Samsung hints at what's coming for Galaxy S3 phone with new quad-core chip.
Electronics heavyweight Samsung will put quad-core silicon in its next Galaxy smartphone, upping the ante for mobile performance.
The Exynos 4 Quad integrates four processor cores and is built on the company's cutting-edge 32-nanometer manufacturing process. The chip will run at speeds above 1.4GHz, the company said in a statement today.
As a yardstick, the third-generation iPad uses older 45-nanometer Samsung manufacturing tech and its central processing unit is dual-core (though the graphics processing unit is quad-core). And most multi-core smartphones and tablets on the market today are dual-core.
Samsung's new chip -- targeted at both tablets and smartphones -- will land initially in the next Galaxy smartphone. "Already in production, the Exynos 4 Quad is scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung's next Galaxy smartphone that will officially be announced in May," Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung's statement continued. "The...processor is a crucial element in providing our customers with a PC-like experience on mobile devices. Samsung's next Galaxy device, which will be officially announced soon, offers uncompromised performance and ground breaking multi-tasking features."
That next Galaxy phone would likely be the Galaxy S3.
Other Exynos 4 Quad highlights that presage Galaxy S3 features: