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Why RISC-V support is a big deal for Qualcomm and Android
When hardware developers compete, consumers win
As smartphone users, we carry an incredible amount of computing power in our pockets every day. Even today's most affordable phones boast exponentially more processing power than, for example, the computer that helped guide Apollo 11 to the moon. And most of us can comfortably live out our smartphone-enhanced lives blissfully unaware of the advanced engineering that goes into the circuitry directly responsible for pushing the 1s and 0s that drive everything from the simplest modern electronics to AI supercomputers.
Qualcomm's next Snapdragon chip has just surfaced, but it's not for your phone
The next big step up in ARM laptops might be close
Qualcomm's smartphone chips are great, but the company is also leading the charge with ARM laptop silicon as well, powering some of the best Chromebooks and laptops. Yet, some of its offerings have been due for an upgrade. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, one of Qualcomm's higher-end chips for laptops, was released in late 2021. We're due for a successor already — rumors about the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 have been floating for months. An engineering sample might have just been tested out in the wild, potentially letting us in on some key details about the upcoming chip, as well as on some (maybe) disappointing news.
Arm tells smartphone makers to put up or shut up as it gins up cash for IPO
The SoftBank-owned company plans on turning its licensing business upside down
Arm is in a rush to make money. Its parent company, Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, has been bleeding money and couldn't convince regulators to have Nvidia buy the semiconductor design firm off of it. So, what's "Plan B?" Spin the company off in an IPO. In order to do that, Arm needs to be seen making more money than it has been. And so, the company may be considering what market observers are calling a Hail Mary.
Non-Snapdragon devices at risk from GPU exploits that have already been patched
Arm issued fixes long ago, but manufacturers have yet to pass them along
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No code is perfect, but when gaps are found that attackers can take advantage of, there's always a chance it could open the floodgates for an unauthorized third party to gain full access to your devices. Luckily, it usually never comes to that, as these vulnerabilities are patched before disaster strikes, or quickly patched if it does. This is why timely security patches are important on the best Android phones. That said, if your phone's using a Mali GPU, you might want to take extra care for the next while as plugs for some recently-disclosed security holes are still making their way across devices.
Arm lawsuit throws a wrench in Qualcomm's custom-SoC plans
The conflict stems from Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia and its custom designs
The rise of smartphones has really driven the development of mobile-first processors, and we're increasingly seeing this kind of silicon replace older architectures, like Apple's been doing with its M1 chips in laptops and desktop computers, alike. This trend has not escaped Qualcomm's attention, and last year we learned about its plans to acquire chip-designer Nuvia, tapping into the company's expertise in developing custom cores to help give it a leg up over Arm's reference designs and improve upon its own custom efforts. While that sounded all sorts of promising for Qualcomm, apparently the deal has ruffled a few feathers back at Arm, and this week the company filed a lawsuit in response to the Nuvia acquisition.
ARM's new mobile GPU will bring hardware ray tracing to smartphone gaming
The company also revealed CPU designs like the big new Cortex X3 and other lower-end GPU improvements
Not everyone is aware of the complex technical lineage involved in the parts nestled inside their smartphone, even if they know of names like Qualcomm or MediaTek and the chips these companies make. Basically all consumer Android devices use a CPU design and architecture created by a company called ARM, tweaking and customizing bits as they see fit. Today ARM announced its new CPUs and GPUs, which, over the next year or two, will trickle down into actual hardware released by chipset manufacturers and eventually end up in a phone you see online, on a store shelf, or maybe in your pocket. And by far the biggest announcement is ARM's new GPU, which supports hardware ray tracing — a feature mostly limited to recent game consoles and high-end desktop GPUs, though Samsung beat ARM to it.
Apple ain't afraid of no PACMAN as it downplays M1 chip vulnerability
It's not known if this exploit could work against other Arm chips
Apple has wrapped up a big week with WWDC 2022 done and dusted and a new MacBook Air announced with a new M2 chip. But while the company may have had confetti and bugspray on its agenda, it also downplayed a new vulnerability on its M1 chip as uncovered by MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory this week.
After a very publicized purchase bid that ultimately ended up failing, Arm is currently undergoing a post-Nvidia reorganization. We already knew that its parent company SoftBank went public with the news to receive a $1.25B break-up fee from its former prospective buyer. In the meantime, Arm plans to cut a significant amount of its workforce.
Nvidia’s bid to buy Arm has all but failed. As the company has announced in a public statement, it is terminating the previously planned transaction that would have it acquire chip behemoth Arm from SoftBank, whose chip designs power virtually all of the best smartphones and other mobile devices out there. The businesses are citing “significant regulatory challenges” that prevent them from further pursuing the deal. Instead, Arm is looking to prepare for a public offering as its CEO steps down.
Nvidia’s plan to take over Arm has been stalled by a lot of anti-competition resistance since its first announcement. Probes from European regulators, an FTC lawsuit, and even growing concerns in China ensured the buyout was dead upon arrival. After all that, Nvidia now looks set to walk away from the acquisition, according to the latest reports.
The FTC just tossed a wrench into Nvidia's plans to acquire ARM
Turns out this deal is as anti-competitive as everyone assumed
We've been hearing about Nvidia's attempts to acquire chipset maker ARM since last year, but thanks to some not-so-surprising concerns from the US government, the purchase has yet to be made official. After both companies confirmed in October that the ongoing antitrust probe was far from complete, it seemed like the deal's future was murky at best. Now we know the conclusion of that investigation: an FTC lawsuit meant to put an end to the sale.
Nvidia formally announced its purchase of ARM Limited, the designers of the ARM CPU architecture, in September of last year, subject to regulatory approval. Not only has that deal received mixed public reaction, but the events that followed have been less than smooth. Things have been stuck in limbo for over a year due to antitrust concerns in several countries, and based on what people involved in the process are saying, it doesn't look like we're moving forward anytime soon.
Qualcomm expands its chipset monopoly to Mars
The CPU inside the OnePlus One takes flight on the red planet
Anyone who's been following the ins and outs of Android for the last few years will remember the OnePlus One. The teasers and promotions were pretty obnoxious, but the phone itself was great when it launched in 2014. A big part of that was thanks to the Snapdragon 801, which made the OPO faster than any other phone in its price range. This powerful ARM chip popped up in a lot of less influential (and more expensive) devices that same year, and now it's on Mars. The Snapdragon 801 is at the heart of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which just made history as the first machine to take flight on another planet.
Microsoft Surface Pro X review, one month later: ARM laptops are the future, but Windows is stuck in the past
Here's hoping Windows on ARM gets better.
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From the new Apple M1 powered Macs to the Microsoft Surface Pro X I've been using, ARM-based computers are the new craze in mobile computing. The Surface Pro X was Microsoft's second big consumer push to get into the ARM platform and it really nails the essentials. Microsoft provides a fast and stable Windows on ARM experience, which is impressive despite the underpowered hardware on Microsoft’s latest SQ2-based machine. At the same time, some important features are missing while we wait for proper 64-bit emulation to arrive. That makes the price harder to swallow, but I've still really liked using the Surface Pro X.
Nvidia just purchased ARM for $40 billion
No immediate changes to Arm's open-licensing business are planned
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Arm Holdings is the company behind ARM processors, which power nearly every smartphone and tablet on Earth. SoftBank purchased Arm in 2016, and has been shopping around for potential buyers over the past few months. After days of speculation, it's now official that Nvidia is closing a deal to acquire ARM.
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Last week it came to light that SoftBank may be trying to sell chipset design firm ARM, and according to a new report from Bloomberg, Nvidia could be interested. Citing the usual "people with knowledge," Nvidia has apparently approached ARM to court a deal with the Cambridge company.
SoftBank could sell or spin off Arm way sooner than it planned
The decision could lead to a massive paradigm shift
SoftBank is reportedly assessing spin-off options for its semiconductor firm, Arm Holdings. The Wall Street Journal reports from its sources that those options include having an initial public offering or a sale. The Japanese tech conglomerate picked up Arm back in 2016 for $32 billion and currently shares some ownership with investors in the SoftBank Vision Fund.
Arm reveals new custom CPU program and the Cortex-A78 rumored to be in Google's upcoming chip
Among a whole pile of new CPU, GPU, and NPU designs
Today, Arm has revealed a whole new lineup of chip component designs that we can look forward to landing in upcoming SoCs from companies like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and even Google itself — if prior leaks are true. This new generation of designs includes the Cortex-A78 CPU, Mali-G78 and G68 GPU, Ethos-N78 NPU, and a new Cortex-X1 which the company bills as "the most powerful Cortex CPU" and the result of a whole new custom CPU program it's offering.
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Late last week, the Statesman reported that Samsung is shutting down its CPU design division at one of its Austin R&D facilities, laying off 290 employees. This corroborates month-old leaks that the company was downsizing its CPU design branch, responsible for Samsung's in-house Exynos series chipsets.
Today ARM has announced four new IP designs for the mainstream market that promise to improve users' experience in several ways: faster and more responsive smart assistants, higher performance and longer-lasting mobile gaming, and display technology in various sizes with sharper visuals and better performance.