Rockchip to Design Intel x86 “SoFIA” SoCs for Android Tablets

Intel has just announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Rockchip to design Intel-branded SoC platform for entry-level Android tablets. The Chinese SoC vendor will design two quad core tablet SoC one with 3G and one with LTE, which will part of Intel’s SoFIA mobile SoC platforms for Android mobile devices. Intel will bring Intel Atom and 3G/LTE modem IP, and Rockchip will work in the integration and overall design. The 3G model should become available in the first half of 2015 and target entry-level and value tablets, and the LTE version is also scheduled for H1 2015. That’s about all that’s been disclosed for now, and we don’t know for example which GPU will be part of these SoCs. Here’s what Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, had to say about the agreement: The strategic agreement with Rockchip is an example of Intel’s commitment to take pragmatic and different […]

Hewlett Packard Unveils $100 HP 7 Plus Tablet Powered by AllWinner A31 Quad Core SoC

Hewlett Packard has just launched HP 7 Plus Android 4.2 tablet with an AllWinner A31, or possibly AllWinner A31s considering the screen resolution, that sells for $99.99, but you may also be able to get it for $85 with SLICK15HP coupon. This price includes shipping, but unfortunately this is only available in the US. I’ll also check out alternatives of the rest of us. HP 7 Plus specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 (A31s?) quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Display – 7″ diagonal WVA IPS multitouch-enabled (1024 x 600) Camera –  0.3 MP fixed focus (front-facing); 2 MP fixed focus (rear-facing) Audio – Mono speaker, 1x integrated microphone, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n (Miracast compatible) USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 Sensors –  Accelerometer Battery […]

Xiaomi MiPad is a 7.9″ Tablet Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 Quad Core SoC

Xiaomi has just announced the MiPad, with a 7.9″ display using 2048×1536  (same as iPad mini) and an Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 SoC with a Kepler GPU. There will be two versions one with 16GB flash, and the other with 64GB, which will be sold respectively for 1499 and 1699 CNY (~$240 and $275). Here are the specs for the MiPad: SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 processor @ 2.2 GHz with a 192-core Kepler GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 16 or 64GB eMMC, extensible to 128GB via microSD card Display – 7.9” IPS display, 2048×1536 326 PPI Camera – 8MP rear / 5MP front camera Connectivity – 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi Battery – 6700 mAh battery Dimensions – 202.1 x 135.4 x 8.5 mm Weight – 360 grams The first tablet by Xiaomi happens to be the first consumer tablet featuring […]

Asus MeMo Pad 7 ME176C Android Tablet Powered by an Intel Quad Core Bay Trail SoC to Sell for $170

Until now, most Intel “Bay Trail” based tablets sold were running Windows 8.1, unless you checked on Aliexpress.  It now appears Asus will soon sell an Android Kitkat tablet, ASUS MeMO Pad 7 ME176C, powered by Intel Atom Z3745 quad core SoC, and featuring a 7″ IPS display, 1 GB RAM and 8GB flash, for as low as $166. ASUS MeMO Pad 7 ME176C specifications: SoC – Intel Baytrail-T Z3745 quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.86GHz) with Intel HD graphics. 2W SDP. System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 or 16 GB NAND Flash depending on model + microSDXC card slot Display – 7″ IPS display (1280 x 800 pixel) Camera – 5.0MP rear camera + 2.0MP front camera Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS Audio – 1x Head phone/ Mic-in USB – 1x micro USB (OTG?) Battery – 3910mAh, 15 Whr […]

Dimple NFC Sticker Adds Four Hardware Buttons to Your Android Device (Crowdfunding)

If you’d like to add one button to your Android smartphone, you could use pressy. But what if you wanted or needed more. Dimple may provide a solution if your Android smartphone or tablet supports NFC. It is a thin NFC sticker, about 0.5mm thick, that you can attach to the back of your device to add 4 hardware buttons. The sticker is compatible with devices running Android 4.0 and above, not made out of metal, and with NFC support. This means HTC One M7 and M8 smartphone are not compatible due to their metallic bodies. Using the NFC sticker appears to be extra simple. Once you’ve sticked your Dimple to the back of your device (or your case), simply install Dimple.io app to configure the buttons to do what you want to: launch your favorite apps, take a picture, turn on & off the flash light, call your mum, […]

AMD Unveils Low Power Mobile “Mullins” APUs for Tablets and Hybrid Laptops

AMD has announced its 3rd-generation Mainstream and Low Power Mobile Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), codenamed codenamed “Beema” and “Mullins,” respectively, featuring four x86 Puma+ CPU, AMD Radeon graphics, and a platform security processor (PSP) with an ARM Cortex-A5 core for ARM TrustZone  security. Beema APUs have a TDP between 9W and 15W, whereas Mullins APUs all have less than 5W TDP (2.8W SDP). So I’ll only cover cover Mullins processors in this post, as they may offer an alternative to Intel Bay Trail-T processors. There are now 3 more APUs part of AMD’s tablets and 2-in-1 solutions: A10 Micro-6700T, A4 Micro-6400T, and E1 Micro-6200T. They are highlighted in green in  the table below, and compared to previous generations: Model​​ Radeon Brand CPU Clock Speed (Max/Base) CPU Cores on Die TDP Total L2 Cache GPU Clock Speed (Max/Base) DDR SDRMA Max Memory Speed ​A10 Micro–​​6700T ​Radeon R6 ​2.2 GHz ​4 ​4.5W ​2MB […]

AllWinner A80 To Support 5 Operating Systems, Products To Become Available in May

AllWinner has released some more materials about their AllWinner A80 Ultracore octa core big.LITTLE SoC ahead of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2014, and we’ve learned more about OptimusBoard, as well as tablets and TV boxes availability through a video interview shot by Charbax at the exhibition. Part of the release was more detailed specifications: CPU Octa-Core big.LITTLE Cortex-A15/7 Low-power CoolFlex power management architecture 2MB + 512 KB L2 Cache GPU – Imagination Technologies PowerVR 64-core G6230 with support for OpenGL ES 3.0/2.0, OpenCL 1.x, RenderScript, DX 9.3/10.0 Memory Supports dual-channel DDR3/DDR3L/LPDDR3/LPDDR2, up to 8GB Supports Raw NAND with 72-bit ECC Supports eMMC V4.5 Video Supports UHD H.264/VP8 4Kx2K@30fps video playback Supports multi-format FHD video decoding, including MPEG 1/2/4, H.263, H.264. WMV9/VC-1, etc Supports H.265/VP9 1080p@30fps video playback Supports H.264 HP/VP8 4Kx2K@30fps video capture Supports 3840×1080@30fps 3D decoding, BD/SBS/TAB/FP supported Supports 3840×1080@30fps 3D encoding Supports RTSP, HTTP, HLS, RTMP, MMS […]

Vivante Unveils Details About GC7000 Series GPU IP Family

Earlier this month, Vivante Corporation has announced several silicon partner integrations (but no names given) of its GC7000 Series GPU IP into SoCs targeting wearables, mobile, automotive, and 4K TV products, and provided some more details about its GC7000 family which supports features such as OpenGL ES 3.1 API, and hardware TS/GS/CS (tessellation / geometry / compute shader) extensions for Android. According to the company, they key benefits of their GC7000 GPU IP can be summarized as follows: True GPU Scalability – GC7000 Series products support limited silicon area to match form factor and market requirements. Products can snap to grid starting at 3.0 mm2 (28 nm) for the smallest single GPU GC7000 instance and grow in simple modular fashion for high end implementations to achieve what the company’s claims to be the the industry’s best PPA (power/performance/area). Smallest Licensable OpenGL ES 3.1 Cores with Geometry, Tessellation, and Compute Shaders […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC