Qualcomm Producing Quad-Core S4 for New Laptop Class
Qualcomm plans to take on Intel's Ultrabook and AMD's "Ultra Thin" with a new quad-core S4 chip packed into a new notebook form factor.
IDG News Service reports that Qualcomm is currently working on a quad-core version of its S4 SoC to be used in a new Windows 8 laptop form factor rivaling Intel's Ultrabook. This new design is expected to be thinner and lighter than Apple's MacBook Air and Intel's Ultrabook, and sport high-resolution screens, longer battery life, always-on connectivity and perhaps even 3D graphics.
"We think much lighter than what Intel calls an ultrabook," said Rob Chandhok, senior vice president at Qualcomm, adding that the lines between high-end smartphones and laptops have started to blur.
Qualcomm typically supplies its Snapdragon SoC for smartphones, but the company is looking to expand out into the PC sector. It has already shipped a few prototype Windows 8-based PCs with Snapdragon chips to developers, but with Intel's mega-push into the mobile PC sector, Qualcomm wants to provide an alternative with built-in 4G support and strong multimedia qualities.
Chandhok didn't provide any specifics about the new form factor. Did one specific party design the spec list (as Intel did), was it Qualcomm's idea, or was it a mutually agreed design across numerous manufacturers? It could possibly be the latter not wanting to rely solely on Intel by offering something similar if not superior. As for the S4 inside, it will be manufactured with a 28nm process for improved power efficiency and performance over earlier Snapdragon chips.
Qualcomm will join Nvidia and Texas Instruments in the Windows 8 race, but hopes to stand out by developing software that plays to Snapdragon's unique multimedia and cellular connectivity features. The company is even considering a 64-bit version of its SoC given Windows 8 will be 64-bit, but Chandhok wouldn't say when that would be released. 64-bit support will automatically be baked right into future ARM-based chips thanks to the upcoming ARMv8 architecture.
The new Ultrabook rival is expected to be released later this year when the second wave of Intel's Ultrabooks begin to splash onto the market. It will also compete against AMD's "Ultra Thin" form factor like the upcoming Asus U82U which sports the E-450 APU housing two Bobcat cores at 1.65 GHz and Radeon HD 6320 graphics.
Not sure if more cores is the answer when something like the Brazos-T rolls in with USB3, SATA 6Gb/s, Radeon HD graphics, etc.
It will be interesting to see how the MS 'soft GPU driver' plays with ARM.
The good news is that MS claims an ARM “BSOD” will have a friendlier look.
You do realize this is ULTRAPORTABLE market & not just laptop right?
uhh... Better check again on that one. No, they have not.
There is nothing I do on my smartphone currently that I have ever done on any of my laptops. Smartphones have enabled us to do some things almost anywhere that weren't possible before. However, I have never carried a laptop around with me to do any of those same tasks before I owned a smart phone.
I also hope consumers aren't tricked into buying computers that have this ARM chip, wondering why all their X86 software won't work.
You are a small minority then. Many people now check email, shop and do limited surfing on their phones allowing them to leave their laptop behind for, say, the coffee shop.
Not true we already have quad core 1.4GHz versions of the chip. Just needs to be beefed up a little in speed. The processors are really tiny too and they don't even require heat sinks. There is plenty of headroom. You could literally fit 4 quad core kraits in the same space as a sandy bridge cpu.
You cant play crysis though...
Sorry, not true. Phoronix's benchmarks of Ubuntu on ATOM already show on-par+ performance against the Atom N270 with the TI OMAP4 without even getting into Krait.
"Overall, these results from running the ARM version of Ubuntu 12.04 are very hopeful for the future of ARM Linux on ARM devices and the future of ARM hardware itself. The dual-core Cortex-A9 1.2GHz on the TI OMAP4460 with the PandaBoard ES is mostly comparable to the first-generation Intel Atom N270 in terms of raw performance. On the power consumption front, ARM wins. "
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_1204_armfeb&num=1
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=compulab_trimslice&num=1
You're right, and this is a HUGE problem. Windows on ARM is going to be a tablet-like platform capable of running Metro widgets/apps only. Meanwhile, there exist full desktop ARM ports of Linux today you could place on one of these and get a regular Windows 7-style UI via the KDE desktop and run all of your favorite desktop programs from Firefox to VLC to GIMP, Gnucash, LibreOffice, Dosbox, XBMC, octave, anything java-based, etc. I'd love an ARM laptop but I don't want to run a tablet interface/OS on it. The only option right now are the ASUS Transformer models and their forthcoming Krait-based upgrades that are tablets with detachable keyboards.
very true