Posts Tagged ‘dual-core’
LG launches Optimux 2X with Android, world’s first dual-core smartphone
If you had asked me earlier this year which company would introduce a dual-core phone first, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed LG. But now that is indeed what we’re getting: The Korean company today launched the Android-powered Optimus 2X, the first phone ever to sport a dual-core processor.
The phone is a follow-up to . The 2X features Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor running at 1 gigahertz, which promises to bring more horsepower to your phone than any single-core processor can provide. In , the 2X unsurprisingly blew past the Nexus One and Droid X in performance.
It packs a 4-inch display, 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing. The phone will ship with Android 2.2, but LG says that it will be upgradeable to the newer 2.3 release. Notably, it can record 1080p high-definition video (most phones today are limited to 720p HD recording).
I’m personally not too keen on 1080p video recording on cellphones (even though it’s ). Cellphone camera sensors and lenses aren’t sophisticated enough to take advantage of the added resolution in 1080p files, plus storage space is still something that needs to be conserved. The Optimus 2X, for example, packs 8 gigabytes of on-board storage, and you can also add extra storage up to 32 gigabytes.
That’s not a lot of space for 1080p video, a few minutes of which could take up a significant chunk of space. Considering that the difference between professionally made 720p and 1080p HD video is still tough to discern on TV screens under 50 inches, putting 1080p recording on phones just seems like overkill.
The Optimus 2X also packs in a 1,500mAh battery, which is on-par with other high-powered Android smartphones. It’s unclear how that battery will fair with the 2X’s more power-hungry dual-core processor.
LG says the Optimus 2X will land in Korea next month, and it will hit countries in Europe and Asia afterward — markets where the company is likely more comfortable launching major products. There’s no word yet on when it will be available in the US.
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Samsung’s new Orion processor brings dual-core power to phones
Samsung already has a plenty powerful mobile CPU with its Hummingbird processor — the brains behind its — but today it has even bigger plans for next year: A low-powered dual-core processor, dubbed Orion, with powerful 3D and video capabilities.
The processor combines two ARM Cortex A9 cores running at 1 gigahertz to create a computing powerhouse. Samsung says it provides 5 times the 3D performance of the Hummingbird processor, enough power to record and decode 1080 high-definition video, as well as the ability to power three displays. A manufacturer could use the chip to create a device with two screens, and it would still have enough power left over to send video to a computer monitor or HDTV via its built-in HDMI connection.
Orion is built with Samsung’s 45-nanometer low-power processor technology, meaning that it won’t drain battery life even though it’s packing a healthy amount of horsepower.
Samsung isn’t the only mobile chip-maker with dual-core plans. Intel is looking to finally get a piece of the smartphone pie with , and Qualcomm is also .
The move towards dual-core processors will make mobile devices significantly more powerful than they can be if restricted to a single CPU core. The challenge for chip manufacturers will be balancing the more powerful hardware with battery life concerns.
Samsung says its Orion processor will be available to a few customers later this year, and it will started building the chips en masse in the first half of 2011.
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