Samsung silently announces Exynos 9810, the chip likely to power Galaxy S9

Samsung has silently made the high-end Exynos 9 series 9810 chip official that is likely to power the South Korean tech giant's next premium flagship the Galaxy S9. The new chip will succeed Exynos 9 series 8895 SoC, that was utilized by Galaxy S8/S8+ and Galaxy Note8.

The Exynos 9 series 9810 chip will be based on the second generation 10nm FinFET processor technology and use Samsung's third generation custom designed CPU core to deliver improved performance over its predecessor.

It will also get an upgraded graphics processor, likely to be called Mali G72 CPU, and will be based on Bifrost architecture resulting in up to 40 percent performance improvement than Mali G71 GPU.

The chip will be integrated with LTE Cat.18 6CA-supported modem that offers maximum download speed of up to 1.2Ghps (Cat.18). Samsung is already working closely with Anritsu, a telecommunication measuring instrument providers for the LTE modem that offers 20 percent improvement in the maximum download link speed. As a result, users will be able to download a full length HD movie within 10 seconds.

Unfortunately other details are scarce.

Samsung says the Exynos 9 series 9810 SoC will go in mass production in early 2018. As mentioned earlier the chip will be used in Samsung's next flagship Galaxy S9 that will be released in Q1 2018. 

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AMD introduces new Ryzen Mobile chips with Zen CPU cores and Vega graphics

AMD is expanding its Ryzen family of chips to include mobile processors designed for premium 2-in-1s, convertibles and ultrathin notebook computers.

Previously codenamed the “Raven Ridge”, Ryzen's new mobile processor are based on Zen CPU architecture and is combined with Radeon Vega graphics to deliver blazing fast performance. Two models were unveiled:  Ryzen 7 2700U and the Ryzen 5 2500U.

They offer improved performance over AMD's previous mobile chips with up to 3X the CPU performance, and up to 2.3X the GPU performance, while keeping the power consumption down by up to 58 percent. The new Ryzen mobile chips feature 15-watt TDP along with four core/eight thread architecture with 6MP 6MB of L2/L3 cache, but there are some differences between the processor.

The Ryzen 7 2700U chip is said to be the fastest processor for ultrathin notebooks with up to 44 percent more multi-threaded CPU performance, and up to 161 percent more graphics performance than the competition. It has  a maximum clock speed of 3.8GHz and 10 GPU compute units running at 1300MHz. 

The Ryzen 5 2500U, on the other hand has a maximum clock speed of 3.6GHz  and 8GPU compute units running at 1100MHz.

The Ryzen mobile processor also feature Precision Boost 2 technology, which accelerates processor performance in workloads using from one to many CPU cores and Mobile Extended Frequency Range (mXFR), which raises sustained performance in notebooks with great cooling solutions on notebooks certified for “Ultimate XFR Performance”

With the RadeonVega GPU integration, Ryzen's new mobile processor enables smooth and playable framerates at 1080p in popular eSport games such as League of Legends, Overwatch, CS:GO and DOTA2 in ultrathin notebooks.

PC maker including Acer, HP and Lenovo will be among the first to launch Ryzen Mobile processors based laptops in the coming weeks, followed by Dell and Asus in early 2018. 

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NVIDIA announces GTX 1070 Ti graphics card

NVIDIA has announced a new graphics card based on the Pascal architecture called GTX 1070 Ti, which slots in between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080. The graphics card is NVIDIA's answer to AMD's Radeon RX Vega 56.

The GeForce GTX 1070 Ti delivers twice the performance of the GeForce GTX 970. It uses the same GPU design as the GTX 1080, and has 2,432 active CUDA cores divided into 19 clusters called Streaming Multiprocessors. The graphics card has a base speed of 1607MHz and a boost speed of 1683MHz. It has a TPD of 180W and ships with 8Gbps GDDR5 memory with 256-bit memory bandwidth.

NVIDIA says the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti is designed to handle the graphical demands of DirectX 12, HDR, immersive VR through games like Destiny 2, Shadows of War, Star Wars Battlefront II and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

The NVDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Founders edition is priced at Rs. 39,000 in India and $449 in the U.S, and will be available via several retailers starting November 1. NVIDIA GeForce Partner Network including ASUS, Colorful, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision 3D, MSI, Palit, PNY and Zotac, will also launch GeForce GTX 1070 Ti soon. 

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MediaTek MT6739 brings 18:9 display, dual camera photography, dual VoLTE for mid to entry-level devices

MediaTek at the ongoing MWC 2017, New Delhi, has announced a new mobile chipset MT6739 designed for mid- to entry-level 4G smartphone. The Taiwan based chip maker says MediaTek MT6739 "delivers a package of superior features for entry-4G smartphone users in India"

The MediaTek MT6739 is a quad-core 64-bit chip with four ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores and operates up to 1.5GHz. The graphics will be handled by IMG PowerVR GE8100 GPU.

The new processor also supports premium smartphone features like dual-camera photography and handle HD+ resolution (1400 x 720 pixels) with 18:9 aspect ratio, allowing smartphone makers to manufacture bezel-less phones. This means both the current trending features will show up on even more affordable smartphones.

It also packs future-proof cellular technology. It features an advanced WorldMode LTE Cat.4 modem, and supports dual VoLTE and Dual SIM Dual Standby with either 4G+4G (L+L) or 4G+3G (L+W). 

MediaTek MT6739 other features

• Up to 3GB LPDDR3 (667MHz) RAM
• eMMC 5.1 storage
• 1080p, 30fps video playback, H.265 and legacy H.264
• 1080p, 30fps H.264 video recording
• 13MP camera image signal processor with Faster NR, AF, Luma/Chroma Noise Reduction, Native dual camera function
• Carrier Aggregation (CA), CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A (SRLTE), EDGE,  FDD / TDD LTE,  GSM,  TD-SCDMA,  WDCDMA
• Cat-4 DL (up to 150 Mbps) / Cat-5 UL (up to 50 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS+Glonass,  GPS+Beidou, FM Radio

Devices powered by MediaTek MT6739 processor will be available in India and global market by end of this year. 

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Intel announces eighth generation Core Coffee Lake desktop processors

After giving its Kaby Lake processor family a small refresh, Intel has now announced its 8th generation Coffee Lake desktop processors family with more cores than before. It is designed for gamers, content creators and overclockers who require premium performance , and include the four core Core i3 processor (Core i3-8350K/i3-8100), six core Core i5 processor (Core i5-8600K/i5-8400) and gaming centric Core i7 processor (Core i7-8700K/i78600). All the new processors are based on Intel's 14nm++ Coffee Lake architecture.

The Core i7 series leads that pack with the six-core i7-8700K and i78600. The Core i7-8700K has base and boost speeds of 3.7GHz and 4.7GHz respectively, and the Core i7-8700 runs at 3.2GHz to 4.6GHz. The Core i5-8600K runs at 3.6GHz to 4.3GHz, while the Core i5-8400 runs at 2.8GHz to 4GHz. The Core i3 series does not support Turbo Boost clock speed, so the Core i3-8350K runs flat at 4GHz, while the Core i3-8100K at 3.6GHz.

Intel says the top-end Core i7-8700K is the best gaming processor ever from the company. It promises performance boosts that deliver frame rate improvements of up to 25 percent than the 7th generation Intel core processor for smooth gaming experience. Furthermore, the eight generation Intel Core desktop family promises up to 32 percent faster 4K-360 degree video editing, when compared with previous gen, and 65 percent faster compared with a 3-year old PC.

They also packs Intel's integrated graphics, while the Core i7 models have 12MB cache, Core i5 have 9MB cache and Core i3 series have 6MB cache. The Core i7 and Core i5 chips now support up to dual-channel DDR4-2666 RAM, while Core i3 models support dual-channel DDR4-2400.

The new processors with K suffix support over clocking to deliver maximum tuning flexibility and have 91-95W TDP ratings while other are rated at 65W. These processors are supported with new Intel Z370 chipset-based motherboards.

Intel's move to increase the core counts can be seen as a response to AMD's Ryzen processor family to match the mulit-core performance.

The 8th generation Intel Core desktop processors will be available for purchase starting October 5, 2017. The price starts at $117 (Rs. 7,600), and goes higher to $359 (Rs. 23,300) for the top-end i7-8700K. 

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Huawei announces its AI powered Kirin 970 processor

Huawei at the IFA 2017 tech show in Berlin announced its next-generation processor for high-end devices called Kirin 970. It is the first mobile SoC that has its own AI processor built in.

The Kirin 970 is an octa-core processor with four high performance ARM Cortex A73 cores clocked up to 2.4GHz and four low powered ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked up to 1.8GHz, same as Kirin 960. But it is manufactured using 10nm process technology compared to 16nm process in the predecessor for improved performance. 10nm is the same process used in other powerful chips like Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 and Samsung's Exynos 8895.

The chip gets the latest and faster ARM Mali-G72 12-core GPU to deliver improved performance and efficiency. It also supports HDR, 4K video recording at 60fps. 

However, the main highlight of the Kirin 970 processor is the dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), built right onto the chip, which will deliver faster and efficient AI function. Thanks to the integration of the NPU, the Kirin 970 is said to deliver up to 25x the performance of a CPU with 50x greater efficiency for tasks like voice recognition, real-time image,  intelligent photography, and other AI related task.

It has a new dual ISP supporting improve noise reduction, 4-way hybrid auto-focus, and improved low light shooting and capture of moving subjects without motion blur. It also supports LTE Cat 18 for download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps.

The first phones to use Huaweo's Kirin 960 chip will be the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, which will be introduced on October 16. 

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MediaTek unveils new Helio P23, Helio P30 mid-range SoCs

MediaTek has introduced the new member of the Helio chipset family: Helio P23 and Helio P30. The processors designed for mid-range smartphone, and offers performance and power efficiency, dual-cameras and world's first dual-SIM with dual 4G VoLTE capabilities.

Both are octa-core processors with eight ARM Cortex A53 cores operating up to 2.3GHz, and are manufactured using TSMC 16nm FinFET production process. The Helio P23 packs Mali G71 MP2 GPU clocked at 770MHz, while the Helio P30 also packs Mali G71 MPS GPU, but is clocked at 950MHz. For memory, both chipsets supports up to 6GB LPDD4X RAM clocked at 1.6GHz. They also include MediaTek's CorePilot 4.0 technology that helps in power aware scheduling, thermal management and UX monitoring.

For photography, both support dual-cameras. The Helio P23 supports dual 13MP camera setup or a single 24MP sensor, while the Helio P30 supports up to dual 16MP camera setup. They also boast MediaTek's Imagiq 2.0 technology for better photography, while minimizing aliasing, grain and noise, and reduce chromatic aberration, resulting in clear, crisp, high-quality images even in low-light conditions. They are also equipped with CCU (camera control unit) technology, which offers "auto exposure convergence speed up to twice as fast as competitors".

As an addition, the P30 gets a new Vision Processing Unit (VPU), a dedicated 500MHz digital signal processor paired to Image Signal processor. They work together, and free up system resources and deliver performance boost, programmability & flexibility (allows OEMs to customize camera functions), power reduction and real-time image and video bokeh.

For connectivity, both gets MediaTek's latest generation 4G LTE WorldMode modem with a unique combination of Cat-7/13 speeds at 300Mbps download and 150Mbps upload. The Helio P23 also gets world's first dual SIM, dual 4G VoLTE/ViLTE support, which means dual-SIM smartphones will support 4G VoLTE on both primary and secondary SIM.

The MediaTek Helio P23 SoC will be available globally in Q4 2017 and the MediaTek Helio P30 SoC will launch first in China at the same time.

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Intel 8th Generation Core processors announced

Intel has announced its latest 8th generation Intel Core processor family that promises to offer up to 40 percent speed boost over the previous 7th generation Kaby Lake processor, while multi-tasking, and up to 2.3x faster than a 5-year-old system. The first members of the 8th-generation chip family are not Coffe Lake chips, as previously expected, and is simply called "Kaby Lake refresh", and are aimed at ultrathin notebooks and 2-in-1s.

The 8th-generation core family are quad-core chips based on Kaby Lake architecture and 14nm+ process technology and gets optimzations, and design improvements. The chip maker announced four new U-series 15W processor: the Core i7-8650U, Core i7-8550U, Core i5-8350U and Core i5-8250U. 

The base model Core i5-8250U will run at 1.6GHz, with boost clock of 3.4GHz, while the fastest Core i7-8650U will run at 1.9GHz, with boost clock of 4.2GHz. The cache sizes are 6MB on Core i5 processor and 8MB on Core i7 processor, and only the Core i7 models will support Hyper-Threading. They will be intergrated with Intel UHD Graphics 620, with the GPUs of Core i5 models running at 1.1Ghz and Core i7 at 1.15GHz.

According to Intel, users can expect up to 10 hours of 4K UHD local video playback on a single charge. Tasks such as photo editing and creating a slideshow, are up to 48 percent faster, and editing video footage is up to 14.7x faster than the previous generation processor.

Intel says the first wave of 8th Gen Intel Core processor-powered devices featuring i5/i7 processors will come to market beginning in September, and 145 laptop models can be expected. It also said first desktop processors codenamed Coffee lake is coming in the fall, followed by the 10nm products codenamed Canon Lake. 

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Qualcomm announces second-gen Spectra ISP for 2018 phones

Qualcomm has announced expansion of its Spectra Module Program, with the addition of the new Spectra ISP and second-generation camera modules. The next gen technology is designed for smartphones and HMD (head mounted display) and is capable of improved biometric authentication and high-resolution depth sensing.

For the uninitiated, Qualcomm's Spectra ISP is designed to communicate with the camera module. It dictates the speed, the camera can focus and snap a shot, and the photo's image quality. Previous gen ISP and camera modules focused on dual-cameras with low-light photography and video recording with smooth zoom. It is now widely deployed in many 2016 and 2017 flagship smartphones powered by Snapdragon 820 and 835..

The next gen ISPs is most likely to be used in Snapdragon 845 and features a new camera architecture designed for advancements in computer vision, image quality and power-efficiency for the the next Snapdragon Mobile and VR Platforms. It consists of three system: an iris authentication module, a passive depth sensing module and an active depth sensing module.

The new Spectra ISP offers multi-frame noise reduction for superior photographic quality, along with hardware-accelerated motion compensated temporal filtering (MCTF), and inline electronic image stabilization (EIS) for superior camcorder-like video quality.

The low-power, high-performance motion tracking capabilities of the Qualcomm Spectra ISP, in addition to optimized simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, are designed to support new extended reality (XR) use cases for virtual and augmented reality applications that require SLAM. 

The Qualcomm Spectra family of ISPs and new Qualcomm Spectra camera modules are expected to be part of the next flagship Snapdragon Mobile Platform, which is most likely to be Snapdragon 845.


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AMD launches entry-level Ryzen 3 processors

AMD is launching its most affordable entry-level Ryzen 3 processor family, rounding out the mainstream desktop line for 2017.

The Ryzen 3 family consists of two models: the Ryzen 3-1200 priced at Rs. 7,599 ($109 in the U.S) and Ryzen 3 1300X priced Rs. 8,999 ($129 in the U.S). GST of 18 percent is applicable, which pushes the India pricing up to 10,550 and 8,966 respectively.

AMD's Ryzen 3 chips are designed to take on Intel's Core i3 series, which dominates the budget PC market. They are based on AMD's Zen architecture, and are equipped with true quad-core unlocked processor with four built-in threads to deliver optimum performance for eSports gaming and computing applications. 

The Ryzen 3-1200 features 3.1GHz base clock speed, and supports boost speeds up to 3.4GHz, while the Ryzen 3-1300X has a base clock speed of 3.5GHz, and boost speeds up to 3.7GHz. Both are also multiplier unlocked and overclockable.

They have 65W TDPs, ship with AMD's compact Wraith Stealth cooler and will work with same AM4 motherboard platform as the rest of the mainstream Ryzen family. AMD  says that Ryzen 3 chips are VR ready.

The Asus Ryzen 3 chips are now available in India, as well as globally

Product Line	AMD Ryzen 3	AMD Ryzen 3
Model	1300X	1200
Cores	4	4
Threads	4	4
Base Clock (GHz)	3.5	3.1
Boost Clock (GHz)	3.7	3.4
TDP (Watts)	65	65
PRICE SEP (USD)	$129	$109
PRICE SEP (INR)  (GST of 18 percent is applicable)	8899	7599

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NVIDIA unveils Max-Q design for slim powerful gaming laptops

NVIDIA at the ongoing Computex 2017, Taipei has announced Max-Q, an innovative design technology, that redefines gaming laptops from the ground up, making them thinner, quieter and faster compared to previous generations.

The new Max-Q design technology will allow OEMs and system builders to manufacture laptops as thin as 18mm (0.71 inches), equipped with GeForce GTX 1080, 1070 or 1060 graphics. Previously, gaming laptops had to be larger and thicker to make space for cooling system and power requirements for the graphics card. But with Max-Q, similarly sized laptops will offer up to 70 percent more gaming performance delivering 4K gaming on a thin and light laptop.

The Max-Q designed laptops will come with NVIDIA's Pascal gaming GPU architecture, which apart from offering a thin profile will be further optimised and configured for higher efficiency. These laptops will include the most advanced thermal and electrical designs ever achieved, elaborate heatpipe and heatsink setups, the highest-quality low-noise fans, next-generation high-efficiency energy regulators, and optimized components from top-to-bottom.

The company says Max-Q designed gaming laptop will also feature NVIDIA's new WhisperMode technology, which "intelligently paces the game's frame rate while simultaneously configuring the graphics settings for optimal power efficiency. This reduces the overall acoustic level for gaming laptops."

Max-Q-designed gaming laptops equipped with GeForce GTX 1080, 1070 and 1060 GPUs will be available starting June 27th from leading laptop OEMs and system builders, including Acer, Aftershock, Alienware, ASUS, Clevo, Dream Machine, ECT, Gigabyte, Hasee, HP, LDLC, Lenovo, Machenike, Maingear, Mechrevo, MSI, Multicom, Origin PC, PC Specialist, Sager, Scan, Terrans Force, Tronic’5, and XoticPC.

At Computex 2017, several gaming laptops featuring Max-Q design were showcased including Asus Zephyrus GX501, Clevo P950HR and MSI GS63.

The Asus Zephyrus GX501 is a 18mm-thin laptop that weighs 4.94 lbs, and packs GeForce GTX 1080 which feeds into a G-SYNC 1920x1080 120Hz display, enabling max setting, high frame rate gaming. It includes an innovative Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) cooling design that expands the rear-bottom corners of the chassis when the lid is opened, increasing airflow space by 20%, and total airflow by 30%, keeping the laptop cool even during marathon gaming sessions.

The Clevo P950HR is a 19mm thin gaming laptop featuring GeForce GTX 1070. It will be offered with the choice of 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160 display. It weighs 4.18 lbs.

Lastly, the MSI GS63 is also a 18mm thin laptop that weighs just 3.96lbs. It packs GeForce GTX 1070 and will be offered in either 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160 display options.

ARM unveils new Cortex-A75, Cortex-A55 CPUs, Mali-G72 GPU

ARM has announced its next generation CPUs and GPU at its event in Computex 2017. This includes the ARM Cortex-A75 for the high-end flagship level devices and ARM Cortex-A55 for mid-range smartphones. The company's new GPU is the Mali G72, which its says is now more efficient. The new CPUs and GPU will be used by Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple to architect their own mobile processor chipsets.

ARM claims Cortex-A75 delivers "ground breaking performance", delivering 20 percent improved performance than its predecessor Cortex-A73. It also provides 15 percent more memory throughput on memory copy over Cortex-A73. The additional computing power and memory will enable demanding apps to rum smoothly, and this will provide a significant boost to the next generation of devices. It is also able to offrt up to 50 percent more performance in multi-threaded use case and 30 percent increase in performance on large-screen devices.

The Cortex-A55 is a follow-on to the Cortex-A53 CPU, and offers 15 percent improved power efficiency, double the memory performance and ten times the scalability. It can also deliver the same level of performance as the Cortex-A53 at a 30 percent lower power. It is also able to deliver sustained performance for a longer duration than Cortex-A53, making it ideal for virtual, augmented and mixed reality.

Both Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A55 are built on DynamIQ technology, ARM's new multi-core technology, and focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence. DynamicIQ gives chipmakers greater freedom in choosing cores includes a 1+7 configuration, where a single Coretex-A7 core can be paired with seven A55 cores. Chipmakers can also use 4+4, 2+6, 1+3, or other configurations in a single cluster. This will give them the ability to maximize the performance of the chip.

Speaking of the GPU, the Mali-G72 builds on the Bifrost architecture, which was first used on Mali-G71, to provide greater performance within an even smaller area. The GPU is designed for high fidelity Mobile gaming and machine learning, and also takes the VR capability of the Mali G71 to a new level. It provides 25 percent higher energy efficiency, 20 percent more performance and 17 percent more efficiency for machine learning. As a result it will offer up to 40 percent more performance overall.

Meanwhile, a leak coming out of China claims that Snapdragon 845 will be equipped with Cortex-A75 cores. The current Snapdragon 835 which powers Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+, Mi 6 uses a semi-custom design that features Cortex-A73 core, so there is no surprise, Qualcomm will use the new Cortex-A75 on its next gen flagship SoC. Devices powered by the new processor will hit the market Q1 2018.

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NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 is an inexpensive graphics card for e-sport gamers

NVIDIA has quietly unveiled GeForce GT 1030, an affordable and low-power new graphics card aimed at e-sports gamers or users looking for a cheap upgrade from integrated graphics.

The GeForce GT 1030 is based on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture and has 384 CUDA cores and boost clock speed of 1468MHz. It has 2GB of GDDR5 memory on-board and supports  maximum resolutions of up to 7680 x 4320 at 60MHz. 

This power is enough to run a wide range of popular e-sports games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Rocket League or Dota 2 without any issues.

The standard display connectors on the card include DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b with HDCP 2.2 and a Dual-link DVI. It has a low TDP of just 30W and NVIDIA recommends a 300W power supply.

The GeForce GT 1030 is available on Newegg from NVIDIA's hardware partners Zotac, MSI, and Gigabyte starting at just $69.99. It will directly compete with AMD's $79.99 Radeon RX 550. 

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NVIDIA's new TITAN Xp is the the world's most powerful graphics card

NVIDIA on Thursday, introduced its latest flagship graphics card, the TITAN Xp. It has more cores, faster clock, faster memory and more TFLOPS than its predecessor, the TITAN X or the most recently launched GTX 1080 Ti, making the TITAN Xp the world's most powerful graphics card.

The TITAN Xp is based on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, and is built on TSMC's 16nm FinFET processor. NVIDIA says TITAN Xp will offer up to three times faster performance than the Maxwell based TITAN X.

It has 128GB GDDR5X memory running at 11.4Gbps with 547.7Gbps memory bandwidth, 3,840 CUDA cores running at 1.6GHz and 12 TFLOPs of brute force. For comparison, the GTX 1080 Ti and Titan X featured 3584 cuda-cores, also, the GTX 1080 Ti had 1GB less RAM.

The Titan Xp power draw is rated at 250W, and the graphics card is capable of  displaying up to 8K at 60 Hz and driving driving the next-gen VR experiences.

The graphic card maker also announced that the company will make the new TITAN Xp open to Mac community with new Pascal drivers, coming this month.

The TITAN Xp is available from nvidia.com for $1200 (Rs. 77,000). The pricing is same as its predecessor, but two times higher than GTX 1080 Ti ($699), which prior to the TITAN Xp announcement was NVIDIA's powerful graphics card. 

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Qualcomm's 205 Mobile Platform brings 4G VoLTE support to cheaper handsets

Qualcomm recently announced that it will no longer call its Snapdragon SoC as processor, instead refer them as platforms. The company also said that the 400, 600 and 800 series, which delivers "premium mobile experience" will be associated with Snapdragon Mobile Platform brand, while the processors that fall in 200 series will have only Qualcomm Mobile Platform brand.  

That said, today, the chip maker announced the first chip carrying the 'Qualcomm Mobile Platform' branding.

Called Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform, the new chip is designed for use in entry-level feature phone and is aimed at emerging markets like India, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

The main highlight of Qualcomm 205 mobile platform is that it will bring 4G and VoLTE support to low-cost feature phones. This will allow users to switch from 3G/2G phone at 4G handsets at budget and let them browse internet in high-speed. The integrated 4G LTE modem on the Qualcomm 205 is capable of delivering up to 150Mbps download speeds and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps. 

Another highlight is that the chip is energy efficient and handset utilizing the chip promises to deliver up to 20 hours of talk time, up to 86 hours of music playback and up to 45 days of standby time.

Apart from the connectivity and exceptional battery life, the rest of the chip's features are mediocre. The Qualcomm 205 mobile platform is a 1.1GHz dual-core processor, and supports VGA displays (480p), 3MP front and rear camera, Linux based operating systems, HD video streaming, dual-SIMs, 2G/3G networks WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and FM Radio. 

Qualcomm 205 SoC features include:
LTE Cat 4 modem with up to 150 Mbps download, 50 Mbps upload;
Support for 4G, 3G and 2G networks;
Support for 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, ANT+, FM radio;
Dual Core CPU at 1.1 GHz;
Qualcomm Adreno GPU;
3 megapixel rear camera,.3MP selfie camera
VGA display at 480p 60 frames per-second;
HD Video streaming;
Support for Linux based OS;
Support for dual SIMs;
Pin-compatible with Qualcomm Snapdragon 210/212

Some of Qualcomm's notable partners for the 205 mobile platform include Reliance Jio, Jio's LYF brand, Micromax and TCL. The Qualcomm 205 mobile platform is available starting today, but phones based on the new chip will hit the market before June. 

"Qualcomm Technologies is committed to the migration of users and networks from 2G, 2.5G, and 3G to 4G," said Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Feature phones are a lifeline in many emerging countries and the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform allows us to bring 4G connectivity and services to the masses with devices at price points never seen before." 

AMD announces mid-range Ryzen 5 CPUs starting at $169

Last month AMD launched the high-end Ryzen 7 processors based on company's Zen architecture aimed at high-performance desktop computers. Now the chip maker has  announced a more affordable mid-range line of Ryzen 5 desktop class chips. 

The Ryzen 7 was AMD's answer Intel's high-end Core i7 chip, and similary the Ryzen 5 series will be pitted against Intel's mid-range Core i5 Kaby Lake processors.

The Ryzen 5 line up comes in four models featuring AMD's Zen architecture in hexa-core (or 6-core), 12 thread, as well as quad-core (4-core) and 8 thread options. 

The first of the quartet is the Ryzen 5 1600X CPUs is a 6-core/12 threads CPU with 3.6GHz base clock speed, 4GHz boost clock speed and 95W TDP. It is priced at $249 (Rs. 18,199). AMD says, the Ryzen 5 1600X beats the Intel Core i5 7600K chip by 69 percent in CPU performance testing using Cinebench R15 nT.

The Ryzen 5 1600 also has 6-core/12 threads CPU, but has 3.2GHz base clock speed and 3.6GHz boost clock and is a 65W TDP part. It is priced at $219 (Rs. 15,799)

The Ryzen 5 1500X is a 4-core/8 threads CPU with 3.5GHz base clock and 3.7GHz boost clock and 65W TDP. It is priced at $189.

Lastly, the Ryzen 5 1400 also is a 4-core/8 threads CPU with 3.2GHz base clock, 3.4GHz boost clock and 65W TDP. It costs $169.

These new mid-range CPUs include the new Wraith coolers, including the Wraith Spire and Wraith Stealth, which are designed to provide near-silent operations. They also feature AMD's SenseMI technology and offer impressive multi-tasking capabilities delivering incredible responsiveness and performance. Also they are unlocked processors meaning gamers can attempt to overclock the chip to run at higher speeds.

The AMD Ryzen 5 line up will be available beginning April 11 at retailers around the world. AMD also plans to launch more affordable less powerful Ryzen 3 chips in the second half of 2017.

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