APU

Intel Corp. on Monday quietly added numerous microprocessors that belong to the so-called “Haswell Refresh” family into the price-list. The addition of certain chips into the list indicates that the world’s largest chipmaker has begun to sell and ship them to customers. At present the lineup of “HSR” chips lacks …

In a bid to boost its share on the market of media tablets, Intel Corp. has aggressively lowered the price on some of its system-on-chips designed for media tablets. While the chips are most probably outdated, it looks like Intel is extremely serious about winning designs in the tablet space, …

The gaming and enthusiast audiences love their big, quick, expensive powerhouse machines – there's no denying that. But the reality is that many users – about 38% of the market, in fact – in a wide span of geographical regions simply cannot afford or justify the latest-and-greatest in both CPU …

While it was pretty obvious that Intel Corp. plans to start selling its new code-named “Haswell Refresh” central processing units sometimes in April or May, the actual launch date was not completely clear. Apparently, that will happen in exactly one month time. Intel plans to start selling its improved Core …

One of the more surprising things about the way the world has changed since the advent of the network and tablet PC revolutions, is the way that desktops are holding their own. Sure, it's more of a gentle decline that the rampant growth we experienced in the past, but it …

GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, seems to be the leading candidate that can get IBM Corp.’s chip manufacturing operations, a media report claims. The deal has not been finalised yet and the talks are ongoing, but chances are rather high that Abu Dhabi-backed GlobalFoundries will get …

With the introduction of Google Android Wear operating system, hardware makers developing ultra-low-power chipsets started to unveil their platforms for wearable devices, such as smart-watches or smart-eyewear. Imagination Technologies, a leading designer of general purpose processing cores as well as multimedia and graphics processing engines, said this week that it …

Intel Corp. this week revealed the name of its new-generation code-named Braswell system-on-chip that will power upcoming value notebooks and desktops. The new chip will be made using a leading-edge process technology and will combine relatively high performance, small footprint, low power consumption and low cost. Intel did not reveal …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced plans to slightly boost its purchase commitment from GlobalFoundries by around $50 million this year compared to last year. As part of the agreement, the contract maker of chips will manufacture not only its traditional central processing units (CPUs) and accelerated processing units (APUs) …

Although Qualcomm took part in the announcement of Microsoft Corp.’s DirectX 12 application programming interface, the company’s plans regarding support of the new API were not completely clear. Last week an executive of Qualcomm confirmed that the future Adreno graphics cores will fully support DirectX 12. The current Snapdragon 800 …

Intel Corp. and Altera this week said they would extend their collaboration to the development of multi-die devices that leverage Intel's world-class package and assembly capabilities. The multi-die devices will feature Altera's Stratix 10 FPGAs and SoCs made using 14nm process technology as well as other components. This will allow …

From time to time large PC makers unveil hardware that chip companies like Advanced Micro Devices would rather not discuss with the general public. Recently it turned out that some of the desktops sold by Hewlett-Packard carry a strange microprocessor called AMD FX-670K, which does not seem to be exactly …

Early this month Advanced Micro Devices introduced its new low-cost desktop platform based on Kabini chip design. The new AM1 platform comprises microprocessors carrying Athlon and Sempron brands with integrated graphics cores as well as new mainboards with FS1b sockets previously only used for mobile applications. What AMD did not …

Early last year Intel Corp. demonstrated the world’s first fully-patterned 450mm wafers and in mid-2013 started to construct D1X module 2 fab, which is supposed to act as a primary development facility for virtually all of Intel’s 450mm initiatives. It was expected that commercial production of chips on 450mm wafers …

Advanced Micro Devices and OCZ Storage Solutions, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp., on Monday said that they would showcase personal computers powered by AMD hardware and Vector 150 series solid state drives at the Game Developers Conference later this week. The systems will illustrate how developers can enhance productivity and …

For years Intel Corp. has been focused to deliver the best possible chips for various mobile devices, including notebooks and tablets, whereas solutions for desktops computers were put on the back-burner. This happened for many reasons because of the lack of competition on the desktop market as well as because …

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday announced a new breed of accelerated processing units (APUs) featuring new-generation low-power Jaguar x86 cores that will be available in pin-grid array (PGA) packaging and will be compatible with FS1b sockets (commercially known as AM1). The new chips will be branded as Athlon and Sempron. …

A representative for Imagination Technologies, a leading developer of mobile graphics processing technologies, said that the company was looking forward to increase performance of its solutions so substantially that to be able to address fully-fledged personal computers. Imagination Technologies once sold its Kyro graphics processing units for desktop PCs. Although …

It was a bit disappointing that Samsung Electronics did not reveal its 64-bit application processors for mobile devices at the Mobile World Congress 2014 under its Exynos Infinity initiative. Nonetheless, the company vows that it will introduce its first ARMv8-compatible chips later this year. Samsung’s arch-rival Apple has been selling …

MediaTek has announced its first system-on-chip for smartphones that features ARMv8-compatible 64-bit general-purpose cores, advanced graphics engine as well as 4G/LTE connectivity. The MT6752 is pin compatible with the previously announced quad-core MT6732 and can be installed into already developed devices. MediaTek MT6752 integrates eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores with up to …

Although Samsung Electronics was expected to unveil its first 64-bit ARMv8-compatible application processors at the Mobile World Congress 2014, so far the firm has only introduced two new Exynos 5-series system-on-chips. The processors offer increased performance amid optimized power consumption and up-to-date feature-set. The new high-end Exynos Octa 5422 is …

Qualcomm this week introduced its new performance-mainstream Snapdragon 600-series system-on-chips for smartphones and tablets. The new SoCs feature ARMv8 64-bit processing technology, 4G/LTE connectivity as well as new-generation Adreno graphics. The new chips will be used inside devices due late this year. Qualcomm Snapdragon 610, 615 application processors integrate four …

At the Mobile World Congress 2014 next week Samsung Electronics plans to reveal its all-new system-on-chip for smartphones and tablets called Exynos Infinity. The new application processor will likely power Samsung’s next flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S5 – which will also be launched at the MWC 2014. Samsung confirmed …

IBM has reportedly started to search for a buyer for its semiconductor manufacturing business. While the move itself seems like a milestone for the whole industry, the potential transaction will not have a huge impact on the market since IBM is not a leading maker of chips. Moreover, chips today …

Sony Corp. this week acquired a semiconductor manufacturing facility from Renesas Electronics which, among other things, makes Nintendo “Latte” graphics processing unit with 32MB eDRAM cache that is used inside Nintendo Wii U game console. While there are long-term supply agreements in place, over time Nintendo may lose the supply …

Foxconn Group, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, is set to take over Socle Technology, a developer of system-on-chip solutions. The buyout will bring additional capabilities to the holding also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry and will help it to gain more customers and diversify its business. Socle …

Gigabyte Technology has introduced its first ultra-small form-factor personal computer designed specifically for gaming. The novelty boasts with a quad-core accelerated processing unit (APU), discrete graphics processing unit, optional solid-state drive and a hard disk drive as well as other necessary hardware. Gigabyte Brix Gaming ultra-small form-factor PC is powered …

Advanced Micro Devices is confident that its upcoming microprocessors code-named “Beema” and “Mullins” designed for low-power laptops and tablets, respectively, will outperform Intel Corp.’s existing Atom system-on-chips that belong to the code-named “Bay Trail” platform. AMD claims that its upcoming “Beema” and “Mullins” accelerated processing units for various low-power devices …

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter as well as for the while fiscal year 2013. Thanks to sales of chips for video game consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4, the company managed to return to profitability and boost its …

With its Q4 Earning Call scheduled for 10:30pm tomorrow night, there is a lot of speculation about what AMD might be announcing in terms of revenue, profit and outlook. KitGuru puts its ear to the ground and listens for the strongest rumblings. In the run up to an earnings call, …