DailyTech - NVIDIA: Quad-core Smartphones On the Way

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Gadgets NVIDIA: Quad-core Smartphones On the Way
Mark Kurlyandchik - January 12, 2012 9:08 AM

12 comment(s) - last by THEfog.. on Jan 17 at 10:06 AM

Tablets already appearing at CES

Nvidia announced at CES that, while quad-core smartphones have been absent from the show, they are coming very soon.

CES is not an ideal launching pad for phones as it is more focused on tablets and computers, Mike Rayfield, general manager of the mobile business unit at Nvidia, told PC World.

But, "this is the year of quad-core," Rayfield said. He said that some new models based on Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor, which has more phone design wins than its dual-core predecessor, will be previewed at the Mobile World Congress 2012 next month.

But quad-core smartphones weren't completely absent from CES. Fujitsu previewed a Tegra 3-powered smartphone.

Meanwhile, quad-core tablets have been making the rounds at CES. Asus is displaying the "world's first seven-inch quad-core tablet," the Eee Pad MemO, while ZTE and Acer are both pimping their own Tegra 3-equipped tabs.

ZTE's T-98 is also a seven-inch quad-core tab. We'll see if it gets into any scuffles with Asus over that "world's first" designation

Sources: PC World, GMA Network, PC Mag

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waste

By zephyrprime on 1/12/2012 11:43:12 AM , Rating: 3

What a waste of battery.

RE: waste

By acer905 on 1/12/2012 12:25:19 PM , Rating: 4

See, thats what many would think when they hear "quad-core." The problem is that the Tegra 3 is a 5-core processor, 4 power cores and one companion core limited to 500Mhz. The Companion core acts as an extreme low power standby core, with the 4 extras powering up when needed. If it works as well as they say, for idle tasks it should have a much better battery life than the Tegra 3, while still being much more powerful when needed.

Really, this is what the smartphone needs more than anything and may be the reason Microsoft hasn't allowed any of the current dual-core systems on WP7. They may simply make the jump to the Tegra 3 because of its potential battery savings over dual core systems

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RE: waste

By sprockkets on 1/12/2012 4:59:47 PM , Rating: 3

Yeah but dual core solutions also save energy by using both at lower speeds than one at high speed, since current use goes up exponentially with clock speed.

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RE: waste

By jonmcc33 on 1/12/2012 10:21:31 PM , Rating: 2

Maybe at idle but during use they will suck up more power.

This is all overkill though. This type of power is not needed on a smartphone. A tablet, sure, but most smartphones are used for phone, texting, e-mail and web. You don't need horsepower for that.

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RE: waste

By KentState on 1/12/2012 12:53:27 PM , Rating: 2

How did you come to that conclusion?

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RE: waste

By mikeyD95125 on 1/12/2012 4:16:04 PM , Rating: 2

Probably something like:

Twice as many cores
It's made by NVidia
Ergo 2x the power

Obviously didn't read the Anandtech article on the processor.

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heh

By SniperWulf on 1/13/2012 9:41:27 AM , Rating: 2

Quad-core is nice and all, but I'd rather they drop 2 cores and spend that transitor budget on a faster GPU...

RE: heh

By lagomorpha on 1/13/2012 3:15:27 PM , Rating: 2

A low power A7 core for when it's in your pocket combined with 2 high performance A15 cores when it's in your hand seems like the ideal solution but it may be a while before we start to see that. Until I can connect my phone to an LCD and it can run the latest Total War game with a bluetooth mouse I don't care what the GPU can do.

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Still doesn't make Android feel faster.

By tayb on 1/15/2012 7:52:28 PM , Rating: 2

I've played with and owned single core and dual core Android phones and the experience is unchanged. Even the Galaxy Nexus is sluggish.

RE: Still doesn't make Android feel faster.

By THEfog on 1/17/2012 10:06:21 AM , Rating: 2

I Work in Telecommunication's in Australia and have had the opportunity in that time to have hands on with virtually every smartphone made in the last 4-5 Years. Granted, the iPhone release's of the 2008-2010 Markets had no real direct competitor. Compared to the first Android phone's (HTC Dream and Magic) the iPhone was leaps and bounds ahead of its time. Trust me, i owned a HTC Dream and it was a sluggish and pain in the ass experience :P

However, that just cant be said anymore. Both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S were released into a market of evolving smart-phones that put up a fight and they just are not that stand-outish anymore. We have more customers coming in each day purchasing Galaxy S2's, Nexus's and especially the Sony's Xperia Series. And trust me when i say that there are still Android phones out there that run slower than a stream of molasses, but the Galaxy Nexus and S2 walk all over the iPhone 4S in cross-platform experience comparisons (And physical versatility haha).

Android 4.0 is a lot more enjoyable to use than the iPhone from the point of view of somebody who used to own a iPhone 3GS, in nearly every aspect.

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Who cares?

By TakinYourPoints on 1/15/2012 10:31:00 PM , Rating: 2

The Tegra 3 is still slower than the nearly year old A5, and Android is a pig even on the fastest hardware compared to iOS or WP7.

Fandroid Apologist Signal Go!