and T-Series. Intel’s presentation of the current state of desktop computing includes an “ultra small footprint” tied to responsive performance and stunning visuals: smaller as they continue to get more powerful.

The Intel 8 Series Chipset for both mobile and desktop applications will be pushed on June 4th as well. Pricing on end-user desktop units will begin with the Core i5-4570′s $192 USD – that’s with its lowest specifications intact, ready to roll. Each of the i5 offerings shown so far cost less than $300, with the highest-spec’d i5-4670K coming in at $242 USD. Meanwhile the i7 family begins at $303 with the i7-4770 and ramps up to $339 USD for the i7-4770K, with more on the way.

Haswell 4th Generation Intel Core launch set for June 4th is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

AMD might not be able to keep up (down?) with Intel in the CPU power consumption race, so it’s taking another tack with the new Opteron X-series: horsepower. It just announced the Opteron X1150 and X2150 64-bit processors for microservers, part of the Jaguar-codenamed family of CPUs arriving in the next-gen Xbox One and Sony PS4 consoles. Thanks to its ultra-low power 6-watt Atom S1200 chips, Intel excels in the low-power server market, and at 9W and 11W respectively (minimum), AMD’s CPUs consume considerably more juice. But AMD is pitching them as a better solution overall, thanks to those four cores (compared to two in the Atom), integrated AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics on the X2150 model, support for 32GB of RAM and integrated SATA ports. AMD’s chips are pricier, though, at $64 (X1150) or $99 (X2150) compared to $54 for Intel’s Atom S1200 (all in quantities of 1,000). To top it off, Intel has new 64-bit Atom SoCs coming soon promising even lower power consumption — possibly leaving AMD to play catch-up again.

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking, AMD

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We’re starting to see new computers running Intel‘s Haswell pop up from the woodwork, and while we know that these fourth-generation chips offer a performance boost from previous generations, Intel claims that they also offer a whopping 50% increase in battery life, allowing users to surf longer without plugging in.

Intel’s Architecture Group Vice President, Rani Borkar, said that laptops packing in Haswell chips should be able to get 50% more battery life than the current third-generation Ivy Bridge offerings. New laptops should also be able to last up to 20 times longer in standby mode without affecting performance whatsoever.

Borkar says that the new Haswell chips were designed with laptops and tablets in mind, specifically, so the main focus was on lowering power consumption across the board, while keeping the chips fast. Furthermore, Haswell is said to be double the graphics performance of Ivy Bridge on laptops, and triple the performance for desktops.

Of course, we’re staying cautious until we can get some solid benchmarks and test results in our hands proving these claims, but we really hope it’s true, as laptop battery life is one of those things that plagues each and every one of us. Intel’s claims mean that a current laptop getting six hours of battery life will be able to get nine hours using Haswell, which sounds really lovely.

However, we’ll see if Haswell can make an impact in the laptop and desktop market, or if PC sales will continue to slump until there’s nothing left but tablets. We don’t think that will happen for a long while, if ever, but the PC industry needs to do something to get back on track, and Intel is attempting to do their part at least.

SOURCE: Computerworld

Intel Haswell chips claimed to offer 50% longer battery life is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.