Processor

When MediaTek announced its deca-core moble processor, it almost seemed insane in a world that's very much settled on octa-cores. The chip maker, however, has nothing on the silicon produced by researchers at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Although it definitely won't fit inside a smartphone, tablet, or even a laptop for that matter, the chip boasts of being the world's first kilo-core processor. That's 1,000 processing cores at your service, making even the beefiest gaming rig cry in shame.

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When smartwatches arrived on the scene almost two years ago, there were still no components specially designed to the still unheard of device. That meant manufacturers had to make do retrofitting smartphone pieces for smartwatches, which practically meant using unoptimized hardware. February this year, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Wear 2100 to offer a system-on-chip solution more suited for smartwatches and similar multi-purpose devices. Now at Computex 2016, it is following that up with the Snapdragon Wear 1100 which targets more special-purpose devices instead.

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PCs are the favorite example of analysts, observers, and journalists of a dying breed. Ironcally, developments in the tech sector, even some in mobile, in the past year or so might be bringing the favorable spotlight back on PCs. More sophisticated virtual reality content and multimedia creation necessarily require more processing power than even the most powerful Android or iOS device can provide. Answering that call, Intel is revealing at Computex 2016 its most extreme Extreme Edition to date. The Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition boasts of 10 cores toiling away together to deliver the computing power needed for those immersive experiences.

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An off-the-shelf autonomous car brain could accelerate self-driving vehicles onto the roads, with NXP pitching its open-source based BlueBox to automakers. The platform - which consists not only of the AI smarts for the car but its "nervous system" of sensors and communication - could be used to quickly develop a Level 4 autonomous vehicle, the company claims.

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Has Intel finally thrown in the towel in the smartphone market? It seem so. As part of the company's comprehensive reforms, which also saw 11% of its worforce get pink slips, Intel has revealed the immediate cancellation of two of its current and still coming products: the SoFIA platform and the next gen Broxton chips. While those names might not ring too many bells, these basically means that Intel has effectively killed off the future of its Atom processors, putting into question the very future of its smartphone and, more importantly, low-cost tablet dreams.

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Xiaomi has made it no secret that it wants to diversify its products. In fact, it has been putting out products in the smart home market, including a recent smart induction rice cooker. It latest new product, however, will take it back to the mobile tech market but in another light. According to an official from one of Xiaomi's component partners, the Chinese OEM is going to reveal its own Application Processing Unit or APU to power its mobile devices, and it will be doing so as early as next month.

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In same areas, the PC landscape hasn't changed one bit. But in a relatively smaller corner, a new breed of computing devices are growing in number. Sometimes called 2-in-1 laptops, tablet/laptop hybrids, convertibles, and even detachables, this sub-category is being poised by some analysts to help mitigate the decline of the PC market. And Intel naturally wants its processors to power that next wave. At its annual IDF, it announced Apollo Lake, the platform for its next gen Atom processors that it envisions will make such devices more powerful while also bringing down not just costs but also sizes.

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NXP Semiconductors has rolled out the QorIQ LS1012A processor promising enterprise-class performance and security for consumer and networking applications in a very small package size. The chip has a 64-bit ARM v8 processor with network packet acceleration and QorIQ trust architecture security capability and line-rate networking performance at 1W of power. The chip packs all its features into a tiny 9.6mm x 9.6mm package size.

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Lady Gaga has teamed with the minds at Intel to create a spectacular performance during the 2016 Grammy Awards, all in tribute to the late great David Bowie. Inside this performance you'll see not only 9 movements, Space Oddity to Heroes, but a multisensory experience the likes of which only Gaga has aimed for before. Intel technology is leveraged to create visuals for the performance, ranging from 3D body tracking to projections for mid-performance costume changes.

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The next Android Wear watches could be smaller, faster, and a whole lot more connected, with Qualcomm announcing a big upgrade to one of its tiniest chipsets. Replacing the Snapdragon 400 that's found in the majority of Android Wear devices today, the new Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform is 30-percent smaller than its predecessor - important, when you need to design something sleek enough to fit comfortably and discretely on a wrist.

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A lot is hinging on the Snapdragon 820 this year. After a dismal, almost embarrassing outcome for the Snapdragon 810 last year, the newest chip is the salvation that the mobile chip maker Qualcomm desperately needs. Interestingly, even rival Samsung is betting on it, because its 14 nm FinFET process was used in making the latest Snapdragon. That only means that the performance of this processor will be put under a microscope, which has already begun with this GFXBench sighting which pits the chip against the likes of NVIDIA's Tegra X1 and, of course, Apple's A9.

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Intel's server business, which is currently its strongest business, might soon be shaken up. And not directly by a rival chip maker. Instead, it will be Google's expected endorsement next week that could spell trouble for Intel. According to insider sources, Google, who is considered to be the world's biggest buyer of server processors, will be publicly singing of Qualcomm's server chips at an investor event next week. Qualcomm, who already poses a threat to Intel because of its dominance in the mobile market, could soon be eating a huge chunk of Intel's server pie as well.

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