Samsung plans to show off its next homegrown smartphone chipset on November 12, promising new Exynos details for a fresh high-end processor. Although Samsung's flagship Galaxy phones typically use Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets in North America, versions of the handsets sold in Europe and Asia typically use Samsung's own chips.
The next few weeks will most likely be filled with news about new gaming consoles but that doesn't mean PC gamers are being left out. In addition to new graphics hardware from NVIDIA and AMD, Intel also laid out its gaming-centric push around its upcoming 11th-gen processors. These Intel Rocket Lake-S processors might not be coming until early next year but that means you'll have plenty of time to save up for what Intel is practically positioning as the next level in gaming on the desktop.
Today the AMD Big Navi line of AMD graphics cards were revealed in three sizes, all under the name AMD RX 6000. There's the AMD RX 6800, AMD RX 6800 XT, and AMD RX 6900 XT, all with AMD RDNA 2 architecture. The more tantalizing of these is the 6800 XT, a card that'll do battle directly against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. AMD's Radeon RX 6800 XT will compete with the RTX 3080 with availability in stores AND a starting price for $659 USD right out the gate.
Huawei already revealed the date for what may be its last big event this year and the mobile tech industry will be all eyes on what may also be its last big phone if things don't improve for it. The Huawei Mate 40 will arrive next week with what could be the next level in mobile photography. Judging by these benchmark numbers, it could also come with a powerful processor which only makes Huawei's semiconductor predicament all the more poignant.
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has been looking for someone to acquire its semiconductor designer Arm and although it finally settled on NVIDIA, that deal may still fall through at least in one country. The UK government is reportedly preparing to intervene and block the acquisition if necessary on the grounds that NVIDIA buying up Arm could not only endanger its citizens' jobs but also threaten the country's sovereignty over one of its very few technology champions.
Today AMD revealed ZEN 3 CPU Ryzen 5000 processors for desktop computers. These processors feature ZEN 3 architecture, rolling with 7nm process tech and a 19 percent IPC boost over the most recent generation hardware. Four new CPUs will be available soon, each with ZEN 3 architecture, including 2x Ryzen 9 models, one Ryzen 7, and a single Ryzen 5.
Today AMD introduced ZEN 3, 7nm processing power ready to roll in Q4 2020. ZEN 3 delivers higher max boost than ever before, significant IPC uplift, and a whole new core layout and new cache topology. AMD confirmed that ZEN 4 was on-track with a 5nm design as well - it would appear that, as one would expect, AMD will "not let up" going into the future.
Intel's next-generation desktop CPU, "Rocket Lake," is arriving in Q1 2021 the company has confirmed today, giving PC gamers in particular something to look forward to in the new year. The news comes amid growing excitement for Sony and Microsoft's next-generation consoles, with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X threatening to overshadow what PC gamers are up to.
Putting all speculation to rest, NVIDIA has finally announced that it is making an official bid to acquire Arm Limited from SoftBank. While the final say will be with regulators, this would mean that NVIDIA could soon be the owner of the intellectual property that pretty much powers the world's smartphones, cars, and many embedded devices. That does raise concerns about NVIDIA's hold on such IP and the computer graphics tech giant promises it will be business as usual as far as that licensing business goes.
The US government has hundreds of companies on its so-called Entity List and a good number of them come from China. One of the highest-profile names on that list in recent years has been, of course, Huawei. But if you thought the US was done with China's biggest phone and network manufacturer, it seems to be moving to squeeze out any remaining life from Huawei. Its rumored next move, however, could provoke China to finally retaliate and throw the global economy further into chaos.
Qualcomm may have the lion's share of the smartphone processor market but there is still one segment that it doesn't have a firm grasp on. On the lower and budget tiers, MediaTek's processors are often the go-to solutions, often because of their affordability rather than their features. With MediaTek aggressively pushing its 5G-capable Dimensity processors on high and middle tiers, Qualcomm is now trying to hit where it hurts by promising a 5G Snapdragon 400 series chip next year.
There seems to be a MediaTek chip for every phone tier but Qualcomm's rival is taking that idea to almost ridiculous extents. There is, at the moment, no less than five 5G-capable Dimensity chips and that's not yet counting MediaTek's surviving 4G-only Helio family. That's not stopping it, of course, from launching yet another one and, this time, it's aiming squarely for the still lucrative mobile gaming market with the Helio G95.