quad-core

The new iPad and gaming: What will change?

So, there's a new iPad. It has better graphics. It has a better screen.

Now what? Does it change gaming?

Ever since the iPhone had its first App Store, Apple has been making waves in the video game industry. Each successive iDevice has had its own improved set of graphics, and in some cases--the iPhone 4 and 4S, for instance--a higher-resolution display opened up gaming possibilities even more.

The iPhone 4S changed gaming by setting the graphics bar so high that it's an honest rival to handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. (It's no surprise that Apple's iPad events have coincided with the Game Developers Conference two years running.)

With the new iPad, the screen and improved graphics bring some different capabilities, for better-looking games, of course, but also in terms of what can be shown on a screen.… Read more

Sony Mobile exec: Quad-core smartphones in early 2013

BARCELONA, Spain--Stephen Sneeden, product marketing manager for Sony Mobile, told CNET Asia in an interview here at Mobile World Congress that he predicts the company will likely only release quad-core Sony smartphones in early 2013. He does, however, state that this is just his assumption--the company will make the official announcements when it's ready.

"We're going to join quad-core when we feel that the performance matches the battery efficiency," he said. "Because right now we don't feel that is there. What we are going to be doing in the second half of the year is moving to the Cortex A15 architecture, which we feel outperforms the current quad-core architecture.

"You'll see in 2013, as we're evaluating the quad-core performance where it makes sense, where you're not suffering in quality and the performance truly is there, and there really is something that demanding applications need," he contiuned." That's when we make the right move to quad-core." … Read more

Intel offers clarification on 'Ivy Bridge' chip delay

Intel today spelled out in more exacting detail just what the Ivy Bridge chip delay means in the wake of comments published Sunday from an Intel executive.

"Reports of an eight-week delay to the Ivy Bridge launch are inaccurate and our schedule has only been impacted by a few weeks," spokesman Jon Carvill told CNET today.

So, for instance, if a desktop Ivy Bridge product was slated for an April launch, that would be pushed to May. And a mobile product scheduled for May, would launch in June. Intel always staggers production schedules. For example, Intel's most … Read more

Dialed In #212: Mobile World Congress madness begins (podcast)

Can't make it to Barcelona, Spain, this year for Mobile World Congress? Don't fret, just check out the latest episode of Dialed In. We chat about all the phone news to come out so far at MWC including quad-core handsets from HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony, and newcomer Huawei. … Read more

Huawei claims first-ever quad-core 10-inch tablet

Chinese electronics company Huawei just made bold claims at MWC when its chairman, Richard Yu, said the Ascend D Quad is the world's fastest phone. Naming another milestone, Huawei has announced plans for the first 10-inch tablet powered by a quad-core processor.

Called the MediaPad10 FHD, the slate uses a similar 1.5GHz K3 CPU Huawei expects to place in the Ascend D Quad. Another alluring attribute you'll find in the MediaPad FHD is a 10-inch IPS LCD screen with a supersharp resolution of 1,920x1,200 pixels. Dolby Surround Sound audio processing will be onboard as well, along with an 8-megapixel main camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter.

Of course I thought the first 10-inch quad-core tablet was the Asus Transformer Prime. Truth be told, that's a 10.1-inch quad-core tablet, so perhaps Huawei is really splitting hairs here. … Read more

Ice Cream Sandwich with quad-core chips ready for Mobile World Congress

Over the last month, CNET has written a lot about an upcoming trade show called Mobile World Congress. And over the next week, we'll be writing even more about it.

If you've never heard of the event before, I don't blame you. Indeed, Mobile World Congress doesn't have the same name recognition that CES commands in the United States, but for the wireless world, it's almost as big and just as significant. Each February, folks from all corners of the industry and around the world meet in Barcelona, Spain, to make deals, demonstrate the latest technologies, and show off the latest and greatest phones and tablets.

This will be my fifth year at the show, which begins Monday in Catalonia's Gaudi-obsessed capital city. Though a possible transit strike threatens to make getting around a little difficult, there's guaranteed to be a (metric) ton of new devices, from the very fancy to the strictly functional. It will be a massive amount to cover, but CNET will have a large team on the ground, including editors Jessica Dolcourt, Roger Cheng, Maggie Reardon, and Stephen Shankland. And thanks to CNET TV producers Jamie Yee and Mark Licea, the new handsets will get their star turns on video.

Android avalanche So what exactly will we see?… Read more

HTC set to launch One X quad-core superphone?

Smartphone maker HTC might go big at Mobile World Congress with a One X handset boasting quad-core horsepower.

Time is certainly ripe for HTC to wow the world with new cutting-edge mobile hardware. Its rivals, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony, have been hard at work churning out a number of fresh phones such as the Droid Razr Maxx, Droid 4, Galaxy Note, and Xperia S. It's enough for HTC devotees to wonder what the company is up to.

Looks like HTC fans won't have to wait long. Multiple gadget blogs such as Pocket-lint, Slashgear, and Pocketnow report that the … Read more

Nvidia targeting dual-core phones that undercut iPhone 4S

Nvidia is eying a market for inexpensive dual-core smartphones that underprice the iPhone 4S by a wide margin.

That phone segment, which the graphics chipmaker calls the "1,000 RMB phone" in China, will use Nvidia's dual-core Tegra 2 processor paired with a 3G modem, according to Chief Executive Officer Jen-Hsun Huang, who spoke during the earnings conference call this afternoon. RMB refers to the Chinese currency.

RMB 1,000 is about 75 percent less than the price of an iPhone 4S, which currently retails for RMB 4,988 in China.

"That's a pretty exciting … Read more

Huawei to unveil quad-core Diamond series Android in Barcelona?

If you ask an average Android user to name the top smartphone brands in the United States, it's unlikely that Huawei would be an answer.

After releasing a string of entry-level and midrange devices across some of the smaller carriers, Huawei has been pushing steadily forward with high-end hardware. And with specs that rival the recent offerings out of HTC, Samsung, and Motorola, the company is positioning itself as a dark horse.

Take, for instance, the Ascend P1S, announced at CES earlier this year. At only 6.68mm thick, it somehow manages to sneak in a 1.5GHz dual-core … Read more

A quad-core iPad 3? Not so fast

Will Apple's next iPad reach performance nirvana with a monster quad-core chip? Nirvana, maybe, but not necessarily via quad-core.

But let's put aside whether Apple's latest chip will be quad-core for a minute and look at what others are doing. (See a post at The Verge on this topic too.)

One of the leading lights among ARM processor suppliers is Texas Instruments. They've made it clear that they're not going quad-core this year and not even next year (necessarily) with their first next-gen OMAP5 chips.

In a CES demo, TI showed off the next-gen OMAP5 … Read more