Qualcomm gets Lenovo’s Vibe
Qualcomm has scored a victory with Lenovo, landing the processor in the new Vibe Z smartphone and replacing Intel, which supplied the processor for the Vibe Z’s predecessor. The Vibe Z, also called the K910, is powered by Qualcomm’s ARM-based quad-core Snapdragon 800n SoC. Intel says it will continue to work with Lenovo on other projects.
Intel challenges Raspberry Pi
Intel may be struggling to keep up with ARM in the smartphone chip market, but the company is determined not to cede the maker market to ARM as well. At Maker Faire in Rome, Intel announced that it has integrated its Quark SoC into a tiny computer-on-a-board called Galileo. Quark is an x86 32-bit single-core CPU designed for M2M applications because of its low power consumption.
The Galileo is a direct competitor to the ARM-based Raspberry Pi, a $25 computer-on-a-board that developers are using to create everything from proprietary mobile device management solutions to powerful computers with mobile phone interfaces. The makers of Raspberry Pi want to put the tiny computers into the hands of students around the world, but Intel is also determined to plant seeds in educational communities. It is donating 50,000 Galileo boards to 1,000 universities around the world.
Galileo is compatible with the Arduino Software Development Environment. Intel has not yet announced a price point.
Broadcom in the driver’s seat
Broadcom has launched a new line of chips targeting the automotive infotainment market. The chips use 5G Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth to stream content from mobile devices to the car’s audio system and to back seat display monitors.
The wireless automotive chips operate in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Broadcom says this allows enough bandwidth for multiple in-car displays and resolution of up to 1080p, concurrent with Bluetooth hands-free operation of mobile devices.
“Car connectivity is the new battleground for product differentiation and the next frontier for Broadcom,” said Broadcom’s Rahul Patel, vice president of wireless connectivity. The company says one of the first new applications its chips will enable is the use of smartphones as interior remote controls, meaning that vehicle owners can use their phones to control car temperature and music choices.
Freescale gives IoT a Java jolt
Freescale says the Internet of Things (IoT) could transform many industries, but needs a “secure, standardized and open infrastructure.” Software giant Oracle is helping Freescale try to address this problem. Together the two companies are launching what they call a “one-box” solution: end-to-end software (Java) with a converged gateway design.
Freescale will embed Java on some of its sensors tailored for M2M applications, and will work with Oracle on future technical specifications. The initial implementation of the one box platform supports home/residential applications, including smart energy, smart metering, telehealth and other smart home services.
Imagination partners with Rightware
Imagination Technologies, a leading maker of graphics processing units for mobile devices, has partnered with Rightware, which makes user interface design and benchmarking software. The two companies say they want to deliver application-optimized, visually stunning user experiences based on Imagination’s PowerVR GPUs as well as its upcoming Warrior MIPS-based CPUs.
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