processors - SlashGear

Intel Atom is dead! Long live Atom for IoT, cars!

JC Torres | Aug 12, 2016

Rumors of Intel Atom's death have been greatly exaggerated. And Intel has only itself to blame for that. Now it seems that the company is clarifying, or further muddling, its plans for its low-power processor line. Intel is, indeed, axing the Atom but that is true only as far as mobile devices, laptops, and even wearables go. It still has Atoms planned, newer ones based on its Apollo Lake architecture. Those, however, will be heading towards smart cars and smart appliances as Intel tries to make a grab for the IoT market instead.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 does the Tango, future 600, 800 too

Ewdison Then | Jun 29, 2016

When Lenovo unveiled the first consumer Tango-enabled smartphone, the PHAB2 Pro, it was somewhat curious that the OEM went with a Snapdragon 625 instead of the highest end 820. Although we'll probably never really find out why, Qualcomm reveals that it has, in fact, made specific tweaks to make the SD652 work perfectly with Tango. Now it has done the same for the Snapdragon 820, its current flagship, and promises it will also be the case for future generations of the 600 and 800 chip series, opening the doors for more devices to dance their way to augmented reality as well.

E3 2016’s big winner isn’t Sony or Microsoft

Chris Burns | Jun 14, 2016

The battle between the two gaming console titans continues this year at E3 2016, but we've already got a winner. That winner isn't Sony or Microsoft - not the PlayStation 4, the next PlayStation that remains under wraps, or any of Microsoft's Xbox units. Instead, it's AMD. A company that held sway over the most recent generation of gaming consoles with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and seems all but guaranteed to do it again this next time around.

AMD reveals 7th gen A-series CPUs, VR-ready Radeon RX 480

JC Torres | Jun 1, 2016

With Intel's discontinuation of the Atom line and its practical exit from the entry-level processor market, the time is ripe for AMD to reclaim a space that has been previously its domain. At Computex 2016, the famed chip maker revealed the 7th generation of its AMD FX, A, and E series CPUs that push the low-end a bit higher. At the same time, it is catering to the high end as well not with a new CPU but a new graphics card, the Radeon RX 480, which, like many of this week's products, are targeting the fledgling VR market.

ARM Cortex-A73 CPU, Mali-G71 GPU have VR and AR in their sights

JC Torres | May 31, 2016

Despite a noted slowdown in shipment and sales, smartphones remain the fastest growing device market today and outnumber PCs even. However, smartphones have ceased to be mere communication devices and have even started venturing into uncharted and indirectly related territory, like virtual reality. In order to address the nascent but growing "synthetic" reality market, ARM Holdings has announced new chips, specifically the new 10 nm FinFET Cortex-A73 CPU and the Mali-G71 GPU. While they naturally benefit mobile devices in general, they are being poised to be well-suited to address the processing needs of virtual and augmented reality applications.

NXP’s BlueBox promises off-the-shelf autonomous cars

Chris Davies | May 16, 2016

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.

Lady Gaga’s David Bowie tribute: behind the scenes with Intel x Grammys

Chris Burns | Feb 16, 2016

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.

Intel has new chips with some odd model numbers

JC Torres | Dec 29, 2015

Intel is just in the middle of its regular processor release cadence but that doesn't mean it won't be launching some new chips in between. It has, in fact, added a total of 8 new processors, not only for its new 6th gen Skylake family but even for the previous line of Broadwell chips. Intel even has two new ultra-low voltage Celeron processors. The list, however, is populated by six chips whose model numbers are either rare or, in one case, has never been seen before.

Apple A9, A8X top AnTuTu’s CPU performance chart

JC Torres | Dec 7, 2015

In just a few weeks, 2015 will be over. Naturally, it will be time to take a look back at everything that has happened this year, including the arrival of new processors that power our favorite mobile devices, some of which have proven themselves more capable than others. When it comes to benchmarking that kind of performance, one of the most popular names is AnTuTu, who has just released the top performing CPUs for this year. It might be surprising for some but not for others to find Apple's chips at the very top.

Snapdragon 617, 430 bring Quick Charge 3.0 to mid range

JC Torres | Sep 15, 2015

While Qualcomm is naturally praising its still to come Snapdragon 820, it wisely isn't putting all its of its eggs in that one high end basket. On the heels of its many announcements today, Qualcomm has revealed the Snapdragon 617 and the Snapdragon 430, processors that are intended for somewhat high and mid range devices. Don't let the lower numbers fool you, however, as these chips still have some boasting to do, especially when the time comes to charge your mobile device in a pinch.

Snapdragon 412, 212 pushes the low-end even higher

JC Torres | Aug 10, 2015

Qualcomm has received a lot of flak for the Snapdragon 810 and its overheating infamy. But while that is indeed big news, it is so far the only huge blot in the company's track record. Qualcomm's Snapdragons continue to power a whole range of devices, from the high-end flagships to the low-end budget phones. And with the new Snapdragon 412 and 212 chips, Qualcomm is again trying to push the boundaries of low tier devices, further eating into the once untouchable market dominated by MediaTek.

The big deal about IBM’s tiny chips

Chris Davies | Jul 10, 2015

IBM is making a big deal of celebrating a tiny achievement, successfully producing a 7nm chip that could mean huge efficiency improvements in phones, laptops and more. Squeezing more than 20 billion transistors into a chip the size of a fingernail took figuring out new manufacturing processes and chewed through part of a $3bn investment IBM earmarked back in 2014, but it's shaping up to be worth every cent. Big Blue predicts a power/performance increase of more than 50-percent from the smaller processors.