Windows 10 arrives on ARM - for real this time

After the failed attempt of having Windows on ARM devices made with the defunct Windows RT, Microsoft gives it another go, but this time having a full Windows 10 running on the latest Snapdragon 835.

ARM says $20 smartphones are about to arrive

We all enjoy looking at the latest smartphones and tablets; but just like what happens with cars, it's not because we spend most time looking at Ferraris and Lamborghinis in magazine covers that will buy one next time we need to replace our car. It's the cheaper models that sell, and in the smart mobile devices segment, the entry and mid-range segments are about to double in the coming years while the premium range will see little to no growth.

That's why manufacturers are trying to get to this $2 billion dollar market as fast as they can, and that means making cheaper smartphones. And how low can it get? ARM says $20 Android smartphones are coming in the next few months!

It might sound crazy, but when you consider you had $60 phones last year, that dropped to about $30 today, and you have a $25 Firefox Phone (though at the expense of lower memory)... then the $20 mark doesn't seem so far-fetched. A $20 android smartphone will allow hundreds of millions to have easy access to information and apps, people that otherwise would be unable to afford a smartphone device, and contribute to a truly connected world.

Sure, a $20 smartphone won't compete with a $500 (or even a $100) model. But considering what you'll get for that amount, my guess is it will, at the very least, force us to think if those high-end expensive models are really worth their cost.

Utilite Compact ARM PC for $99

Picture a PC... most likely you'll be thinking of a big, black, power hungry and noisy box that most people no longer are willing to keep close by. But things don't have to be like that. ARM CPUs although mostly used hidden inside mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, have been improving by leaps ans bounds in the past years, and are now more than capable of acting as "desktop CPUs". The thing is, most compact ARM devices don't have enough space (nor the interfaces) to plug in a SSD drive and/or more RAM.

This Utilite however, has all that and more. It comes with a single/dual/quad ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, can have up to 4GB of speedy DDR3 RAM, a mSATA SSD, WiFi n and BT 3.0 (with a plug for external antenna), HDMI and DVI (both capable of driving up to 1920x1200 screen), 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, one USB OTG, analog and digital audio out, microSD slot, and even two micro serial ports!

Looks like there's nothing they didn't think of, and as expected you get also full hardware accelerated video decoding for Full HD 1080p H.264, VC1, RV10 and DivX.

Best of all, it can be yours starting at just $99, and considering it uses just 3-8W of power, I can imagine a lot of places where it might be put to good use.

[via fanlesstech]

Snapdragon S4 Pro Shows us What's to Come

Qualcomm is readying a reference developer tablet using their new quad-core ARM Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU and a Adreno 320 GPU, and it seems like we have a winner. A winner that shows us what we can expect for the next generation of mobile devices.

This $1299 might be consider too expensive for the general public, but its purpose is to provide developers with everything they can expect to have in the next generation of tablets. Although its 10.1" LCD has only a 1280x800 resolution (we would expect a FullHD screen by now), everything else is as you'd expect - and more. You'll find the speedy 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core CPU (soon to reach 2Ghz), the Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB Ram, 32GB Flash, 13MP main camera, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, ambient light/proximity/temperature/pressure sensors, microSD slot, microUSB, IO connector with USB and HDMI adapters - and even less usual stuff like a fingerprint reader and 7 microphones for surround sound recording.

When put to the test, the S4 Pro ranges from "fast" to "incredibly fast" leaving all the current contenders in the dust. In some tests, the S4 is over twice as fast as Nvidia's Tegra 3; and even the latest quad-core Exynos CPU by Samsung (used in the latest Galaxy S3) can't keep up with it.

That makes us wonder how developers will put all this power into good use, for next year's batch of tablets.

ARM unveils Most Efficient 32bits CPU

Nothing could be further from the power-hungry (but powerful) quad-core ARM CPUs you'd expect to find in your new smartphone or tablets. But ARM's new Cortex-M0+, is equally needed and as -or even more- important than its most famous relatives.

Put simply, this is the most efficient 32bit CPU ever made, using roughly a third of the power any other 8 or 16 bit CPU uses (just 9µA/MHz), while providing far more computational power.

You're not likely to find such a CPU powering your smartphone, but this cheap to manufacture (and small: measuring just 1x1mm) will certainly find lot of applications. ARM says it will be a key player in the "internet of things" scenario. A scenario where any/all device, no matter how small - even a simple temperature sensor or light switch, or light bulb - could be connected to the internet, and easily accessible/controllable from any anywhere in the world.

Let's see if that pans out... As I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one wishing that Android@Home thing could really become real, and offer affordable devices that could make our houses smarter and more efficient.

iPad Quad-Core Arrives in Late 2012

Evolution took us from single core to dual and quad core processors (and more), and it now is doing the same in the mobile arena. Apple has recently introduced their first mobile dual core chip - the A5 - in the iPad 2 (and soon, in the upcoming iPhone 5), but they're already working in the next generation A6 quad-core chip, based on the ARM Cortex A9 Quadcore.

This chip should allow Apple to battle Nvidia's upcoming Tegra 3 quad-core chips, and the new offering from other manufacturers - but unlike most of them, which will be done using a 40nm process, Apple's A6 will be built by TSMC in a much more efficient 28nm process. This will allow Apple's mobile CPU to be smaller, cheaper, more power efficient, and faster.

The "problem" is that these new chips should only be ready for mass production in the second half of 2012, forcing Apple to skip (or change) their usual yearly update cycle.
Considering this year's new iPhone presentation has already faced an unusual delay, maybe Apple will simply do the same with next year's iPad. That would also give them some extra time to solve their new iPad Retina Display production issues.

On the other hand, Amazon's low cost tablet is expected to arrive in the upcoming weeks, and it can certainly make a dent in the Tablet market - unless Apple is already planning a new low cost iPad (just like the rumors that talk about a new low cost iPhone model).