I haven’t seen any quad-core set-top boxes on the market (if we exclude some Freescale i.MX6 mini PCs), but this is about to change with Huawei MediaQ M310 media player. The device is based on Hisilicon K3V2 SoC, and comes with 1GB RAM and 4 GB flash.
Audio I/O – 1x SPDIF, 3.5 mm stereo jack and mic (3-in-1)
USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11n & Bluetooth 4.0
Huawei multi-screen (Pushing, mirroring)
Content aggregation / Voice Search
The box runs a customized version of Android with a user interface designed for the television.
CSilie, who tipped me about the MediaQ M310, saw the device at CES 2013, and a Huawei representative told him it could also function as a regular Android set-top box, it could stream content from your smart phone or tablet to your TV (I suppose that’s what “Huawei multi-screen” is all about, and that it should available in about 3 months for $70 to $80 US.
Huawei also showcased a larger set-top box based on the same platform called the MediaQ M810, but featuring 2GB RAM, 8GB flash, 2x Gb Ethernet, a DVB digital TV receiver, and 2x 3.5″ HDD bays for NAS applications.
Androidworld.it shot a video (in Italian) of both devices at CES 2013. If your Italian is a bit weak, don’t worry, because there’s also another video in Hungarian.
Earlier this year, Hisilicon – a subsidary of Huawei – unveiled the K3V2 quad-core Cortex A9 processor at Mobile World Congress and Huawei showcased the Ascend Quad D Android 4.0 smartphone as well as an high-end Android ICS Tablet based on this processor called Huawei MediaPad 10 (which nobody was allowed to use). This tablet features a 1920×1080 display with a 10-point touchscreen, 1GB RAM, 32 GB Flash and a 8MP rear camera together with a 1.3MP front camera. It also comes with a 6,600 mAh battery and is only 8.8mm thick. Huawei brought the device at CTIA 2012 and Engadget could shot an hands-on video of the MediaPad 10 FHD.
Huawei is exhibiting their Machine to Machine (M2M) solutions at Cebit 2012 until March 10, 2012.
They are showcasing Smart Meter solutions with home energy gateways, smart gas meters, smart electric meters, in-home displays.. all communicating via Zigbee. Their solution is currently being implement in the UK market. They are also exhibiting diverse modules (mainly based on Freescale i.MX5 processor) featuring Huawei 3G technology that could be used in tablets among other things.
Rear-view Mirror Running Android 2.3
But the thing is really found interesting was their M2M solutions for the auto industry especially the Android car rear-view mirror where you can have the left half of the rear-view mirror displaying a menu so that you can access apps such as GPS maps, control your music or your phone and see information about your car.
Here are some details above this rear-view mirror:
GPS support with antenna built-in the rear-view mirror.
G-sensor (why?) / Bluetooth / 3G: WCDMA or CDMA2000 or TD-SCDMA
Voice recognition
You can watch the video showing Huawei M2M solutions below starting with automotive solutions, different system on modules and finally their smart meter solutions.
HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei, has unveiled the K3V2 quad-core cortex A9 processor at mobile world congress 2012, Barcelona.
The processor comes in two version 1.2 and 1.5 GHz and the company claims the chip delivers 30 to 50 percent more performance than existing quad-core processor including the NVidia Tegra3.
This performance boost is apparently possible thanks to a 64-bit memory bus as well as a powerful 16-core GPU (by an unnamed US chip designer) that is at least twice as fast as the competition. The current versions of the chip are manufacturer using TSMC 40 nm low power process, but the company plans to move to 28-nm technology for further power efficiency later this year.
They do not use a companion core like the NVidia Tegra 3 to save power, but instead HiSilicon designed an A.I.PS (Artificial Intelligence Power Scaling) Core in K3V2, which can manage cores CPU and GPU cores automatically by hardware.
They did not only announce the chip as they have something to show for it with the Huawei Ascend Quad D Android 4.0 smartphone using the new quad-core 1.5 GHz K3V2 processor. The Ascend D Quad also features a 4.5″ HD screen, 8MP BSI camera, Dolby surround audio and 1800/2500mAh battery with 30% power saving technology.
You can watch the original promotion video for the Ascend D smartphone below.
I could not find further technical information about the processor. The Huawei Ascend D quad smartphone will be available in Q2 2012. You can find some preliminary specs on phonearena.com.
