Cosmo Communicator 2-in-1 Phone/Mini Laptop can now Dual Boot Debian Linux and Android

Linux on Cosmo Communicator

The Cosmo Communicator The Cosmo Communicator was released as a crowdfunded handheld device mixing smartphone and a small laptop features such as keyboard and display. It was launched in late 2019 and ran Google Android. Didn’t Ship with Linux Support The original units were shipped and fulfilled the requirements of the crowdfunding campaign, but still were missing something the company had wanted to provide: support for Linux. Debian Linux Support This is now fixed as Planet Computers, the company that makes Cosmo Communicator, just released a version of Debian Linux, that can be installed on the system, with the tools that the company has provided for free on its website. Other Linux Phones There has been some movement in the world of Linux Phones, with the advent of the Purism Librem 5 and the Pine64 PinePhone using the familiar touchscreen interface found in the vast majority of smartphones. Quick Basics […]

MediaTek Helio G80 Mobile Gaming SoC Boasts Higher CPU & GPU Clocks (over Helio G70)

MediaTek Helio G80

MediaTek introduced their first mobile processors designed specifically with gaming in mind last year with MediaTek Helio G90 and G90T SoC’s coupling Arm Cortex-A76 and Cortex-A55 cores with an Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4 GPU. Last month we reported the company launched another mobile gaming processor, but this time, Helio G70 & G70T were designed for mainstream mobile devices with the SoC’s featuring two Arm Cortex-A75 cores, six Arm Cortex-A55 cores, and an Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 GPU. Somehow the Taiwanese company decided there was room for a solution in between, and MediaTek Helio G80 processor is supposed to fill that gap. MediaTek Helio G80 specifications: Processor – 2x Arm Cortex-A75 @ 2GHz, 6x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz with “large L3 cache” GPU – Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 up to 950MHz Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4x @ 1800MHz Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Display – Up to 2520 x 1080 resolution Video Decode […]

MediaTek Helio G70 & Helio G70T Processors Targets Mainstream Gaming Smartphones

MediaTek Helio G70 & G70T

Announced last summer, MediaTek Helio G90 & Helio G90T processors are specifically designed for gaming on smartphones and ideals for titles such as Fornite, PUBG, or KOG. Both are higher processors with Arm Cortex-A76/A55 cores coupled with an Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4, but MediaTek has now announced two more cost-effective processors with Helio G70 & Helio G70T SoCs aimed at mid-range/mainstream gaming smartphones. MediaTek Helio G70 specifications: Processor – 2x Arm Cortex-A75 @ 2GHz, 6x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.7GHz with “large L3 cache” GPU – Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 up to 820MHz Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4x @ 1800MHz Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Display – Up to 2520 x 1080 resolution Video Decode – H.264, H.265 / HEVC, VP-9 up to 2K @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 60 fps Encode – H.264, H.265 / HEVC up to 2K @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 60 fps Camera ISP support 16MP+16MP, or […]

Kospet Prime SE Smartwatch with Face Unlock Runs Android 7.1.1

The Face ID Unlock Technology in a Smartwatch Kospet, the maker of smartwatches, has developed the Kospet Prime SE, a smartwatch phone with Face Unlock/Face ID technology. The watch is sleek and not overly large or heavy, and come equipped with two cameras for face ID. Runs Android 7.1.1, Supports iOS 9.0+ and Android 5.1+ The Kospet Prime runs Android with support for Google apps and documents.  The watch carries a 1.6-inch touch screen face. There is support for a 4G Nano SIM card that allows the watch to make calls based on the owners, (or someone’s) phone number and can sync to smartphones running Apple iOS 9 and later or Android 5.1 or greater. Dual Cameras There are dual cameras for Face ID accuracy, at 2.0 mp + 8.0 mp and also allows video calls at any time. The Face ID / Face Unlock technology is said to the […]

MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Arm Cortex-A77/A55 SoC Targets Premium Phones with 5G, WiFI 6

Mediatek Dimensity 1000

Arm unveiled Arm Cortex-A77 core and Mali-G77 GPU last May with a 20% boost in performance compared to Cortex-A76 with about the same efficiency. A few days later, MediaTek announced its plans to launch a 5G SoC with Arm Cortex-A77 and Mali-G77 without many details. nor a name for it. But we’ve now got more news and a name! MediaTek Dimensity 1000 is an octa-core processor with four Cortex-A77 cores, four Cortex-A55 cores, a Mali-G77 MC9 GPU, MediaTek’s APU 3.0 with 4.5 TOPS performance, and a 5G multi-mode modem. MediaTek Dimensity 1000 specifications: Processor 4x Arm Cortex-A77 @ 2.6GHz 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz DynamIQ heterogeneous multi-processing technology GPU – 9-core Arm Mali-G77 MC9 AI Coprocessor – APU 3.0 hexa-core AI accelerator with 2x big cores, 3x small cores, and 1x tiny core delivering up to 4.5 TOPS. Fully compliant with Android Neural Networks API (Android NNAPI) Memory I/F – […]

MediaTek Helio G90 & G90T Processors are Designed for Gaming Smartphones

Helio G90 & G90T

We’ve known MediaTek P-series for mid-range “premium” smartphones, and MediaTek X-Series for higher-performance mobile devices for a few years, but the company is now introducing G-series processors specifically designed for mobile gaming starting with MediaTek Helio G90 and G90T processors. Both feature eight Arm Cortex-A76/Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 2.05GHz coupled with an Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4 with speeds up to 800MHz, as well as “HyperEngine Game Technology”, an umbrella name covering multiple features we’ll cover further below. MediaTek Helio G90T specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-A76 plus Cortex-A55 octa-core up to 2.05GHz “with a large L3 cache” GPU – Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4 with speeds up to 800MHz AI Acceleration – Up to 1TMACs AI Performance Memory – LPDDR3, LPDDR4x up to 2133MHz, 10GB RAM max Storage – eMMC 5.1, UFS 2.1 Display – Up to 2520 x 1080 Video Encoding – H.264, H.265 / HEVC @ 4K 30fps, FHD 120fps, HD 240fps […]

Linux 5.2 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.2 Changelog

Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux 5.2 last Sunday: So I was somewhat pre-disposed towards making an rc8, simply because of my travels and being entirely off the internet for a few days last week, and with spotty internet for a few days before that [*]. But there really doesn’t seem to be any reason for another rc, since it’s been very quiet. Yes, I had a few pull requests since rc7, but they were all small, and I had many more that are for the upcoming merge window. Part of it may be due to the July 4th week, of course, but whatever – I’ll take the quiet week as a good sign. So despite a fairly late core revert, I don’t see any real reason for another week of rc, and so we have a v5.2 with the normal release timing. There’s no particular area that stands […]

MediaTek Helio P65 Octa-core Processor Combines Cortex-A75/A55 Cores with Arm Mali-G52 GPU

Mediatek Helio P65

MediaTek Helio P65 is a mainstream’s octa-core processor with two Arm Cortex-A75 clocked at up to 2.0 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores combined with an Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 GPU. What does 2EEMC2 mean you may ask? Well, I have absolutely no idea either, and MediaTek did not bother expanding on the subject. Nevertheless, Helio P65 is said to deliver 25% performance improvement over “competitor alternatives that use older generation cores”, and twice the AI performance over previous generation mainstream Helio series, and up to 30% faster performance versus direct competitor SoCs in AI-camera tasks such as object recognition (Google Lens). The processor also implements VoW (Voice on Wakeup) capability which the company claims “optimizes platform size and power use”, and separates the audio channels for voice commands and calls from media and games in order to deliver better audio quality. MediaTek Helio P65 specifications: Processor – 6x Arm Cortex-A55, 2x […]