system-on-a-chip

Intel's system-on-a-chip design for small devices is slated to go quad core.

Leaked Intel documents dated August 15 have appeared on a Chinese-language Web site that indicate Intel's next-generation system-on-a-chip (SoC) will be offered in configurations that include quad-core, a first for Intel's Atom chip design, according to a report at CPU World.

At the risk of wading too deeply into a codename quagmire, the Atom 22-nanometer architecture is dubbed "Silvermont" and the SoCs are referred to as "ValleyView."

The chips will also get punched-up graphics. ValleyView SoCs will integrate a graphics processing … Read more

Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Lenovo, among others, are expected to bring out Windows 8 tablets using Intel's latest system-on-a-chip.

HP and Acer are working on designs, a source familiar with the vendors' plans told CNET. In addition, details leaked today about a Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, which will also use Intel's Clover Trail system-on-a-chip (SoC).

These Intel-based Windows 8 designs are distinctly different from Windows RT tablets that will use ARM chips. Windows RT devices use a version of Windows 8 that does not offer backward-compatibility with the millions of existing Windows software programs. Intel-based systems offer that compatibility. … Read more

Google is tapping Santa Clara, Calif.-based Marvell to power its new TV, which will debut next week at CES.

Marvell's ARMADA 1500 HD Media System-on-a-Chip (SoC) has been designed into the next generation of Google TVs debuting at CES 2012, the chip supplier said Thursday. That chip is based on a design from U.K.-based ARM.

"Marvell and Google have teamed up to...[transform] the TV into the command center for our connected lifestyle," Marvell co-founder Weili Dai said in a statement.

The two companies have collaborated on software and chip technologies to grow the … Read more

A chip analyst has written a sobering assessment of Intel's chip prowess vis-a-vis Apple in the mobile device race, an odd underdog position for the largest chipmaker.

In the brave new world of tablets and smartphones, chip competition isn't so much about Moore's Law but rather how the "blocks" of circuits are put together and the nexus with the software that runs on those circuits, Gus Richard, a senior research analyst at securities firm Piper Jaffray, wrote in a research note this week.

More specifically, tablets and smartphones use silicon called system-on-a-chip, or SoC, that … Read more

More details have emerged on Intel's first system-on-a-chip for mainstream PCs.

That chip, codenamed Haswell, is due by 2013 and will be the first high-performance Intel processor to approach the same level of integration used in smartphones and tablets. Today, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Nvidia are the major suppliers of smartphone and tablet SoCs (system-on-a-chip) derived from the ARM design.

What does Haswell mean for future Macs and PCs? Even more powerful ultraslim MacBooks and laptop PCs will emerge--as well as hybrid laptop-tablet designs.

Imagine, for example, a future 15-inch MacBook Pro as skinny as a MacBook Air but … Read more

The relationship between Microsoft and Intel may have cooled down a degree or two this week.

Microsoft yesterday condemned and rebutted comments made about Windows 8 by Renee James, an Intel senior vice president who heads the software and services group. At an Intel investors meeting on Tuesday, James revealed details about the next version of the Windows operating system that apparently ticked off some of the higher-ups in Redmond.

Discussing versions of Windows 8, James said that Microsoft would release a traditional version of the operating system designed to run on Intel x86-based computers. This version would offer a … Read more

Advanced Micro Devices showcased its upcoming Llano chip today, a highly integrated design targeted at sleek computers.

At the AMD Technical Forum & Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, the chip supplier held the first public demonstration of its future AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) codenamed "Llano." Due in the first half of next year, Llano integrates the main processor and graphics function onto a single piece of silicon and is targeted at ultrathin and mainstream laptops, among other designs.

Llano will use 32-nanometer technology, feature up to four CPU processor cores, and integrate AMD's 5000 series graphics … Read more

ARM and Globalfoundries have released details on their upcoming system-on-a-chip platform, which they say will combine "PC-class performance" and a huge jump in battery life for mobile devices.

The companies revealed the details Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Their system-on-a-chip platform is based on ARM's Cortex-A9 processor and Globalfoundries' 28-nanometer manufacturing process. The platform will be used in smartphones, tablets, and smartbooks.

The 28-nanometer process will allow devices built on the platform to have 40 percent more computing performance, 30 percent less power consumption, and 100 percent greater battery life than devices built using existing … Read more