Hasta La Gadget!

Promising “visually rich user experiences not previously seen in consumer electronics devices,” ARM has introduced its latest embedded GPU architecture, Mali-T604, at its Technology Conference 2010 in California today. Though we’re unlikely to see it in devices any time soon, the introduction means that the new design is available to ARM licensees — and notably, the company points out that partner Samsung will be the first to get hooked up. Considering Sammy competes in the high-end embedded system-on-chip space already with its ARM-based Hummingbird line of cores, adding in the Mali-T604 is probably the next logical step for them. ARM says that it’s designed “specifically” with the needs of general purpose GPU computing in mind and includes extensive support both for OpenCL and DirectX, so look for some insane number-crunching capabilities on your next-generation phone, tablet, and set-top box. Follow the break for ARM’s press release.

Update: We sat down with ARM’s Jem Davies to get some more details about the new Mali, and discovered it’s only the first of several potential next-gen GPUs to come as part of the Midgard platform — while this particular processor is available with up to four shader cores, successors might have more. The T604 itself is no slouch, though, as it can theoretically deliver two to five times the performance of the company’s existing Mali 400 GPUs core for core and clock for clock — which themselves run circles around the PowerVR SGX 540 competition if you take ARM at its word. Davies told us that not only does the Mali-T604 do DirectX, it supports the game-friendly DirectX11 as well as the always-popular OpenGL ES 2.0, and will appear in an system-on-a-chip together with an ARM Cortex-A15 “Eagle” CPU, when both are eventually baked into silicon several years down the road. Of course, in the eyes of marketers the future is always now, so get a look at conceptual uses (hint: augmented reality) for ARM’s new Mali right after the break.

Additional reporting by Sean Hollister

Continue reading ARM intros next-gen Mali-T604 embedded GPU, Samsung first to get it (update: video)

ARM intros next-gen Mali-T604 embedded GPU, Samsung first to get it (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the damp blanket of leaves warming the ground is any indicator, then we’d say that fall has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. That means Google’s Chrome OS is due. What better time for DigiTimes to cite sources from “component players” claiming that the first smartbooks featuring Google’s other operating system will launch later this month. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Google will follow its Nexus One strategy and be first from the gate with the launch of a self-branded Chrome OS notebook manufactured by Inventec — the ARM-based machine will not be sold through normal retail channels and is expectated to ship a very modest 60,000 to 70,000 units. Acer and HP are then rumored to be launching Quanta-manufactured Chrome OS gear as early as December while ASUS waits to gauge market reaction. Of course, if all of this is true then we should be getting a Google event press invite right about, well, now.

Google-branded Chrome OS smartbook launching this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nook Color processor revealed: ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP3621 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like that quad-core Armada processor won’t be having apps for breakfast after all — confronting Marvell’s Jack Kang at Mobilize 2010, he told us the chips proved too power-hungry for devices without a dedicated cord. That doesn’t mean we won’t see them soon, however, as the man let slip that it’s actually the quad-core chip that will appear in a new game system, though we can probably rule out the Nintendo 3DS for the same reason as the phones.

Marvell’s still hoping to get in the mobile market in a big way, though, and that’s what the tri-core Armada 628 is all about, which uses low power profiles to save battery life. According to Kang, however, the system’s actually a little more exciting than that — its two up-to-1.5GHz cores kick in when the system’s under a multimedia strain, but actually shut off completely for day-to-day use, relying instead on the third 624MHz processor which slowly sips your battery juice. All we know is, we’d better find out which devices will sport these chips, and soon — our curiosity is beginning to gnaw.

Marvell’s quad-core Armada processor won’t see tablets or phones, destined for a mystery game platform originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At some point in the future, many more everyday objects will have tiny embedded chips that can communicate with networks. But just as we’re debating net neutrality and the value of the open web vs closed client applications, we will have to decide who will control the internet of things, too.

Lines are already beginning to be drawn. Ashlee Vance, writing for the New York Times’ Bits blog, profiles chipmaker ARM’s efforts to bring the internet of things to the masses with its mbed project.

The goal of mbed is to make building prototype objects and programs easier for people who aren’t necessarily used to writing programs or hacking at the guts of electronic devices. It has two main components: a simple $59 microcontroller, and an online drag-and-drop program compiler. This user video by steveravet shows mbed in action, rewiring a Billy Bass novelty talking fish to say funnier things:

Ultimately, though, the idea is to create practical applications to help users in the field. ARM’s Simon Ford told the Times: “I want to see how you get people to experiment. Maybe a washing machine repair man will figure out how to get the machines to report back to him and revolutionize the machines to get a competitive advantage. The point is that I don’t know what they’ll be used for.”

Now, at Adafruit Industries’ blog, DIY-engineering all-star Limor Fried counters the Times’ warm enthusiasm for ARM’s approach with some ice-water skepticism: “mbed requires an online compiler, so that you are dependent on them forever. You cannot do anything without using their online site, ever.”

Fried adds: “We like the hardware in the mbed, the cortex series is great (it’s why we carry an ARM Cortex M3 board now) – but the ARM compiler used with mbed costs about $5,000 so maybe it will never be anywhere but online.” Adafruit notes that similar ARM boards are available with entirely open-source libraries.

Free and open-source vs. ready-for-anyone-to-use out-of-the-box: we’ve been down this road many times before. I doubt this argument will have a clear winner and loser, but it’s important that it’s clearly framed and articulated now, before any one approach gets locked-in as the default option.

See Also:

• A Visit to Adafruit Industries: the Model for Fab-it-Yourself Gone …
• Lego TARDIS With Lights and Sound
• ARM's New Chip Leaves Everyone Else in the Dust, Again
• Spime Watch: why the Internet of Things is a fiasco
• Spime Watch: Shipping Containers and the Future Internet of Things …