Intel has backtracked on plans to update its older processors to deal with Spectre, admitting that it's tougher than expected to patch the exploit. The chip-maker has been busy developing hardware and software fixes for Spectre which, along with Meltdown, were found to affect a huge number of processors from Intel and others.
A Bitcoin mining hardware accelerator was revealed in a patent this week, showing Intel's hand ahead of any product unveil. Over the past year, several major gaming-focused hardware manufacturers went both in and out of love with the fact that their gear was flying off shelves. Graphics processor makers especially found themselves between a rock and a hard place when gamers were unable to buy gaming GPUs because cryptocurrency mining operations bought out entire stores at a time - leaving gamers with no option but eBay. Intel seems to have no qualms with expanding on Bitcoin.
Intel promised hardware protection in its chips in the aftermath of the Spectre and Meltdown discovery, and now it's detailing just what it has planned for its new CPUs. The chipmaker found its processors under the spotlight back in January, when Google Project Zero and others discovered low-level vulnerabilities in several generations of Intel chips that could potentially allow hackers to exploit consumer and enterprise systems.
A mobile processor like the Snapdragon 845 offers a lot of great features, but that top-of-the-line nature tends to limit manufacturers to using it only in their flagship phones. For more mid-range devices, we have the processors in the Snapdragon 600-series, and while those are decent processors, they can't quite do all that the 800-series can. Qualcomm is looking to give those mid-range phones a boost in capability today by launching the new Snapdragon 700-series.
Intel has finally added an entry-level 8th Generation processor to its line-up, opening the door to more affordable new laptops and 2-in-1s with the latest silicon. The chip-maker's 8th Gen Core i5 and Core i7 processors have been spreading through notebooks and desktops since all the way back in August 2017, but Intel's staggered launch has left some odd gaps in the line-up.
For a long while, Intel has remained practically unchallenged on desktops and especially on laptops and tablets for a couple of reasons. One of those was because Intel’s processors came with integrated GPUs that deliver graphics functionality right out of the box, without having to invest in a discrete card unless absolutely necessary. Now, however, it has gotten some real competition. AMD has been trying to gnaw at Intel’s share of the market on servers and desktops and now it completes the picture with its first Ryzen processors that include their very own integrated Vega GPU in a single chip.
In just a few weeks, we’ll be getting a glimpse of the next generation of Android smartphones slated for this year. Arriving with them is Qualcomm’s next-generation mobile platform, the Snapdragon 845. But before that chip goes out to market, Tom’s Guide was able to put this year’s top mobile processor through a few stress tests. And while the numbers do look impressive on their own and compared to last year’s flagships, the Snapdragon 845 might still have a tough time standing head to head with Apple’s A11 Bionic.
Amazon plans to join the custom chip club, with future Alexa devices like the Echo smart speaker reportedly set to be powered by a homegrown AI processor. Efforts to design a special chipset that would give Alexa offline talents, among other improvements, are said to have been underway for the past few years. As well as further differentiating its assistant technology, it could also open Amazon up to a potentially lucrative new market.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 may only be reaching new smartphones this quarter, but the chip-maker is already working on a Snapdragon 850 sources claim. The Snapdragon 845 is expected to make its sales debut at the heart of the Samsung Galaxy S9, or at least certain versions of the handset, which is due to break cover at Mobile World Congress 2018 later this month. Given Qualcomm's track record, however, it won't be long before its in a wide range of devices.
Intel plans to have versions of its processors directly addressing the Spectre and Meltdown security flaws on the market later this year, the chip-maker has confirmed today. News on the processor update came during the earnings call with Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, after the company announced better-than-expected results for Q4 2017.
If you were about to install Intel's fix for Spectre and Meltdown, don't be so fast: the chip company is advising those with certain processors to avoid the security patches currently available. Intel began pushing out fixes along with the help of its system partners earlier this month, as it tried to deal with the twin security issues identified by Google Project Zero and others. However, that process hasn't been entirely smooth-running.
Last year’s premium specs often become this year’s mid-tier features. That does seem to be the pattern proven by Samsung’s newest Exynos system-on-chip, not for the high-end phones but for those in the middle. The Exynos 5 series 7872 processor is designed to do more for less. That is, less cores and less capabilities. That said, there are some serious limitations to the chip that could hinder its use.