Processor developer ARM has released three new designs for its second-generation graphics chip for use in tablets, smartphones, and televisions. The Mali T624, T628, and T678 have been added to the T600 line, and all include Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression (ASTC), a newly-develioed method of optimizing GPU performance by using texture compression.
Samsung's May 3 event was spoiled in conspicuous fashion on Friday after Vietnam's Tinhte briefly posted (since pulled) a detailed look at what's now very likely to be the Galaxy S III. Previously seen earlier as the GT-i9300, the hardware appears to have roughly the physical footprint of the Galaxy S II but with a taller, 4.6-inch, 720p screen that uses Android 4.0's onscreen controls. A quad-core 1.4GHz chip (likely the Exynos 4412) makes it clear the device is high-end.
A slide leak Monday has unearthed more details about Samsung's Exynos 5250 than what it has shared so far. The SemiAccurate copy shows that the 2GHz, ARM Cortex-A15 performer should also be mated to a much newer Mali-T604 graphics core. With 2.1 gigapixels per second and a wide 12.8GBps memory bandwidth, the T604 should blow past the already fast Mali-400 in the Galaxy S II.
AMD's recently departed graphics CTO Eric Demers is now thought to have jumped ship for Qualcomm. An insider connection talking to The Inquirer said the graphics expert had made the hop "under good terms," but partly in the view that Qualcomm wasn't seen as a direct competitor. Intel and NVIDIA may have tried to poach him in the past.
The next Samsung Galaxy smartphone may get a quad-core Exynos processor from, a newly leaked piece of Linux code revealed. The rumor indicated it may offer much more processing power than the 1.2GHz Exynos 4210 used in the current Galaxy S II. The likely processor would be the Exynos 4412, which could use a 32 nanometer design that runs its four ARM Cortex A9 cores at up to 1.5GHz. The chip compares favorably with NVIDIA's Tegra 3, which uses a larger 40nm design.
ARM has introduced a new graphics core, known as the Mali-T658, that promise to bring a significant leap in performance over its predecessor. The GPU is designed for mobile applications, working in conjunction with the company's Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 processors. The system is also compatible with a range of APIs such as OpenGL ES, OpenCL, OpenVG and DirectX 11.
Apple with the iPhone 4S launch finally put out its answer to the Galaxy S II. Some might say it's catching up: both have dual-core processors, eight-megapixel cameras, and 1080p video. But Apple isn't necessarily just bringing itself up to par; we'll see in a quick breakdown where the 4S might be pulling ahead as well as where it has room to grow.
A post on China's Weibo has shown a reputed iPhone 5 mainboard that, for the first time, shows its use of the A5 processor. It resembles an earlier parts leak and is distinct in looks both from the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 mainboards, ruling out the A4 or the tablet implementation of the A5. The shot also appears to show a 1,430mAh battery, up very slightly from the 1,420mAh lithium-ion pack in the iPhone 4.
ARM's Mali processors will be fast enough to equal a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 in power, the company said in an interview late this week. The T604 has caught up quickly enough that it can match the 2005- and 2006-era consoles in power as well as give options that weren't there before. It will be the company's first to support OpenCL and general-purpose computing, both giving it a lift for gaming as well as opening the door to low-power servers, ARM told The Inquirer.
China's Smart Devices has unveiled its latest tablet, the SmartQ Ten. It uses an In Plane Switching (IPS) 9.7-inch, 1024x768 display and a Cortex-A9 CPU of unspecified clock speed as well as the Mali 400 GPU. It's also the company's first tablet to use Android 2.2.
Samsung is readying a second generation of the Galaxy Tab that would use its custom Orion processor, an uncredited claim asserted on Friday. The combination would give it a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip built on a 32 nanometer process combined with a four-core version of ARM's recent Mali 400 graphics. No launch information was given by the Digitimes source.
ARM today used its self-run Technology Conference to unveil the Mali-T604, the next generation of its embedded mobile graphics core. The design is as much as five times faster as earlier Mali hardware and now officially supports the full OpenCL 1.1 spec. General tasks that can use the video hardware for acceleration, such as multi-touch gestures, should run much faster than when depending on the CPU alone.
ARM at the TechCon3 expo starting today will begin showing working examples of its Mali graphics core. The design is now known to be much faster than most existing mobile graphics and, even with the basic single-core Mali-200, can render modern-looking 3D in 720p at 30 frames per second. In many cases it can use 4X antialiasing to clean up the image without a performance hit.
ARM today said it should be the first to have truly console-like graphics on smartphone-grade devices. Detailing its plans to PC World ahead of this week's Game Developers' Conference, the company said its upcoming Mali-200 and Mali-400 chips will both have improved pure performance but will also support OpenGL ES 2.0. The mobile video standard is based on programmable shaders (effects instructions) that allow complex visuals like water ripples without overly complex code paths.
