Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c & 8c Processors Target Entry-Level & Mainstream Mobile PCs

Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c & 8c Processors Target Entry-Level & Mainstream Mobile PCs

Nearly exactly one year ago, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8cx processor for always-on always-connected PCs, and lateron Qualcomm and UL released PCMark 10 benchmark results showing Snapdragon 8cx had similar performance to a 15W Intel Core i5-8250U Kaby Lake-R processor, but with much better efficiency. The price of such laptops is still fairly high with Samsung Galaxy Book S announced in August for $1,000, and possibly canceled at this stage. Microsoft SQ1 powered Surface Pro X tablet is the only system based on Qualcomm Arm technology (customized version of Snapdragon 8cx) available now, and also sells for $1,000 and up. Qualcomm has now unveiled Snapdragon 7c and 8c arm processor to address the entry-level and mainstream markets of connected mobile PCs. Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Specifications: CPU – Octa-core Kryo 468 processor @ up to 2.45 GHz GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 618 GPU DSP – Qualcomm Hexagon 692 DSP with Hexagon Vector eXtensions and Tensor Accelerator Memory – Up to 10GB …

Continue reading… “Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c & 8c Processors Target Entry-Level & Mainstream Mobile PCs”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 865, 765, and 765G 5G Mobile Platforms

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 865, 765, and 765G 5G Mobile Platforms

Qualcomm-Snapdragon 865 / 765 5G Mobile Platform

Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2019 is taking place in Maui, Hawaii, US on December 3-5, and the company announced three 5G mobile platforms at the event: Snapdragon 865 with Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU, Adreno 650 GPU, and external Snapdragon X55 5G modem up to 7.5 Gbps download Snapdragon 765 with Qualcomm Kryo 475 CPU, Adreno 620 GPU, and external Snapdragon X52 5G modem up to 3.75 Gbps download Snapdragon 765G where G stands for Gaming and the SoC comes with a speed-binned Qualcomm Kryo 475 CPU, while the Qualcomm Adreno 620 GPU provides 10% faster graphics rendering compared to the standard Snapdragon 765. Snapdragon 865 5G Mobile Platform SM8250 specifications provided by Qualcomm: CPU – Octa-core Kryo 585 up to 2.84 GHz GPU – Adreno 650  CPU with support for Vulkan 1.1 API, OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenGL 2.0 FP, 10-bit HDR gaming, hardware-accelerated H.265, and VP9 decoder DSP – Hexagon 698 with Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Vector eXtensions, and Scalar Accelerator …

Continue reading… “Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 865, 765, and 765G 5G Mobile Platforms”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Linux 5.4 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.4 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.4 Changelog

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.4: Not a lot happened this last week, which is just how I like it. And as expected, most of the pull requests I got were for the 5.5 merge window, which I’ll obviously start working through tomorrow. What little there is here is mostly some networking updates (mix of network drivers and core networking), and some minor GPU driver updates. Other than that it’s a small collection of random other things all over. The appended shortlog is small enough that you might as well just scroll through it. Anyway, this obviously opens the merge window for 5.5. It’s not ideal timing with Thanksgiving week coming up, but it hopefully shouldn’t be too much of an issue. If I fall behind (not because I’m all that big of a fan of the indiscriminate and relentless turkey-killing holiday) it’s because we’ve got all three kids back for the holiday, and I might …

Continue reading… “Linux 5.4 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on $1,000 Microsoft Surface Pro X Tablet is Powered by Microsoft SQ1 Arm Processor

$1,000 Microsoft Surface Pro X Tablet is Powered by Microsoft SQ1 Arm Processor

Microsoft Surface Pro X

Arm Windows 10 laptops, tablets, and 2-in-1 hybrids have been around for a couple of years all powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors so far. Now Microsoft is launching Surface Pro X Windows 10 tablet powered by its own Microsoft SQ1 Arm processor. It sells for $999 with 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a 13″ 2880 x 1920 x pixel touchscreen display in the default configuration, but you can also customize your order with up to 16GB RAM,  512GB SSD storage, optional keyboard and stylus for over $2,000. Microsoft Surface Pro X Specification Microsoft Surface Pro X specification: SoC – Microsoft SQ1 Arm processor @ 3.0 GHz with Adreno 685 GPU System Memory – 8GB or 16GB LPDDR4x RAM at 3733Mbps (option for 16GB) Storage – Removable 128, 256, or 512GB M.2 SSD Display – 13” PixelSense Display with 2880 x 1920 resolution (3:2 aspect ratio), 10 point multi-touch, 450 nits brightness Audio –  Dual far-field Studio Mics; 2W stereo speakers …

Continue reading… “$1,000 Microsoft Surface Pro X Tablet is Powered by Microsoft SQ1 Arm Processor”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on F(x)tec Pro1 Android Smartphone Comes with a Sliding Keyboard

F(x)tec Pro1 Android Smartphone Comes with a Sliding Keyboard

smartphone sliding keyboard

Phones with a sliding keyboard used to be pretty common several years ago, but they all be disappeared in recent times. If you don’t like the software keyboard on the touchscreen and find carrying a Bluetooth keyboard cumbersome, I have good news for you. F(x)tec Pro1 smartphone with fairly decent specifications (Snapdragon 835, 6″ display, 6GB RAM, 128 GB storage) has launched for $699 with a sliding keyboard. F(x)tec Pro1 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (MSM8998) octa-core Kryo 280 processor with 4x higher performance cores @ 2.45 GHz, 4x low-power cores @ 1.9 GHz, Adreno 540 GPU System Memory – 6GB LPDDR4 Storage – 128GB flash, MicroSD card up to 2TB Display – 5.99-” 2160 x 1080 (FHD+) AMOLED display with curved edges; Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Camera 8MP Front-facing camera 12MP + 5 MP rear cameras with dual colour, dual-LED flash Video Capture up to 4K @ 30fps Playback up to 4K @ 60fps H264 (AVC), H265 (HEVC), …

Continue reading… “F(x)tec Pro1 Android Smartphone Comes with a Sliding Keyboard”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments on PiPo Snapdragon 850 2-in-1 Laptop to Sell for around $400

PiPo Snapdragon 850 2-in-1 Laptop to Sell for around $400

PiPo Snapdragon 850 Laptop

Current Qualcomm based Windows 10 laptops are mostly interesting for people wanting all-day battery life and/or being always connected over 4G LTE, as they are still pretty expensive, and performance somewhat underwhelming, although Snapdragon 8cx processor should change that. Chinese-based PiPo, known for their tablets,  mini PCs and Arm Android laptops, is working on solving affordability of Arm Windows 10 laptop with their Snapdragon 850 2-in-1 laptop, heavily inspired by Huawei MateBook E 2019, and expected to sell for half the price or around $400. PiPo 2-in-1 laptop preliminary specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 octa-core Kryo 385 Arm cores clocked @ up to 2.96 GHz with Adreno 630 Visual Processing Subsystem, Hexagon 685 DSP Systmem Memory – 8GB RAM Storage – 256GB flash storage Display – 12.3″ IPS display with 3000×2000 resolution, 10-point touch Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, Connectivity – WiFi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n + 4G LTE Camera – 5.0MP front-facing camera. 13MP rear camera USB – 1x USB …

Continue reading… “PiPo Snapdragon 850 2-in-1 Laptop to Sell for around $400”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Intrinsyc Unveils Open-Q 845 µSOM and Snapdragon 845 Mini-ITX Development Kit

Intrinsyc Unveils Open-Q 845 µSOM and Snapdragon 845 Mini-ITX Development Kit

Open-Q 845 µSOM Development Kit

Intrinsyc introduced the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 hardware development platform last year with its Open-Q 845 HDK designed for OEMs and device makers. But the company has now just announced a solution for embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) products with Open-Q 845 micro system-on-module (µSOM) powered by the Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor, as well as a complete development kit featuring the module and a Mini-ITX baseboard. Open-Q845 µSOM Specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon SDA845 octa-core processor with 4x Kryo 385 Gold cores @ 2.649GHz + 4x Kryo 385 Silver low-power cores @ 1.766GHz cores, Hexagon  685 DSP, Adreno 630 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2 + AEP (Android Extension Pack),  DX next, Vulkan 2, OpenCL 2.0 full profile System Memory – 4GB or 6GB dual-channel high-speed LPDDR4X SDRAM at 1866MHz Storage – 32GB or 64GB UFS Flash Storage Connectivity Wi-Fi 5 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4/5Ghz 2×2 MU-MIMO (WCN3990) with 5 GHz external PA & U.FL antenna connector Bluetooth 5.x Audio & …

Continue reading… “Intrinsyc Unveils Open-Q 845 µSOM and Snapdragon 845 Mini-ITX Development Kit”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Linux 5.3 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.3 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.3 Changelog

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.3: So we’ve had a fairly quiet last week, but I think it was good that we ended up having that extra week and the final rc8. Even if the reason for that extra week was my travel schedule rather than any pending issues, we ended up having a few good fixes come in, including some for some bad btrfs behavior. Yeah, there’s some unnecessary noise in there too (like the speling fixes), but we also had several last-minute reverts for things that caused issues. One _particularly_ last-minute revert is the top-most commit (ignoring the version change itself) done just before the release, and while it’s very annoying, it’s perhaps also instructive. What’s instructive about it is that I reverted a commit that wasn’t actually buggy. In fact, it was doing exactly what it set out to do, and did it very well. In fact it did it _so_ well that …

Continue reading… “Linux 5.3 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures”

Support CNX Software – Donate via PayPal or become a Patron on Patreon