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28nm Cortex A9 processors now possible thanks to Globalfoundries. Next stop: 20nm
All the engineers in the audience will be pleased to hear that Globalfoundries today announced that the very first 28nm ARM Cortex A9 dual-processor qualification vehicle has now been taped out.
Ah, yes. I know what they’re talking about. Don’t you?
Alright, I admit it: you got me! From the press release, it seems that this will help chip manufacturers get their next-gen teeny tiny processors (the ones that will power next year’s HBSF smartphones) to market faster. And that’s good for us consumers.
In a different press release, Globalfoundries also announced that the next step will be 20nm processors, and that they should be pumpin’ those suckers out come 2013 (or the apocalypse, whatever happens first).
The key to all of this is that lower nm = better power efficiency and performance, which, in turn, equals more awesome in your phone. Yay for progress!
[thanks to Engadget for the image]
T-mobile G2 will rock an 800MHz Scorpion CPU, Froyo, Flash 10.1
T-mobile have now confirmed, via their Scoop page, that the upcoming T-mobile G2 will rock an 800MHz Scorpion processor (as part of the new MSM7x30 Snapdragon chipset), run the Android hotness that is Froyo (sans Sense, as previously thought), and will also be “ready” for flash 10.1.
Now, those in the audience with an insatiable appetite for teh megahurtzes will probably be disappointed to hear that the clock is a full 200MHz slower than the usual 1GHz Snapdragon that most all high-end phones are gifted with.
Well, don’t get too upset yet, as this is a newer CPU than the classic QSD8650 or QSD8250, so the clock speed isn’t a 1:1 comparison. I’d wait for some benchmarks to come out before you start yer bellyachin’.
Combine this info with the price leak yesterday, and the release date rumours last week, and we have a near-complete picture of the device. Not long now…
[via Android Central]
Droid Incredible Froyo update now rolling out to the masses. For real.
Now I know that the Froyo update for the Incredible was released on the 27th of this month, but that was just one of those limited-release roll-outs used to weed out any major faux pas before making it available to the great unwashed.
If you weren’t lucky enough to get that joyous notification this past week, well, hold onto your hats, coz word on the web/streets is that the Froyo update is now being pushed out to all users.
If this is the first you’ve heard of the Froyo update, and you’re peachy-keen (and you should be) to get it onto your device ASAP, then Android Central have a how-to on manually updating your phone. Go check it; Froyo is pretty much the best thing to happen to me, like, ever.
[via Engadget]
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T-mobile’s “almost 4G” HSPA+ 3G now live in 9 more cities
T-mobile continues to bring the latest update to their 3G network to more cities today, with the “4G-like” HSPA+ speeds now available in:
- Boston, Mass.
- Erie, Penn.
- Fresno, Palm Springs and San Diego, Calif.
- Miami, Fla.
- Richmond, Va.
- Spokane, Wash.
- Topeka, Kan.
This brings the total number of HSPA+ cities up to 55, with 100 million lucky Americans now basking in the warmth that only high-speed 3G radio waves can bring*.
While the up-and-coming T-mobile G2 will be T-mobile’s first HSPA+ phone, the network maintains that you will see a speed boost on their other (plain ol’) HSPA phones.
So, are you in one of the 55 cities that now enjoy HSPA+ ? Have you seen a difference in speeds on your phone? Let us know in the comments. I’m curious.
*3G radio waves are no replacement for a good jacket or scarf. No responsibility taken if you catch a cold come winter.
Full PR, below.
Today, T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced the continued expansion of its super-fast mobile broadband network to 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas.
T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network – which offers theoretical peak throughput speeds of 21Mbps – is now available in Boston, Mass.; Erie, Penn.; Fresno, Palm Springs and San Diego, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Spokane, Wash.; and Topeka, Kan.
“Our new network offers today’s available 4G speeds to more people than any other wireless network in the country and we’re not done yet. We are now on pace to more than double our HSPA+ footprint – reaching more than 200 million people by this year – with plans to offer 42Mbps theoretical speeds in 2011,” said Neville Ray, chief network officer for T-Mobile USA.
For more information, please visit http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/coverage.
Samsung Epic 4G Gets Naked For FCC
With the Samsung Epic 4G launching very soon, here’s an interesting alternative view of the device. If you dig around enough on the FCC website, you’ll be able to find nude pictures of almost every phone. Sometimes they are barely legal shots, like this Samsung Epic 4G.
Wireless Goodness found these shots, and has a much more comprehensive idea of exactly what’s going on with the various circuits then I do. For example, the shot up above is of the main board and CPU: a Samsung Hummingbird processor running at 1GHz. The Hummingbird is a not so distant cousin of the Apple A4 processor, as both are made by Samsung. You can also see the NEC MC-10170 chip, which is the same video processing chip found in the Galaxy S devices.
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Mysterious Motorola Slider Makes Another, More In-Focus, Appearance
An extremely blurry picture of a Droid-eyed slider made the rounds a month or so back — so blurry, in fact, that I’m pretty sure they added blur in Photoshop. Well, some in-focus shots of the device have surfaced, and while it doesn’t appear to have outward Droid branding, it does have the familiar eye. Not a lot of information is available, unfortunately.
But I will say that it’s a nicer-looking slider device than the Blackberry Torch, which looks busy, chromey, and chubby in comparison. Who knows how they compare otherwise, but if i had to judge these books by their covers, the Motorola XT300 wins hands-down.
[via Engadget]
Is Your Cell Phone Ready For The Next Snowpocalypse?
Remember last year when that massive blizzard hit the east coast? I do. My wife ended up trapped in Washington D.C. for 6 days while waiting for a flight out. It could have been worse though, at least the hotel she was staying at didn’t lose power, and she was able to keep in touch via her cell phone. But what if this had gone from bad to worse? What if the infrastructure hadn’t kept running, and the power had gone out? Her phone — a smartphone — would have been the first thing to go. With big ol’ screens and radios galore, it’s tough to keep these things away from the wall for too long.
So what do you do to make sure you don’t lose communication?
In a recent article on CNN, this is pretty much the situation: The power is out, and you have no way to charge your phone. There’s an active cell tower, but it’s too far away (or just too slammed) to make a solid connection and call for help.
CNN’s recommendation is one we can whole-heartedly support: Go go gadget cheap-backup-phone! Something with low power consumption — and more importantly, texting capabilities. It (generally) takes less power to send a text than it does to initiate and maintain a call, and the networks can (again, generally) handle more texts at one time than they can voice calls. Case in point: During hurricane Katrina the voice service went down, but many people were able to send out texts and were in fact rescued as a result.
So which phone should you get? In a recent Engadget podcast, co-host Myriam Joire (otherwise known as tnkgrl) recommends the Motorola F3, which uses E-Ink to display basic information. Our recommendation? Any cheapo, feature-light pre-paid handset you can find.
Sure, you can’t update your Facebook with it, but sometimes there are just more important things than updating your friends on which coffee shop you’re currently lurking in.
Like the EVO 4G? Want something like that for Verizon? It’s coming.
Another day, another leaked Android handset to lust over. This one looks like it just might dethrone the Droid X as Verizon’s flagship Android device — or at least give it one hell of a fight. The Droid X isn’t the only handset in danger of taking some damage from this one, though; this thing is a near one-to-one match with the Sprint EVO 4G, both in looks and specs.
Hear that rumble? That’s everyone that works at Sprint letting out a collective groan.
Unearthed by the formidable Boy Genius, this thing is.. well, it’s the EVO 4G. For Verizon. That’s not its official name, of course; in fact, it doesn’t appear to have an official name just yet. But it does have an 8 megapixel camera, the Evo’s signature kickstand, a 4.3″ screen… and yep, a front facing camera.
Heck, we don’t even have a code name for this thing. What should we call it, in the mean time? Let us know in the comments below. I propose the HTC Darwin.
Late for lunch? Telenav’s OnMyWay for iPhone lets your party know
You’re a pretty punctual person, right? Right. But sometimes stuff just happens, you know? Maybe you forgot your wallet and had to go back. Maybe you couldn’t find your keys. Maybe you had to bust through the front windshield of a flipped-over bus to save the orphans inside.
Whatever the totally-legitimate-and-not-at-all-made-up reason is, Telenav’s OnMyWay for iPhone will automatically let your party know you’re running a bit late, and when they should expect you.
The app isn’t completely automatic, of course; you’ve gotta have the foresight to schedule the event and set up the contacts before you start driving — and if you’ve got that much foresight, you’ve probably got the foresight to leave a bit early, right? Sure. But again: busses full of orphans. They happen.
The app’s free, so it’s worth checking out. We had a few issues getting it to start up after we first installed it, but a quick power cycle fixed that right up. Give it a look, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
iPhone Dev Team won’t be jailbreaking iOS 4.0.2, says “the only winning move is not to play”
In the endless game of cat-and-mouse that is iPhone jailbreaking, sometimes the mouse needs to take a break. Not because it’s tired, mind you — but because it doesn’t want to show the cat where it’s hiding its cheese before it gets a chance to eat it.
Early this morning, the iPhone Dev Team (the guys behind the discovery of the vast majority of iPhone jailbreak methods) announced that they won’t be working on a jailbreak for iOS 4.0.2.
Why? Because with iOS 4.0.2, Apple showed that they’re willing to push out updates that do nothing but patch the exploits used for jailbreaking. It’s by all means reasonable, especially in this case; the browser-based (and thus easily forced on unknowing users) exploit patched in 4.0.2 could be used for all sorts of nasty things beyond jailbreaking, so Apple had plenty of reasons to drop everything and patch it up.
For the dev-team to respond with a jailbreak for 4.0.2 (which, again, is featureless outside of the exploit fix) would be to throw perfectly good jailbreak methods to the wind. Apple would patch’em by the time 4.1 rolled out to everyone, and then 4.1 would be that much harder to break into.
As the dev-team puts it: for the time being, at least, “the only winning move is not to play“.
