If the most recent batch of S4 chips from Qualcomm wasn’t enough to completely satiate your thirst for new SoC’s, the folks from San Diego are adding two more options to the already heapin’ pile. At the 2011 Uplinq China Conference in Shenzhen, Qualcomm announced the MSM8625 and MSM8225 S4-class dual-core chipsets, both of which can clock up to 1GHz and pack an Adreno 203 GPU plus a 3G modem. While these numbers aren’t relatively exciting at this day and age, the real selling point here is that these chips are actually software and hardware-compatible with the entry-level MSM7x27A and MSM7x25A S1 chips, meaning some of the existing S1-based designs can be quickly and easily adapted to these new S4 chips. Interested manufacturers can nab some of this new silicon from the third-generation Qualcomm Reference Design program — which was also announced today — or standalone in the first half of 2012, but let’s just hope we won’t end up seeing too many familiar-looking phones. Press release attached after the break.
Zach Lutz contributed to this report.
Continue reading Qualcomm’s two new 1GHz dual-core chipsets make S1-to-S4 migration easier for manufacturers
Qualcomm’s two new 1GHz dual-core chipsets make S1-to-S4 migration easier for manufacturers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Related Posts:
Good morning, and welcome to today’s edition of: “Apple and Samsung love to hate each other.”
Though it’s only been a short weekend since the latest update, the dueling electronics makers have again waged war in the Netherlands. Samsung countersued Apple in the Hague court last week, claiming that the iPad and iPhone violate certain 3G technology patents held by the South Korea-based company. The issue is that those Samsung-held patents fall under FRAND licensing terms, as they cover technology necessary for the industry as a whole, and must be licensed out to competitors under reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.
Because of this, Samsung has asked that Apple pay 2.4 percent for every chipset per patent within its 3G-capable iPhones and iPads, reports Webwereld journalist Andreas Udo de Haes on Twitter. Obviously, negotiations like this negate the need for an injunction. However, Apple claimed in court that it was already paying its licensing fees to Intel, which Apple is arguing as the sole supplier of its GSM iPhone chipset. Samsung, on the other hand, is saying that Apple has other component suppliers that it is purposefully obscuring to circumvent such claims.
Samsung has also argued that Apple knew about Samsung’s patents back in 2007, around the time of the first iPhone, and that Apple declined to license the technology. Apple said those terms weren’t in conjunction with FRAND’s guarantee of “fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory” terms. Whether Samsung then asked for 2.4 percent per patent on chipsets is unclear, but Apple has certainly called that figure “excessive” this time around.
Meanwhile, the Australian court is fielding further requests to delay the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Both companies met today in front of Judge Annabelle Bennett to talk about the revised version of the GalTab that Samsung has said no longer violates the original 10 allegedly infringed Apple patents. In court, Apple said that three of its patents are still being infringed by the Samsung tab, all in reference to touchscreen technology, reports Australia’s IT News.
Apple has taken an “eyes wide open” strategy in its argument. “It must have been plain as the Opera House to Samsung that Apple’s patents were right in front of its eyes and that they were wide open,” said Apple’s lead counsel Stephen Burley. “If they intend to launch a product that infringes a patent, they ought to clear the way in advance, not to crash through.”
Though it’s unclear how the Dutch case will pan out, Apple’s made big strides in Australia even without securing a permanent injunction. Samsung had been advertising an “imminent launch” for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 since July 20, but the tab has yet to grace Australian shelves.
Again, there are no signs of this fiasco slowing down anytime soon. Buckle up.
Crunchbase
- APPLE
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007.
Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with…
Learn more
It’s not going so far as to expand support as far as AMD has with its CrossFireX multi-GPU technology, but NVIDIA has now at least taken one step in that direction. The company announced today that it’s finally bringing SLI support to AMD platforms — specifically, upcoming motherboards based on AMD’s 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets. Those will be offered by ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock, and MSI initially, with additional manufacturers said to be coming on board “shortly.” Hit up the source link below for NVIDIA’s complete statement on the matter — in which it also just so happens to point out that 93 percent of all multi-GPU systems in use today use SLI, according to Steam statistics.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
NVIDIA brings SLI support to AMD 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
PC Perspective | 
NVIDIA | Email this | Comments
We’ve been hearing a ton of rumors about what direction Apple’s next set of products will take and when they’ll be available — but now we’ve got some concrete information from reliable sources which should make the path a little clearer. And that includes info on the next iPad, the iPhone 5, the second iteration of the new Apple TV, and a big change coming for all of the company’s mobile products. Want to know the scoop? Read along after the break to get the goods.
Continue reading Exclusive: The future of the iPad 2, iPhone 5, and Apple TV, and why Apple is shifting its mobile line to Qualcomm chipsets
Exclusive: The future of the iPad 2, iPhone 5, and Apple TV, and why Apple is shifting its mobile line to Qualcomm chipsets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments Engadget
Related Posts:
Oh yeah baby, Qualcomm’s finally shipping its first dual-core Snapdragons. To whom, is the big question. Its third-generation Mobile Station Modem MSM8260 and MSM8660 Snapdragon chipsets for high-end smartphones — originally announced in February 2009 — are now sampling and capable of running at up to 1.2GHz. The MSM8260 supports HSPA+ while the MSM8660 brings support for multi-mode HSPA+ and 1xEV-DO Rev. B. Both integrate GPS, a GPU with 2D/3D acceleration engines for Open GL ES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1, 1080p video encoding and decoding, a dedicated low-power audio engine, and support for 24-bit WXGA 1,280 x 800 pixel displays. Anybody at Computex care to step forward with a reference design?
[Image courtesy of Carina Larsson]
Continue reading Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz
Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Props to Engadget
Related Posts: