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When MediaTek announced that it would be producing true eight-core mobile processors later this year, we knew it was only a matter of time before its main rival Qualcomm chimed in. As illustrated by a set of guitar amplifiers, the San Diego gang explains that while they rebuild their CPU cores for each generation (the latest architectures being Krait 300 and Krait 400), they claim that "Our Competitor" -- which is labeled with the same font and colors as MediaTek's logo -- simply "chooses to duplicate the same old cores" based on ARM's slower Cortex-A7 architecture. That said, it's worth a reminder that Qualcomm's cheaper Snapdragon 400 range also uses Cortex-A7.
Later on in the video, Qualcomm uses a Guitar Hero-like visualization to compare the performance difference, as well as show how octa-core is overrated for most apps. Apparently only 17 out of the top 20 Android apps in China use two cores at most, hence the bare fretboard for the octa-core side. The Snapdragon side, meanwhile, combs through a denser bunch of apps at a higher speed. Of course, there's bound to be some bias here, so only time will tell how close to reality this argument is. Until then, enjoy the cheeky clip after the break.
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Having pushed the Snapdragon S4 into an outrageous number of devices last year, it seemed inevitable that Qualcomm would come to CES 2013 with an even more fiery Snapdragon S5. As it turns out, that prediction was slightly off the mark. We do have new chips to talk about, thank goodness, but a change in the branding means they're actually called the Snapdragon 600 and 800. Both SoCs are due to arrive in high-end phones, tablets and smart TVs in the next three to six months, and both come with aggressive specs. If you haven't got the energy to read our slightly more detailed introduction after the break, then here are two key facts to take away:
Read on for more.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets
With all these Snapdragon S4 Pro phones popping up here and there, Xiaomi's finally announcing its launch plan for the retail version of its very own Xiaomi Phone 2 aka MI-Two, which is also powered by Qualcomm's APQ8064 SoC. Here's what's going to happen: on October 30th, the company's online store will release the first 50,000 units, followed by another 250,000 units (approximately) in mid-November. Additionally, the device will be offered in both 16GB and 32GB flavors, which are priced at ¥1,999 (about $320) and ¥2,299 (about $370), respectively. Folks who reside in China can now register online for a quota, but it'll probably be just a matter of time before we see these on eBay in the US, anyway.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Xiaomi Phone 2 officially launching in China on October 30th, 16GB and 32GB flavors offered originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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