core

Can a quad-core Windows 8 laptop be as thin as an iPad? That's the design Qualcomm is aiming for. But we've heard this story before.

The San Diego-based chip supplier anticipates superthin laptops running Windows 8 on top of its Snapdragon chips, according to a report in PC World.

It's certainly an enticing idea: Laptops lighter and thinner than even Intel-based ultrabooks -- an idea also put forward by Nvidia, which already supplies its well-received quad-core Tegra 3 processor to Asus for its Tranformer Prime tablet.

At a macro level, this is about ARM versus Intel on … Read more

The new iPad's performance is less than stellar on iPhoto and lags the Asus Transformer Prime tablet in some tests because of Apple's aging central processing unit, according to a chip review site.

Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 chip -- used in the Asus Transformer Prime tablet -- is faster in some key tests than new iPad's A5X chip, according to tests conducted by Anandtech.

While Apple touts the A5X chip's quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU), it is silent about the CPU. The reason is pretty simple: the A5X sticks with an aging dual-core Cortex A9 … Read more

The new iPad isn't waltzing into a competitive vacuum. That wow-worthy display notwithstanding, Apple still has to go head-to-head on performance.

Chip-review site Anandtech confirmed with Apple that sitting right next to the A5X's quad-core GPU (graphics processing unit) is a dual-core CPU (central processing unit).

Apple had nothing to say about the CPU (which typically garners the most attention) when it announced the new iPad, because the CPU really hasn't changed from the iPad 2.

The upshot is that Apple is pitting the A5X's quad-core GPU against a quad-core Nvidia CPU.

So, how does it … Read more

Of all the announcements from Mobile World Congress last month, one smartphone that really has Android fans talking is the HTC One X.

That's why we got excited this week when details surfaced that a quad-core variant could touch down on U.S. soil in the near future. Documents found on the FCC's Web site indicate that the bigger, badder edition of the HTC One X is en route.

Where it will end up remains to be seen, but reportedly T-Mobile has called dibs. Then again, Verizon Wireless has a history of snatching up some of the better … Read more

Apple has just elevated the graphics chip to superstar status. Why focus on the graphics?

Apple announced today at the iPad event in San Francisco that the new iPad has a quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU). (So much for the central processing unit, or CPU, which typically garners all of the attention.)

So far, chip review site Anandtech offers the best educated guess about the graphics engine. Anandtech cites graphics chip technology from Imagination (PowerVR SGX543MP4) and CPU tech from ARM (Cortex A9).

"Our guess? Dual-core Cortex A9 [CPU] plus a PowerVR SGX543MP4 [GPU], an upgrade over the 543MP2 … Read more

Brian Tong and Molly Wood give you blow-by-blow analysis on the new iPad announcement, including rewriting the lyrics to John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland," specifically to accommodate the new iPad. Which, in case you haven't guessed by now, is just called "the new iPad."

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So, there's a new iPad. It has better graphics. It has a better screen.

Now what? Does it change gaming?

Ever since the iPhone had its first App Store, Apple has been making waves in the video game industry. Each successive iDevice has had its own improved set of graphics, and in some cases--the iPhone 4 and 4S, for instance--a higher-resolution display opened up gaming possibilities even more.

The iPhone 4S changed gaming by setting the graphics bar so high that it's an honest rival to handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. (It's no surprise that Apple's iPad events have coincided with the Game Developers Conference two years running.)

With the new iPad, the screen and improved graphics bring some different capabilities, for better-looking games, of course, but also in terms of what can be shown on a screen.… Read more

A Luxembourg company that Microsoft has a financial interest in has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple, opening a new front in the intellectual-property wars.

Core Wireless Licensing SARL claims in a lawsuit filed last week in Eastern Texas District Court that Apple infringed on eight patents related to 2G, 3G, and 4G communication protocols used in the company's iPhone and iPad devices. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and future royalty payments for "each and every product sold by Apple in the future that is found to infringe," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple representatives did … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Stephen Sneeden, product marketing manager for Sony Mobile, told CNET Asia in an interview here at Mobile World Congress that he predicts the company will likely only release quad-core Sony smartphones in early 2013. He does, however, state that this is just his assumption--the company will make the official announcements when it's ready.

"We're going to join quad-core when we feel that the performance matches the battery efficiency," he said. "Because right now we don't feel that is there. What we are going to be doing in the second half of the year is moving to the Cortex A15 architecture, which we feel outperforms the current quad-core architecture.

"You'll see in 2013, as we're evaluating the quad-core performance where it makes sense, where you're not suffering in quality and the performance truly is there, and there really is something that demanding applications need," he contiuned." That's when we make the right move to quad-core." … Read more