The successor to the 1GHz dual-core A5 processor powering the iPad 2 has just begun trial production. The custom designed, high performance, lower power system-on-a-chip (SoC) is unlike years past — Apple is using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. instead of Samsung. According to the Taiwan Economic News report, the A6 processors will be 28-nanometer SoCs that feature dual-cores and ARM-based architecture.
Tagged ‘arm’
The prospect of a Windows Phone 7 tablet has been shot down again by a senior Microsoft exec.
After Steve Ballmer made light of disappointing Windows Phone 7 sales at the same event earlier this week, Windows Phone 7 president, Andy Lees, took to the stage at the Worldwide Partners Conference to reaffirm the company’s belief that the world wants Windows 8 tablets…
The tall tell sign of an Apple product refresh has long been either inventory shortages or refurbished price cuts. Now priced at $829 (£503), down from $849 last week, the refurbished 11-inch MacBook Air sits at a 17 percent discount. We’ve heard rumblings the 2011 MacBook Air could see an Intel Core I upgrade or possibly even the iPad 2’s A5 processor — assuming Apple’s alleged departure from Intel to ARM proves true. Will we see new MacBook Airs announced next week?
The latest MacBook Air is just seven months old, but in the world of Apple that’s a time table indicative of a product refresh. The real surprise here is that instead of using Intel Core I processors like the new MacBook Pros and iMacs, the 2011 MacBook Air will sport the A5 processor — the same processor inside our beloved iPad 2.
Short of looking into a crystal ball, it’s a crap shoot trying to guess the future of mobile technology — that is unless you’ve been given access to Qualcomm’s presentation. It just so happens our friends at Electronista happened to come across a set of slides from such a presentation, outlining the entire 2011 and 2012 Snapdragon roadmap. Ready to meet the processors powering your future smartphones?
While ARM and NVIDIA have the tablet space locked down right now, new rumours says Intel is set to streak into the space after negotiations with Google to get its chips into a new strain of Android Honeycomb devices.
The suggestion from loose-lipped suppliers is that Intel-based Android Honeycomb tablets will arrive in Q3 2011. It seems unlikely that we’ll see the finished article then but a concept device could be outed to lure manufacturers into moving to its chips.
Out TBC | £TBC | Intel (via Crunchgear)
Heads up, Google Chrome OS netbooks from Samsung and Acer have been announced by Google Taiwan during an event to big up the latest Chrome OS beta and the Chrome web store. Google named Acer and Samsung as official partners during the event but didn’t spill too many other details about the firms plans. Google has both Intel and ARM on board for Chrome OS so what processor the Acer Chrome OS netbook and its Samsung Chrome OS competitor come packing is still up in the air. Hit the headline and scoot into the comments to let us know: do you want to buy a Chrome Os netbook?