smartphone News - Page 49 of 73 - CNX Software

November 17, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Android 5.0 Lollipop Coming to Allwinner A33 & A80, Rockchip RK3288, and More…

I can often see questions requesting whether SoC XYZ will support Android 5.0 Lollipop. The good news is that last week, I’ve read lots of news about Android 5.0 support on various devices including Nvidia Shield tablet, Motorola G & X smartphones, and of course the Google Nexus devices. A developer (Nanik T.) also ported Android Lollipop to ODROID U3 development board based on Exynos 4412, and he mentioned that “porting was pretty straight forward as KK and 5.0 does not have a lot of differences in terms of HAL”, which means there’s hope for more recent devices and SoCs getting the update. Chinese SoC vendors are also getting the word out that they are working on Android 5.0. Rockchip announced Lollipop support for RK3288 processor (original news in Chinese) probably coming to tablets first, and Android TV boxes later. They used their reference platforms in the provided pictures, and […]

November 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Imagination Technologies Introduces PowerVR Series7 GPUs with Up to 512 Cores, Virtualization Support

Imagination Technologies has announced a new PowerVR Series7 GPU architecture that will be used in their high end PowerVR Series7XT GPUs delivering up to 1.5 TFLOPS for mid range and high-end mobioe devices, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and even servers, as well as their low power lost cost PowerVR Series7XE GPUs for entry-level mobile devices, set-top boxes, and wearables. PowerVR Series7 GPU, both Series7XT and Series7XE GPUs, can achieve up to a 60% performance improvement over PowerVR Series6XT/6XE GPUs for a given configuration. For example a 64-core PowerVR7XT GPU should be up to 60% faster than a 64-core PowerVR Series6XT clocked at the same frequency, with all extra performance due to a different and improved architecture. Some of Series7 architectural enhancements include: Instruction set enhancements including added co-issue capability, resulting in improved application performance and increased GPU efficiency New hierarchical layout structure that enables scalable polygon throughput and pixel fillrate […]

November 6, 2014November 6, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

THL T6 Pro and AXGIO Neon N2Q Octa-core Android Smartphones Sell for $117

I’ve just noticed some Mediatek MT6592 octa-core Android smartphones are selling for a little over $100. The cheapest phones seem to be THL T6 Pro and AXGIO Neon N2Q both selling for exactly $116.99, the former on sites like GeekBuying or BuyInCoins, and the latter only selling on Tinydeals, so AXGIO may be a re-branded phone. Let’s compare both phones. Since most phones now look pretty much alike, we’d better look at the hardware specifications instead to eventually decide is better value for money. ThL T6 Pro AXGIO Neon N2Q SoC Mediatek MT6592M Octa core Cortex A7 @ 1.4 GHz with Mali-450MP4 GPU System Memory 1 GB RAM Storage 8 GB + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Display 5.0” IPS display, 1280×720, 5 Points multi-touch 5.0” IPD display, 960 x 540, 5 points multi-touch Cellular Connectivity GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA: 900/2100MHz GPRS/HSPA/EDGE Dual SIM Card GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA: 850/2100MHz GPRS/EDGE/HSPA/HSPA+/ […]

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Add Wireless Charging to (Almost) Any Smartphone or Tablet

Flagship mobile devices often come with wireless charging capability, but there’s an easy way to add (Qi) wireless charging to almost any smartphone, or possibly tablet, thanks to wireless charging receivers that simply connect to the micro USB port of your mobile device, and can be purchased for as low as $7 on Aliexpress, Ebay, DX.com, etc… I’ve also seen Adafruit made a Qi Wireless Receiver module for Arduino with a 2.54mm pitch connector. They come in various sizes and shapes, but they’re all extra thin (1 mm), with a micro USB connector oriented upwards or downwards depending on your mode, and a thin cable, that allows you to place it inside your phone between the battery and the phone cover as shown in the picture below. It’s not always possible however, as for example the receiver would cover my phone’s rear camera lens, but you could always attach it […]

October 25, 2014October 25, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

LG NUCLUN Octa-core ARM SoC Powers G3 Screen Smartphone

LG has been making mobile devices since 1997, has entered the smartphone market in 2010, and they’ve now decided to foray into mobile SoC, with their very first SoC being an octa-core Cortex A15/A7 processor called NUCLUN, and found in their latest G3 Screen smartphone running Android 4.4.4. Details about NUCLUN processor are sparse, but the company did provide some specifications for LG G3 Screen smartphone: SoC – LG NUCLUN (LG7111) Octa-Core big.LITTLE processor with four ARM Cortex A15 cores @ 1.5GHz, four ARM Cortex A7 cores @ 1.2GHz. System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC + MicroSD slot Display – 5.9″ Full HD IPS touchscreen Camera – 13MP OIS+ rear camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera Network – LTE-A Cat.6 for up to 225Mbps download speed. Battery – 3,000mAh Dimensions – 157.8x 81.8x 9.5mm Weight – 182g The phone, also codenamed as LG Liger F490L, F490K or F490S (depending […]

October 16, 2014October 17, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Samsung Officially Announces Exynos 7 Octa big.LITTLE ARM Cortex A53/A57 Processor

Samsung started to commit code related to Exynos 7 processor to mainline kernel in August, but at the time details were scarce, and many tech websites referred to a Exynos 5433 64-bit processor from Samsung. Exynos 5433 for a Cortex A53/A57 SoC did not make much sense as the company recently announced Exynos 5430 based on Cortex A15 and A7 cores, so finally Exynos 5433 has been renamed to Exynos 7 Octa. Here’s what we know about Exynos 7 Octa from information on Exynos 7 Octa page and an older Anandtech article about Exynos 5433: CPU – 4x Cortex A57 cores @ 1.9 GHz , 4x Cortex A53 cores @ 1.3 GHz GPU – Mali-T760 @ 700 MHz Memory Controller – 2x 32-bit @ 825MHz (13.2GB/s b/w) Display – Up to WQHD (2560 x 1440) / WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolutions Video – Advanced multimedia format codec (MFC) including support […]

October 16, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Intel / Rockchip XMM 6321 Solution for Low Cost 3G Smartphones and Tablets

Back in May, Intel and Rockchip announced a partnership to develop 3G and LTE “Sofia” SoC for mobile devices, a few months later, Rockchip VP posted a picture of dual core development board (6321 solution) on Weibo with Rockchip and Intel technology, and the companies have showcased solutions based on XMM 6321 during the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Intel XMM 6321 appears to be a two-chip solution comprised of: XG632 SoC with a dual core Intel processor, a GPU, ISP?, VPU and a 2G/3G modem Intel/Infineon AG620 Communication Combo with 2G/3G RF, Wi-Fi/BT, GPS, GLONASS and Audio/PMU. XG632 will be the first processor from Intel and Rockchip collaboration, but it may not be part of “Sofia” family. with quad core 64-bit Sofia 3G-R and Sofia LTE SoCs coming at later date. XG632 is for entry-level smartphones (<$30) and tablets (<$40), whereas the upcoming Sofia SoCs will be seen in mainstream […]

October 16, 2014August 24, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Google Unveils Android 5.0 Lollipop, Nexus 6 Smartphone, Nexus 9 Tablet, and Nexus Player

Android L is now formally known as Android Lollipop. Since Google already released Android L preview a few month ago, we already know what’s new in Android 5.0 Lollipop with key changes including material design user interface, ART replacing Dalvik, better battery management, 64-bit support, etc… Google also announced three hardware platforms running Android 5.0: Nexus 6 Smartphone, Nexus 9 Tablet, and Nexus Player (Android TV) Motorola Nexus 6 Smartphone Hardware specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad core Krait 450 processor @ 2.7 GHz with Adreno 420 GPU System Memory – 3GB RAM Storage – 32 or 64 GB eMMC – No micro SD slot Display – 5.96” 1440×2560 AMOLED display (493 ppi). 16:9 Aspect ratio. Connectivity – 802.11 ac 2×2 (MIMO), Bluetooth 4.1, NFC Cellular Network (nano SIM): North America: GSM – 850/900/1800/1900MHz CDMA Band Class – 0/1/10 WCDMA Bands – 1/2/4/5/8 LTE Bands – 2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/41 CA DL Bands […]