mobile chip

Beyond quad-core: What's next for mobile processing power

Remember when a quad-core processor was the ultimate indicator of a super-smartphone? Well its 15 minutes are almost up.

Just as the current run of super-smartphones are destined for the bargain bin in a few months, so too will the novelty and obsession with the number of cores powering a phone begin to fade. Sure, smartphones with the latest quad-core chips still rule now, but companies are already preparing to change the conversation.

In its place, expect chip companies, handset manufacturers, and wireless carriers to shift their marketing away from an emphasis cores and more toward tangible benefits such as … Read more

Nvidia talks tablets and Tegra 3 (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--CEO Jen-Hsun Huang took the CES stage today and talked about three things: tablets, a surprise feature of Tegra 3... and cars.

Yes, cars. He explained that each car serves a different need. Just like each mobile device. "Different strokes for different folks," he said. Whatever you want, Android will make it possible.

Huang continued by showing off tablet apps enhanced by Nvidia graphics technology and highlighted Tegra 3 games found in the Nvidia Tegra Zone. He showed how a Tegra tablet can remotely connect to your PC via Spashtop, treats it like a server "and … Read more

TI to buy National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion

Texas Instruments plans to purchase fellow analog chipmaker National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion, the companies announced today.

TI is paying cash for National Semi. Stockholders will get $25 per share, an $11 per share premium over the $14.07 National Semi shares closed at today. Both boards have already approved the deal. There is a "break-up fee" of $200 million.

TI says the companies' sales force together will be "10 times larger" after the acquisition. Combined, the two could capture a 17 to 18 percent market share, company executives said on a conference call this … Read more

ARM: Smartbooks stalled by Flash issues

Smartbooks have failed to materialize due to delays in Flash optimization, a lower-than-expected uptake of Linux on Netbooks, and the sudden emergence of tablets, ARM's marketing chief has said.

ARM dominates the mobile phone chip design market and has since 2008 been trying to get into the subnotebook market as well. The plan was to do so through Linux-based, ARM-powered "smartbooks" that would provide an instant-on, longer-life alternative to x86-based Netbooks but, according to ARM's marketing vice president, Ian Drew, events have conspired to stall this plan.

"We thought [smartbooks] would be launched by now, … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: How important is mobile for Intel?

Intel's deal with Nokia is important for the chipmaker as it forges its path into the competitive (and profitable) mobile market. Also in today's podcast: MySpace layoffs hit the company's overseas offices; expedited airport-security service shuts down; and how to tell if you're really buying an American-made car.