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  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC FairCharbax
    Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order. They al
     

Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC Fair

Od: Charbax
18. Říjen 2023 v 17:19

Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order.

They also do Rockchip CPU based products, the interviewee reveals that it is specifically designed for this product. They mention future releases, with plans for Gole2, Gole3, and Gole4 models, drawing a comparison to the iPhone’s naming convention.

Kelly also discusses their history of manufacturing PC sticks with gigabit Ethernet and numerous USB ports for over five years. They emphasize the price difference between using the RK3588 and Intel processors, stating that the former is slightly more expensive, about $10 USD per unit. Potential buyers are encouraged to contact them directly for the best deals.

When asked if they are the best factory for such products, the interviewee suggests testing their samples to determine their quality. They claim to have sold over a million pieces in the last seven years, with a particular focus on the new product introduced within the past two years.

Regarding the Mini PC’s stability, the interviewee assures viewers of its reliability and performance, emphasizing its fanless and compact design. They also showcase a Mini PC without a display, highlighting its affordability.

The interview moves on to other products, including waterproof and drop-proof Rock tablet PCs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes, with both Windows and Android OS options. The interviewee notes the stable RK 3399 CPU, and introduces the RK 3588 as the new and versatile processor, suitable for Mini PCs.

The video briefly features a live show of a Mini PC with an RK 3558 CPU, followed by an all-in-one PC with various ports, enabling connections to different devices. The interviewee also mentions a Russian customer’s substantial purchase of their products.

They conclude the interview by discussing a unique industrial tablet and the increasing popularity of such products at their https://www.golerugged.com despite economic challenges in some regions The interviewee acknowledges that the fanless design can cause some heat but assures viewers that it does not affect the device’s functionality. The company remains hopeful for continued growth in orders and mentions that their Shenzhen-based factory is constantly busy, with a dynamic R&D team consistently generating new ideas to market.

Distributors can contact Kelly at Gole here:
kelly@golechina.com
+8613427901718

Filmed at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair using my Panasonic G9 (I would like to update to the G9ii) with 12-60mm Leica https://amzn.to/3ZXlPDQ and the Saramonic Blink500 ProX B2R https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvi1DeQspd43hydxLddBjU8Z

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588Charbax
    Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing A
     

Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588

Od: Charbax
10. Červen 2023 v 17:17

Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing ARM-based mini PCs.

Now, you might be wondering, what exactly is Edge Computing? Well, let me shed some light on this transformative concept. Edge Computing refers to the practice of performing computation and data processing at or near the source of data generation, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers to do that work. By bringing computing power closer to the data source, Edge Computing enables faster processing, reduced latency, enhanced security, and greater autonomy in various applications. And that’s precisely what Geniatech’s new mini PCs are designed to deliver!

Let’s kick off the introduction with our first standout product, the Geniatech Case 3566. This sleek and compact mini PC boasts exceptional input and output capabilities, making it a perfect fit for Edge Computing use cases. It supports both Linux and Android operating systems, offering incredible versatility for a wide range of IoT projects. Equipped with a robust AI capability, the Case 3566 is ready to tackle complex tasks with ease.

Moving on, they have their remarkable space-saving Edge Computing box based on the RK 1126 chipset. This innovative device features not just one, but two Ethernet ports—an invaluable asset for various project requirements. Additionally, it offers USB 3 connectivity, further expanding its connectivity options. Designed with a pure Linux environment, it includes a powerful 4K encoder, allowing for seamless encoding and decoding operations. Their extensive expertise in encoding and decoding ensures optimal utilization of this feature, enabling smooth IP input and HDMI output functionality.

But wait, there’s more! Allow them to introduce their latest gem—the result of their collaboration with Rock Chip and their cutting-edge Rockchip 3588 chipset. This powerhouse mini PC sets new benchmarks in performance and capability. With two HDMI outputs capable of supporting up to 8K resolution, an HDMI input, a DP port, USB Type-C connectivity, and GPIO support, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Its impressive decoding and encoding capabilities bring unparalleled versatility, making it an indispensable asset for demanding applications. By pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally limited to x86 SOC devices, Geniatech’s new offering opens up exciting possibilities and expands the horizons of Edge Computing.

He is delighted to share that their customers have responded overwhelmingly positively to these new products. The feedback they have received thus far has been incredibly encouraging, validating their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

While they regret not being able to delve deeper into the features and functionalities of these remarkable mini PCs today, he promise to keep you updated with comprehensive insights in the near future. The world of Edge Computing is rapidly evolving, and Geniatech remains at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Thank you for joining us on this brief journey into the world of Geniatech’s Edge Computing solutions. Stay tuned for more updates, detailed reviews, and demonstrations as they continue to shape the future of computing with their groundbreaking products.

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoTCharbax
    Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs. One of the standout features of their product lineup is
     

Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoT

Od: Charbax
5. Červen 2023 v 09:17

Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs.

One of the standout features of their product lineup is the ARM board, which serves as the driving force behind their displays. By utilizing Rockchip and NXP as their main solutions, they ensure optimal performance and functionality. The host proudly presents a series of displays, demonstrating their capabilities and versatility.

Among the showcased displays is an all-in-one machine, which boasts two unique functions. Firstly, it serves as an all-in-one solution, providing an immersive user experience. Additionally, it features touch-plus functionality, allowing users to interact with the display effortlessly. The host explains that one of the highlights of this display is its Corona feature, eliminating the need for touch input. Instead, a sensor located inside the display accurately detects user actions. This becomes particularly useful during situations like the ongoing pandemic, where maintaining cleanliness and avoiding contact are crucial.

Moving on, the host presents more display options, emphasizing that Shenzhen AV Display doesn’t just sell individual components; they provide complete solutions. Each display is carefully designed and accompanied by a touch interface, PCB, and even their own custom-designed main board.

The video continues to explore their range of products, with the host introducing another impressive solution powered by Rockchip. This particular display features the Android operating system and is tailored for IoT applications. The host also showcases their smart display module, which comes in a compact five-inch size. It’s fascinating to see how Shenzhen AV Display offers various sizes and customization options to meet the specific requirements of their clients.

To add a touch of uniqueness, the host unveils displays with special shapes, including pottery-type and landscape-type designs. These unconventional displays not only capture attention but also provide immersive visual experiences.

During the conversation, the host reveals that Shenzhen AV Display has been attending Display Week for several years, establishing strong partnerships with renowned panel manufacturers such as BOE, Innolux. This collaboration ensures that they have access to high-quality panels, guaranteeing superior performance and reliability in their products.

Thank you for joining us on this captivating exploration of display technology with Shenzhen AV Display. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos. Stay tuned for the latest updates and advancements in the world of display!

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014Vegator
    Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsu
     

Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014

Od: Vegator
7. Květen 2015 v 14:22
Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsung LSI. The report mentions that HiSilicon, Intel and MediaTek had bigger growth than Qualcomm in 2014.

Qualcomm's strength based on Snapdragon 800 series wins in higher-tier phones


According to the report, Qualcomm's leadership was largely based on design wins for its Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 805 SoCs in the higher-tier market. Examples of this include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3. However, as I have previously reported Samsung has increased its use of in-house application processors starting from the second half of 2014, culminating in the exclusive use of Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 in 2015, putting pressure on Qualcomm.

Baseband share in 2014


Strategy Analytics has also published a report with details about baseband (modem) market share in smartphones. According to the report, LTE (4G) basebands accounted for 50% of cellular baseband share in 2014, and the figure is likely to increase significantly in 2015. Qualcomm led in LTE basebands, but HiSilicon, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek and Samsung also increased LTE baseband shipments.

In terms of revenues in the overall baseband market, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Speadtrum, Marvell and Intel had the top positions in 2104. Qualcomm had 66% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 17% and Speadtrum with 5% sare. Given the product lines of the respective companies in 2014, Qualcomm's revenues are based on both integrated SoC and separate modems, while Intel's sales were mostly separate modem chips, while the other players mostly shipped a mix of integrated SoCs and modem chips.

Comparison with 2013


Comparing with the reports that Strategy Analytics issued for 2013, Qualcomm saws it baseband revenue share remain relatively stable at 66% compared to 64% in 2013. MediaTek saw its AP market share increase from 10% in 2013 to 14% in 2014, and its baseband share increased.

Tablet processor market in 2014


According to another report issued by Strategy Analytics, the market for tablet processors grew 18% in 2014 to $4.2 billion. The top-five revenue share positions were occupied by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung LSI. Apple led with 27% share (which must be an estimate), followed by Intel with 17% and Qualcomm with 16% share.

Notable is the absence among the top five of traditional leaders in the Chinese white-box market such as Rockchip and Allwinner. This most likely reflects in increase in brand name tablet shipments at the expense of the white-box tablet market, the low selling prices of white-box tablet processor and the encroachment of MediaTek and Intel into that segment.

Source: Strategy Analytics (Smartphone AP market share), Strategy Analytics (cellular baseband market share), Strategy Analytics (Tablet processor market share)
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • China tablet processor market declines in Q1Vegator
    According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for th
     

China tablet processor market declines in Q1

Od: Vegator
6. Březen 2015 v 10:08
According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for the decline in shipments.

MediaTek leads Chinese tablet market in Q1 2015


Based on information published by DigiTimes Research, MediaTek, Rockchip, Allwinner and Intel were the top four providers of tablet processors in China, in that order, in Q4 2014. For Q1 2015, MediaTek is estimated to expand it market share by about 1% to reach 28.5%, although absolute shipments will decline significantly due to the overall market decline.

Rockchip, who was the market share leader for most of 2014, is estimated to see its market share remain stable in Q1 2015, registering a 0.6% increase according to DigiTimes Research, who did not supply a market share figure for Rockchip, although it is probably in the region of 25%. DigiTimes mentioned that Rockchip's new chips launched at the end of 2014 (which includes the Cortex-A7-based RK3126 and RK3128) have not yet reached strong shipments.

Meanwhile, Allwinner continues the trend of a steady decline a market share, being expected to have a share of 15.6% compared to 17.6% in Q4 2014. This allows it to be passed by Intel in terms of market share, with Intel's market share estimated to rise from 15% to 16.3% in Q1 2015.

Intel's global market share has increased and is significant, especially revenue share


It should be noted that in terms of global market share, Intel has a stronger position than what would be inferred just from the Chinese market due to a strong position at brand-name tablet manufacturers outside of China, such as Asus and Acer. The other chip players in the Chinese tablet processor market, especially Rockchip and Allwinner, have a weak position outside of China. Due to the higher-end nature of Intel's product mix, Intel also has a higher revenue share, whereas the sales of companies such as Allwinner are mostly concentrated in low-end processors. It has been reported that Intel is abandoning its "contra-revenue" strategy of subsidizing tablet processor sales, which it probably can afford to do because its chip solutions are fairly competitive on their own.

Global brand names gain share, use different chip suppliers


In the global tablet marker, brand name manufacturers are gaining share and dominate the dollar value of the market, also for semiconductor content. Apple and Samsung, who lead the global tablet market, use a lot of in-house chip solutions (100% in the case of Apple). Samsung also uses suppliers like Qualcomm and Marvell, who otherwise do not have a strong position in the Chinese tablet market.

MediaTek used to have strong market share among Taiwanese tablet manufacturers such as Asus and Acer. However, its market share their seems to have been eroded significantly by strong adoption of Intel's Atom SoCs at these manufacturers (who have strong ties with Intel through PC manufacturing).

Popular tablet SoCs as of Q1 2015


By analyzing the tablet models offered on Chinese e-commerce portals, one can get some idea of what SoCs are currently used the most in tablets from China. I took a look at the tablet offerings on Banggood.com.

Rockchip's RK3188 (which probably means the RK3188T variant in most cases) is still widely used. Originally a mid-range performance segment SoC, there are indications that Rockchip built a significant inventory of this SoC (which is not particularly cheap in terms of manufactuing cost) last year, and the chip has been used in cheaper models as well. Rockchip's RK3126, which is more cost-effective than RK3188, is slowly starting to appear in new tablet models.

Meanwhile, Rockchip's high-end RK3288 is used in several models from Pipo, Teclast and FNF, and these seem to be reasonably popular for a high-end product. I have some concerns about power consumption and battery life regarding these products due to the processor cores used in the SoC.

The most popular MediaTek chips used in tablets are SoCs with 3G connectivity such as the low-end dual-core MT8312 and quad-core MT8382 (the equivalent of the MT6572 and MT6582 smartphone SoCs), as well as the more performance oriented octa-core MT6592/MT8392, which provides good performance and battery-life and has moved down to lower-priced tablet models. Additionally, the new 64-bit MT8752 with 4G (equivalent to the MT6752 smartphone SoC) is starting to appear in new models (Cube, Teclast). For WiFi-only tablets, the MT8127 (which has a relatively powerful GPU for a cheap SoC) is used in some low-to-mid-range tablets.

Allwinner's A31s, which was released in 2013 but perhaps its last successful product introduction, appears to be still used for production. Low-end tablets are available with the A23 and A33 SoCs, although the A33 does not seem to have been very successful and has been affected by weakness in the low-end segment of the tablet market.

Allwinner's new octa-core A83T has started to appear in a few new models, and is probably replacing the high-end A80 Octa which is likely to have had low profit margins.

Finally, Intel's Z3735F, Z3735G and Z3736F Atom SoCs are widely used in tablets, although most prominently in higher-prices models that come equipped with Microsoft Windows.

Update (15 March): 3G smartphone chip inventory unloaded onto Chinese tablet market


In an article published on 13 March 2015, DigiTimes Research reported that due to a high inventory level of 3G smartphone solutions in China, such chips will be unloaded onto the Chinese tablet market by players such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum.

3G-enabled chip solutions for tablets are usually very similar to similar solutions for smartphones. For example, MediaTek's smartphone solutions have commonly been used in tablets, while MediaTek's official 3G-enabled tablet solutions most likely consist of a chip virtually identical to the smartphone version, with the main difference being a different model number (e.g. MT6582 vs MT8382). That MediaTek would target any excess inventory of 3G smartphone chipsets at the tablet market is not surprising.

However, I am little sceptical about the volume that may be involved. The Chinese tablet market is clearly contracting in the near term, and the volumes in the tablet market are considerably smaller than the smartphone market, even the declining 3G part of the smartphone SoC market. To put things into perspective, MediaTek's quarterly 3G smartphone chip shipments were on the order of 70 million in Q4 2014, while its 3G tablet chip shipments were probably in the range of 5 to 10 million.

The article also mentions Qualcomm, which in the past has not been a major player in the Chinese white-box tablet market. It mentions rumours that Qualcomm may form a partnership with Allwinner (which has been consistently losing market share) to penetrate the tablet market in China. The article also states that while Intel has introduced 3G tablet solutions, Intel's solutions are unlikely to be widely adopted until Intel introduces the 4G version of its Atom x3 (formerly SoFIA) platform.

Sources: DigiTimes (Q1 2015 China tablet AP market article)DigiTimes Research (smartphone chips inventory unloaded to tablet market)

Updated 15 March 2015.
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • New mobile SoCs announced at MWCVegator
    At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced. MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets. The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, accord
     

New mobile SoCs announced at MWC

Od: Vegator
2. Březen 2015 v 11:41
At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced.

MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones


MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets.

The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, according to MediaTek. Features include an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU with an unspecified number of cores. ARM's Mali-T720 GPU is positioned at a significantly lower performance bracket than the Mali-T760 used in the MT6752, positioning the MT6753 below the MT6752 in terms of cost and performance.

The MT6753 is described as being compatible with the previously announced MT6735 for entry-level smartphones. The MT6735 has four Cortex-A53 cores instead of eight but otherwise has a similar configuration with a Mali T720 GPU.

High-performance MT8173 tablet SoC uses small big.LITTLE clusters with Cortex-A72


The MT8173 is a high-performance tablet processor (without integrated modem) that utilizes ARM's new Cortex-A72 core in a big.LITTLE configuration. By using only two Cortex-A72 cores (clocked up to 2.4 GHz) as well as two Cortex-A53 cores, the chip has a lower cost than would be the case with the four-by-four core configuration commonly used for big.LITTLE designs, while still providing good performance.

The Cortex-A72 core, the successor of Cortex-A57, appears to be seeing quick adoption as Qualcomm has already announced performance-segment smartphone SoCs (Snapdragon 618 and 620) featuring the core.

MediaTek has previously used a similar two-by-two big.LITTLE configuration in its MT8135(V) tablet SoC, which has two Cortex-A15 cores and Cortex-A7 cores. This chip was used in Amazon tablets but otherwise did not see much adoption.

Other features include a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, which is part of Imagination's Series 6XT family, with higher performance and efficiency than the G6200 GPU used in chips such as the MT8135 and MT6595.

Other tablet SoCs not yet publicly announced by MediaTek


Meanwhile, tablet product announcements by Lenovo also refer to the MT8161 and MT8165 SoCs, which have not been announced. From the specifications of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 which is using it, the MT8161 appears to be a tablet SoC without modem with quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running up to 1.3 GHz, while the MT8165 (used in the Tab 2 A10) is a similar SoC with the CPU running up to 1.5 GHz. The 4G version of the Lenovo tablets come equipped with the MT8735 (Tab 2 A8) and MT8732 (Tab 2 A10). These chips are the tablet versions of the MT6735 and MT6732 smartphone SoCs.

MT6795 renamed to Helio X10


In a closed-door presentation at MWC, MediaTek also presented the Helio X10 smartphone SoC, featuring a 64-bit octa-core CPU up to 2.2 GHz, 120 Hz display refresh rate and H.265 video encode up to 4K2K @ 30 fps. A photograph of a slide taken at the presentation strongly suggests that Helio X10 is nothing other than the delayed MT6795 SoC, whose specifications closely match. Devices using this chip are likely to have already started production. MediaTek also talked about the Helio P series, a high-performance platform, which will make its way into devices before the end of the year.

Qualcomm gives preview of next-generation Snapdragon 820 SoC


In a press release, Qualcomm has given a preview of the Snapdragon 820, which utilizes Qualcomm's new custom 64-bit CPU architecture for mobile devices called Kryo. The chip will start sampling in the second half of 2015 according to Qualcomm, with devices becoming available in 2016. It will be manufactured on a next-generation FinFET process (which probably means TSMC's 16FF+, but Samsung cannot be excluded). In the press release, Qualcomm does not mention whether the chip will conform to ARM's ARMv8 instruction set architecture.

In conjuction with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm also announced the Zeroth hardware/software platform focusing on device intelligence features including video and audio recognition techniques (such as visual object and face recognition).

Intel introduces tablet and smartphone SoCs with integrated modem


Intel has finally introduced SoCs with an integrated cellular modem in its Atom system-on-a-chip product line. The former SoFIA platform has been renamed to Atom X3 and features multi-core 64-bit Atom processors with integrated 3G or 4G LTE modem technology. The following products are available:
  • Atom X3-C3130, which has dual-core Atom CPU running up to 1.0 GHz and integrates a 3G modem. It features Mali-400 MP2 GPU. Maximum display resolution is 1280x800. It appears to be in the same market segment as MediaTek's previous-generation 3G SoCs such as MT6572 and MT6582 and other SoCs that are already on the market.
  • Atom X3-C3230RK, which was developed by Intel partner Rockchip following the agreement announced last year. It has quad-core Atom CPU, integrates a 3G modem and features a Mali-450 MP4 GPU.
  • Atom X3-C3440, a quad-core Atom CPU platform that integrates a Cat 6 LTE 4G modem. It has an Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. This product appears to be one that is most likely to succeed in the market.
All feature a 32-bit memory interface with support for LPDDR2 (and DDR3/DDR3L with the X3-C3230RK). These are the first Intel products that have features (such as the integrated modem) that make them specifically suitable for the smartphone market. They also target cellular-enabled tablets.

The 3G products are a little behind the times, and their success is uncertain. It will be interesting observe whether Rockchip was able to develop the X3-C3230RK in time (one would expect Intel to have greater expertise/resources so that the other products will appear on the market first).

One notable fact is that these are among the first SoCs to integrate an ARM GPU core with a non-ARM CPU.

Intel announces first 14 nm Atom SoCs for tablets and all-in-ones


Intel also rolled out its first 14 nm Atom SoCs, the Atom x5 and x7 processor series (formely codenamed Cherry Trail) with  Intel Gen 8 graphics, targeting tablets and small screen all-in-ones.

Intel has also introduced a new stand-alone modem chip, XMM 7360, which support LTE Cat 10 and download speeds up to 450 Mbps, as well as wireless connnectivity products (including WiFi/Bluetooth, GNSS/GPS and NFC solutions).

Sources: MediaTek (MT6753 announcement), MediaTek (MT8173 announcement), Qualcomm (Snapdragon 820/Zeroth platform preview), Intel (MWC announcements), Intel Atom x3 Processor Series Brief
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC marketVegator
    Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015. Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not se
     

Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC market

Od: Vegator
17. Únor 2015 v 08:46
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015.

Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer


In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not selected the Snapdragon 810 processor for an upcoming flagship product. This is widely believed to refer to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. In fact the trend of increasing use of in-house Exynos processors already started last year, as models such as Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Note 4 already saw increasing use of Samsung's own Exynos processors, including modem technology in some cases.

Qualcomm also mentions a share shift among major OEMs that will result in relatively more modem chips as opposed to SoCs (clearly referring to Apple, which only uses Qualcom's modem chips), as well as heightened competition in China. Recently, Qualcomm also recently announced a resolution of the anti-trust investigation by authorities in China, which amounts to a reduction in the patent royalty rate it charges to customers in China.

Qualcomm's total market share currently still strong


At the moment, Qualcomm's market share for smartphone SoCs is still strong as shown by unit shipments and revenues for Q4 2014 and Qualcomm's estimates for Q1 2015, although its product mix has shifted to lower-end products. In comparison to competitor MediaTek, Qualcomm is doing much better in terms of maintaining or growing unit shipments (with Qualcomm in fact seeing a 14% increase in unit shipments in Q4 2014), suggesting that Qualcomm is taking market share from MediaTek as products such as Snapdragon 410 and the new Snapdragon 210 take over large parts of the low-end cost-sensitive market (especially in China) where MediaTek's 3G solutions where previously dominant.

MediaTek losing market share despite successful new products


Meanwhile, although MediaTek has seen widespread adoption of its new MT6752 and MT6732 SoCs with integrated LTE modem for the cost-sensitive mid-range market, the company saw lower unit shipments in Q4 2014 and predicts a 10 to 18% revenue decline for Q1 2015, suggesting its smartphone SoC shipments are under pressure. Given the fact that the new 4G chips have higher selling prices than existing 3G chips, the revenue decline probably reflects a relatively dramatic decline in shipments of existing 3G solutions, with resulting loss of total market share, although price reductions may also play a role. MediaTek has been affected especially by the late introduction of integrated 4G solutions and the lack of a low-end 4G solution and to a lesser extend the delayed introduction of the high-end MT6795.

Captive mobile SoC use becoming more important


Within the total smartphone SoC market (and also in the tablet maket), captive supply (whereby a smartphone manufacturer uses its own SoCs in its smartphone models) is becoming more important, which affects the market opportunity for companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. I already mentioned Samsung's increasing use of Exynos processors, which has a significant impact as Samsung is one of the two largest smartphone manufacturers. A major Chinese manufacturr, Huawei, is also increasingly using SoCs from its own HiSilicon division, also extending to lower end models. Apple's gains in market share also has an effect (especially on the high-end market) since it uses proprietary SoCs.

In the tablet market, the low-end and Chinese white-box market is seeing a sharp reduction in shipments in Q1 2015, with market share shifting to brand names (where captive solutions are more important, such as at Samsung) as total shipments are estimated to decline dramatically. This greatly affects traditional players in the tablet SoC market such as Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek. Intel's strategy of subsidizing tablet SoCs has also had an impact. According to DigiTimes, the total tablet market will decline 30% sequentially in Q1 2015, with estimates of a decline of 12% for the whole year 2015.


Sources: DigiTimes (tablet market article), DigiTimes (MediaTek results), Qualcomm, MediaTek

  • ✇Techdirt
  • Tennessee’s New Quasi-Book Ban Law Results In School Shutting Down Library Right Before Classes ResumeTim Cushing
    Like far too many legislators in far too many states, Tennessee’s lawmakers have jumped on the book banning bandwagon. For years, public libraries and school libraries were stocked at the discretion of librarians and largely operated without a lot of interference from state governments. While attempts to ban certain books happened now and then, there was never a concerted effort to remove wide swaths of literature from public library shelves. Now, it’s just the sort of thing that happens multipl
     

Tennessee’s New Quasi-Book Ban Law Results In School Shutting Down Library Right Before Classes Resume

21. Srpen 2024 v 01:37

Like far too many legislators in far too many states, Tennessee’s lawmakers have jumped on the book banning bandwagon. For years, public libraries and school libraries were stocked at the discretion of librarians and largely operated without a lot of interference from state governments. While attempts to ban certain books happened now and then, there was never a concerted effort to remove wide swaths of literature from public library shelves.

Now, it’s just the sort of thing that happens multiple times on a daily basis. And the number of book challenges and book ban attempts continue to increase exponentially as idiots push their personal agendas using the government’s power to control what content the public has access to.

The law passed by the state legislature doesn’t actually ban books from school libraries. But no matter what the text says, that’s obviously the end goal. (h/t BookRiot)

Passed earlier this year, the bill amended the state’s “Age-Appropriate Materials Act,” signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in 2022, which, according to the ACLU of Tennessee, requires schools to maintain and post lists of the materials in their libraries and to evaluate challenged materials to determine whether or not they are “age-appropriate.”

So, now every Tom, Dick, and Karen can simply challenge a book and force librarians to review the content to see whether or not it’s “age-appropriate.” The initial bill didn’t even bother to define the few terms it bothered to use to describe the age-appropriateness of content, much less provide librarians with guidelines for handling challenges and/or eventual book removals.

The “fixed” version isn’t much better. While it does provide a list of things legislators think are inappropriate for all students (including those in their senior year of high school, where they’re often treated legally as adults when charged with crimes), the laundry list of inappropriate things is still far too vague.

H.B. 843 clarifies that books containing “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse” are not appropriate for K–12 students, regardless of the context in which those descriptions or depictions appear in the material.

How much violence is “excessive?” Will health textbooks depicting nudity, sexual conduct, and “sexual excitement” be removed from classrooms? Will no one under the age of 18 be able to access content they’re legally allowed to access anywhere else but in a public library?

Perhaps more importantly, what of the Bible?

During debate on the Tennessee Senate floor, state Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D) noted that the bill’s definition of what is “inappropriate” applies to the Bible. “You cannot read the book of Samuel or Kings or Chronicles, much less much of the first five books of the Bible, without significant discussions of rape, sexual excitement, multiple wives, bestiality — numerous things. That’s before you get in just to, you know, very express and explicit descriptions of violence,” Yarbro argued, according to WKRN News 2.

If this point gets pressed, you can rest assured a carve-out will be created for “religious texts,” but… you know… only applied to one specific religion and its main text.

The terms are vague and overly broad. The guidelines for compliance are still mostly nonexistent. And so, at least one school is reopening for the school year with its library closed.

A Wilson County high school is warning teachers to skip classroom libraries and closed the school library over concerns surrounding a new state law.

Under the law, any brief mention of sex, nudity or excess violence can lead to a book ban.

The Wilson County Director of Schools says they are temporarily closing the library at Green Hill High School to sort through books to make sure they get rid of the those that are required to be banned.

So, as teachers and librarians follow the government’s orders to ensure they’re only exposed to content the legislative majority likes, students are going be struggling to comprehend the things they’re learning in civics classes about their fundamental rights.

And all the bill’s supporters have to offer are patently false assertions about how bad things have been for unprotected students prior to the institution of this law.

Senator Pody explains they are trying to protect children from pornography which they’ve found in the past to be available in public schools.

I guarantee you this isn’t true. Notably, Senator Pody offers no times, dates, locations, or any other verification of his claim “pornography” has been found in school libraries or classrooms. Unfortunately, he’s representative of the legislative majority and its ideals. It’s nothing but censorship propelled by bigotry and backed by lies. Caught in the crossfire are the kids and the public school employees who just want to give them the best education they can.

  • ✇Techdirt
  • Age Verification Laws Are Just A Path Towards A Full Ban On Porn, Proponent AdmitsTim Cushing
    It’s never about the children. Supporters of age verification laws, book bans, drag show bans, and abortion bans always claim they’re doing these things to protect children. But it’s always just about themselves. They want to impose their morality on other adults. That’s all there is to it. Abortion bans are just a way to strip women of bodily autonomy. If it was really about cherishing children and new lives, these same legislators wouldn’t be routinely stripping school lunch programs of fundi
     

Age Verification Laws Are Just A Path Towards A Full Ban On Porn, Proponent Admits

20. Srpen 2024 v 19:50

It’s never about the children. Supporters of age verification laws, book bans, drag show bans, and abortion bans always claim they’re doing these things to protect children. But it’s always just about themselves. They want to impose their morality on other adults. That’s all there is to it.

Abortion bans are just a way to strip women of bodily autonomy. If it was really about cherishing children and new lives, these same legislators wouldn’t be routinely stripping school lunch programs of funding, introducing onerous means testing to government aid programs, and generally treating children as a presumptive drain on society.

The same goes for book bans. They claim they want to prevent children from accessing inappropriate material. But you can only prevent children from accessing it by removing it entirely from public libraries, which means even adults will no longer be able to read these books.

The laws targeting drag shows aren’t about children. They’re about punishing certain people for being the way they are — people whose mere existence seems to be considered wholly unacceptable by bigots with far too much power.

The slew of age verification laws introduced in recent years are being shot down by courts almost as swiftly as they’re enacted. And for good reason. Age verification laws are unconstitutional. And they’re certainly not being enacted to prevent children from accessing porn.

Of course, none of the people pushing this kind of legislation will ever openly admit their reasons for doing so. But they will admit it to people they think are like-minded. All it takes is a tiny bit of subterfuge to tease these admissions out of activist groups that want to control what content adults have access to — something that’s barely hidden by their “for the children” facade.

As Shawn Musgrave reports for The Intercept, a couple of people managed to coax this admission out of a former Trump official simply by pretending they were there to give his pet project a bunch of cash.

“I actually never talk about our porn agenda,” said Russell Vought, a former top Trump administration official, in late July. Vought was chatting with two men he thought were potential donors to his right-wing think tank, the Center for Renewing America. 

For the last three years, Vought and the CRA have been pushing laws that require porn websites to verify their visitors are not minors, on the argument that children need to be protected from smut. Dozens of states have enacted or considered these “age verification laws,” many of them modeled on the CRA’s proposals. 

[…]

But in a wide-ranging, covertly recorded conversation with two undercover operatives — a paid actor and a reporter for the British journalism nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting — Vought let them in on a thinly veiled secret: These age verification laws are a pretext for restricting access to porn more broadly. 

“Thinly veiled” is right. While it’s somewhat amusing Vought was taken in so easily and was immediately willing to say the quiet part loud when he thought cash was on the line, he’s made his antipathy towards porn exceedingly clear. As Musgrave notes in his article, Vought’s contribution to Project 2025 — a right-wing masturbatory fantasy masquerading as policy proposals should Trump take office again — almost immediately veers into the sort of territory normally only explored by dictators and autocrats who relied heavily on domestic surveillance, forced labor camps, and torture to rein in those who disagreed with their moral stances.

Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this paragraph (and, indeed, a lot of Vought’s contribution to Project 2025) is that it isn’t written in all caps with a “follow me on xTwitter” link attached. These are not the words of a hinged person. They are the opposite — the ravings of a man in desperate need of a competent re-hinging service.

And he’s wrong about everything in this paragraph, especially his assertion that pornography is not a First Amendment issue. It is. That’s why so many of these laws are getting rejected by federal courts. The rest is hyperbole that pretends it’s just bold, common sense assertions. I would like to hear more about the epidemic of porn overdoses that’s leaving children parentless and overloading our health system. And who can forget the recent killing sprees of the Sinoloa Porn Cartel, which has led to federal intervention from the Mexican government?

But the most horrifying part is Vought’s desire to imprison people for producing porn and converting librarians to registered sex offenders just because their libraries carry some content that personally offends his sensibilities.

These are the words and actions of people who strongly support fascism so long as they’re part of the ruling party. They don’t care about kids, America, democracy, or the Constitution. They want a nation of followers and the power to punish anyone who steps out of line. The Center for Renewing America is only one of several groups with the same ideology and the same censorial urges. These are dangerous people, but their ideas and policy proposals are now so common it’s almost impossible to classify it as “extremist.” There are a lot of Americans who would rather see the nation destroyed than have to, at minimum, tolerate people and ideas they don’t personally like. Their ugliness needs to be dragged out into the open as often as possible, if only to force them to confront the things they’ve actually said and done.

Embracer Q1 2024: Sales and company debt lower while the LOTR MMO gets a mention

19. Srpen 2024 v 16:30
If you were hoping for some form of revelation for Embracer Group’s slate of MMOs to come out of the company’s April-to-June investor report for 2024, you should probably temper your expectations, as most of what our readers care about appears to be dangled carrots for the investor board instead of hard plans. We’ll start […]
  • ✇Latest
  • Censoring the Internet Won't Protect KidsRand Paul
    If good intentions created good laws, there would be no need for congressional debate. I have no doubt the authors of this bill genuinely want to protect children, but the bill they've written promises to be a Pandora's box of unintended consequences. The Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA, would impose an unprecedented duty of care on internet platforms to mitigate certain harms associated with mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and
     

Censoring the Internet Won't Protect Kids

Od: Rand Paul
20. Srpen 2024 v 13:00
Girl wearing purple and pink headphones looking at a black laptop. | Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@thomascpark?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Thomas Park</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-little-girl-sitting-at-a-table-with-a-laptop-w9i7wMaM3EE?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>

If good intentions created good laws, there would be no need for congressional debate.

I have no doubt the authors of this bill genuinely want to protect children, but the bill they've written promises to be a Pandora's box of unintended consequences.

The Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA, would impose an unprecedented duty of care on internet platforms to mitigate certain harms associated with mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

While proponents of the bill claim that the bill is not designed to regulate content, imposing a duty of care on internet platforms associated with mental health can only lead to one outcome: the stifling of First Amendment–protected speech.

Today's children live in a world far different from the one I grew up in and I'm the first in line to tell kids to go outside and "touch grass."

With the internet, today's children have the world at their fingertips. That can be a good thing—just about any question can be answered by finding a scholarly article or how-to video with a simple search.

While doctors' and therapists' offices close at night and on weekends, support groups are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for people who share similar concerns or have had the same health problems. People can connect, share information, and help each other more easily than ever before. That is the beauty of technological progress.

But the world can also be an ugly place. Like any other tool, the internet can be misused, and parents must be vigilant in protecting their kids online.

It is perhaps understandable that those in the Senate might seek a government solution to protect children from any harms that may result from spending too much time on the internet. But before we impose a drastic, first-of-its-kind legal duty on online platforms, we should ensure that the positive aspects of the internet are preserved. That means we have to ensure that First Amendment rights are protected and that these platforms are provided with clear rules so that they can comply with the law.

Unfortunately, this bill fails to do that in almost every respect.

As currently written, the bill is far too vague, and many of its key provisions are completely undefined.

The bill effectively empowers the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate content that might affect mental health, yet KOSA does not explicitly define the term "mental health disorder." Instead, it references the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders…or "the most current successor edition."

Written that way, not only would someone looking at the law not know what the definition is, but even more concerning, the definition could change without any input from Congress whatsoever.

The scope of one of the most expansive pieces of federal tech legislation could drastically change overnight, and Congress may not even realize it until after it already happened. None of the people's representatives should be comfortable with a definition that effectively delegates Congress's legislative authority to an unaccountable third party.

Second, the bill would impose an unprecedented duty of care on internet platforms to mitigate certain harms, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. But the legislation does not define what is considered harmful to minors, and everyone will have a different belief as to what causes harm, much less how online platforms should go about protecting minors from that harm.

The sponsors of this bill will tell you that they have no desire to regulate content. But the requirement that platforms mitigate undefined harms belies the bill's effect to regulate online content. Imposing a "duty of care" on online platforms to mitigate harms associated with mental health can only lead to one outcome: the stifling of constitutionally protected speech.

For example, if an online service uses infinite scrolling to promote Shakespeare's works, or algebra problems, or the history of the Roman Empire, would any lawmaker consider that harmful?

I doubt it. And that is because website design does not cause harm. It is content, not design, that this bill will regulate.

Last year, Harvard Medical School's magazine published a story entitled "Climate Anxiety; The Existential Threat Posed by Climate Change is Deeply Troubling to Many Young People." That article mentioned that among a "cohort of more than 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 25, 60 percent described themselves as very worried about the climate and nearly half said the anxiety affects their daily functioning."

The world's most well-known climate activist, Greta Thunberg, famously suffers from climate anxiety. Should platforms stop her from seeing climate-related content because of that?

Under this bill, Greta Thunberg would have been considered a minor and she could have been deprived from engaging online in the debates that made her famous.

Anxiety and eating disorders are two of the undefined harms that this bill expects internet platforms to prevent and mitigate. Are those sites going to allow discussion and debate about the climate? Are they even going to allow discussion about a person's story overcoming an eating disorder? No. Instead, they are going to censor themselves, and users, rather than risk liability.

Would pictures of thin models be tolerated, lest it result in eating disorders for people who see them? What about violent images from war? Should we silence discussions about gun rights because it might cause some people anxiety?

What of online discussion of sexuality? Would pro-gay or anti-gay discussion cause anxiety in teenagers?

What about pro-life messaging? Could pro-life discussions cause anxiety in teenage mothers considering abortion?

In truth, this bill opens the door to nearly limitless content regulation, as people can and will argue that almost any piece of content could contribute to some form of mental health disorder.

In addition, financial concerns may cause online forums to eliminate anxiety-inducing content for all users, regardless of age, if the expense of policing teenage users is prohibitive.

This bill does not merely regulate the internet; it threatens to silence important and diverse discussions that are essential to a free society.

And who is empowered to help make these decisions? That task is entrusted to a newly established speech police. This bill would create a Kids Online Safety Council to help the government decide what constitutes harm to minors and what platforms should have to do to address that harm. These are the types of decisions that should be made by parents and families, not unelected bureaucrats serving as a Censorship Committee.

Those are not the only deficiencies of this bill. The bill seeks to protect minors from beer and gambling ads on certain online platforms, such as Facebook or Hulu. But if those same minors watch the Super Bowl or the PGA tour on TV, they would see those exact same ads.

Does that make any sense? Should we prevent online platforms from showing kids the same content they can and do see on TV every day? Should sports viewership be effectively relegated to the pre-internet age?

And even if it were possible to shield minors from every piece of content that might cause anxiety, depression, or eating disorders, that is still not enough to comply with the KOSA. That is because KOSA requires websites to treat differently individuals that the platform knows or should know are minors.

That means that media platforms who earnestly try to comply with the law could be punished because the government thinks it "should" have known a user was a minor.

This bill, then, does not just apply to minors. A should-have-known standard means that KOSA is an internet-wide regulation, which effectively means that the only way to comply with the law is for platforms to verify ages.

So adults and minors alike better get comfortable with providing a form of ID every time they go online. This knowledge standard destroys the notion of internet privacy.

I've raised several questions about this bill. But no one, not even the sponsors of the legislation, can answer those questions honestly, because they do not know the answer. They do not know how overzealous regulators or state attorneys general will enforce the provisions in this bill. They do not know what rules the FTC may come up with to enforce its provisions.

The inability to answer those questions is the result of several vague provisions of this bill, and once enacted into law, those questions will not be answered by the elected representatives in Congress, they will be answered by bureaucrats who are likely to empower themselves at the expense of our First Amendment rights.

There are good reasons to think that the courts will strike down this bill. They would have a host of reasons to do so. Vagueness pervades this bill. The most meaningful terms are undefined, making compliance with the bill nearly impossible. Even if we discount the many and obvious First Amendment violations inherent in this bill, the courts will likely find this bill void for vagueness.

But we should not rely on the courts to save America from this poorly drafted bill. The Senate should have rejected KOSA and forced the sponsors to at least provide greater clarity in their bill. The Senate, however, was dedicated to passing a KOSA despite its deficiencies.

KOSA contains too many flaws for any one amendment to fix the legislation entirely. But the Senate should have tackled the most glaring problem with KOSA—that it will silence political, social, and religious speech.

My amendment merely stated that no regulations made under KOSA shall apply to political, social, or religious speech. My amendment was intended to address the legitimate concern that this bill threatens free speech online. If the supporters of this legislation really do want to leave content alone, they would have welcomed and supported my amendment to protect political, social, and religious speech.

But that is not what happened. The sponsors of the bill blocked my amendment from consideration and the Senate was prohibited from taking a vote to protect speech.

That should be a lesson about KOSA. The sponsors did not just silence debate in the Senate. Their bill will silence the American people.

KOSA is a Trojan horse. It purports to protect our children by claiming limitless ability to regulate speech and depriving them of the benefits of the internet, which include engaging with like-minded individuals, expressing themselves freely, as well as participating in debates among others with different opinions.

Opposition to this bill is bipartisan, from advocates on the right to the left.

A pro-life organization, Students for Life Action, commented on KOSA, stating, "Once again, a piece of federal legislation with broad powers and vague definitions threatens pro-life speech…those targeted by a weaponized federal government will almost always include pro-life Americans, defending mothers and their children—born and preborn."

Student for Life Action concluded its statement by stating: "Already the pro-life generation faces discrimination, de-platforming, and short and long term bans on social media on the whims of others. Students for Life Action calls for a No vote on KOSA to prevent viewpoint discrimination from becoming federal policy at the FTC."

The ACLU brought more than 300 high school students to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to vote no on KOSA because, to quote the ACLU, "it would give the government the power to decide what content is dangerous to young people, enabling censorship and endangering access to important resources, like gender identity support, mental health materials, and reproductive healthcare."

Government mandates and censorship will not protect children online. The internet may pose new problems, but there is an age-old solution to this issue. Free minds and parental guidance are the best means to protect our children online.

The post Censoring the Internet Won't Protect Kids appeared first on Reason.com.

High School Students Explain Why We Can’t Let Classroom Censorship Win

In U.S. classrooms and libraries, a coordinated attack on students’ right to learn is underway.

Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps to restrict how teachers can teach about racism and sexism in the classroom. These unlawful efforts impact students as young as five or six, and exist throughout the education system, reaching high school students and those at higher education institutions. In addition to censoring classroom conversations, lawmakers and school boards have also enacted sweeping book bans that further restrict access to diverse viewpoints.

The ACLU has challenged classroom censorship laws and book bans nationwide as part of its broader efforts to defend education equity. To better understand who these censorship attempts harm and how young people are being impacted, this back-to-school season, we spoke to high school students from across the country at the ACLU’s annual National Advocacy Institute about how classroom censorship has impacted their right to learn.

Ana Sofia, Florida

I am not able to take AP Psychology or AP African American History. I am also unable to find a lot of the books that I like because they are being banned and removed from my local libraries. I have to work harder to find information and, because it is harder, I sometimes just decide not to look for it.

A divider graphic featuring a bookmark.

Ayesha, California

As a woman of color, I haven’t fully felt that I identify with much of the history taught in my classrooms. I think book banning, and taking away certain avenues of education for students to learn about their background and where they came from … is really harmful to students, especially youth who are trying to find their sense of community and where to belong.

A divider graphic featuring an open book.

Sasha, California

If I'm in the classroom and I can't get an array of perspectives from an array of different authors, I feel that I'm not getting an education representative of our America. If I can't read authors who look like me, who look like my black and brown friends, [who look like] my friends of AAPI descent, then what am I really learning? I'm learning America from the perspective of only one kind of person, and that's not the education that I want, nor is it the education that any student should receive.

A divider graphic featuring a library checkout card.

Shane, New Jersey

Students learn from being able to read books, voice our opinions, and hear the opinions of others. As someone who's Jewish and has had family murdered in the Holocaust, I understand firsthand that when you start to ban books and label books as forbidden the people in those books soon find themselves also labeled forbidden… Information, the right to knowledge, and the right to converse freely are what protect all of our other rights that we care about so deeply.

A divider graphic featuring a bookmark.

Sophia, New York

History isn’t as pretty and simple as some people want to make it seem. It’s very complicated. You really need to have access to all of the information you can get and hear a lot of different opinions …Having access to all viewpoints allows me to expand my knowledge and makes learning a lot more interesting.

A divider graphic featuring an open book.

Olivia, Florida

Banning books is one of the ways that we are actively stunting educational growth for young students. I think that, for kids, the library is often a haven for where they can go and just garner so many new perspectives and gain an idea of what change can possibly be.

As a kid, I got into advocacy from reading The Hunger Games and seeing the rise of Katniss Everdeen and the revolution. And so, if books like that, like Fahrenheit 451, like The Hunger Games, or Of Mice and Men are banned, these narratives are being erased. Kids can’t get that sort of education and perspective that can encourage them to make change later on as leaders of the future.

A divider graphic featuring a library checkout card.

Anjali, Pennsylvania

My school district has dealt with book bans and curriculum censorship…I really saw a burden come on our educators and our students where we didn't feel like we were being adequately represented in the curriculum, and we didn't feel that we were able to grow in our knowledge in a very truthful and real way. We need to have the opportunity to explore our knowledge at a deeper level and not be restricted by adults that think that we're not smart enough to understand.

A divider graphic featuring a bookmark.

Keaton, California

If my teachers weren’t allowed to talk about issues I cared about, I would honestly feel a little bit belittled, especially because teachers are very looked up to. They’re the people that we learn from, who educate us since we're little. And if our role models can't speak to something that we're passionate about, what does that say about our passions? Are those belittled as well? Are our feelings belittled? Are we invalidated? I think that it instills in us from a young age that we can only say certain things and can't speak our mind.

  • ✇Invision Game Community
  • Arc Games Announces Fellowship: The First Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA)Alison &#38; Co
    Arc Games, known for its premium and live service games, has just announced Fellowship, the first-ever Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA) game. Developed by Chief Rebel, a new Stockholm-based studio packed with industry veterans from games like World of Warcraft, Diablo, Helldivers, Battlefield, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Just Cause, and more, Fellowship is set to… The post Arc Games Announces Fellowship: The First Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA) appeared first on Invision G
     

Arc Games Announces Fellowship: The First Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA)

Arc Games, known for its premium and live service games, has just announced Fellowship, the first-ever Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA) game. Developed by Chief Rebel, a new Stockholm-based studio packed with industry veterans from games like World of Warcraft, Diablo, Helldivers, Battlefield, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Just Cause, and more, Fellowship is set to…

The post Arc Games Announces Fellowship: The First Multiplayer Online Dungeon Adventure (MODA) appeared first on Invision Game Community.

Betawatch: Fellowship offers previews, Ultima Online New Legacy testing rolls on

3. Srpen 2024 v 01:00
Whenever I hear the title Fellowship, I think about that video about how cats are praised for fellowship, which reminds me of the fact that my own cats have separation anxiety from me when I run to the bathroom or go buy groceries. However, the game in question is not about cats but about distilling […]
  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC FairCharbax
    Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order. They al
     

Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC Fair

Od: Charbax
18. Říjen 2023 v 17:19

Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order.

They also do Rockchip CPU based products, the interviewee reveals that it is specifically designed for this product. They mention future releases, with plans for Gole2, Gole3, and Gole4 models, drawing a comparison to the iPhone’s naming convention.

Kelly also discusses their history of manufacturing PC sticks with gigabit Ethernet and numerous USB ports for over five years. They emphasize the price difference between using the RK3588 and Intel processors, stating that the former is slightly more expensive, about $10 USD per unit. Potential buyers are encouraged to contact them directly for the best deals.

When asked if they are the best factory for such products, the interviewee suggests testing their samples to determine their quality. They claim to have sold over a million pieces in the last seven years, with a particular focus on the new product introduced within the past two years.

Regarding the Mini PC’s stability, the interviewee assures viewers of its reliability and performance, emphasizing its fanless and compact design. They also showcase a Mini PC without a display, highlighting its affordability.

The interview moves on to other products, including waterproof and drop-proof Rock tablet PCs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes, with both Windows and Android OS options. The interviewee notes the stable RK 3399 CPU, and introduces the RK 3588 as the new and versatile processor, suitable for Mini PCs.

The video briefly features a live show of a Mini PC with an RK 3558 CPU, followed by an all-in-one PC with various ports, enabling connections to different devices. The interviewee also mentions a Russian customer’s substantial purchase of their products.

They conclude the interview by discussing a unique industrial tablet and the increasing popularity of such products at their https://www.golerugged.com despite economic challenges in some regions The interviewee acknowledges that the fanless design can cause some heat but assures viewers that it does not affect the device’s functionality. The company remains hopeful for continued growth in orders and mentions that their Shenzhen-based factory is constantly busy, with a dynamic R&D team consistently generating new ideas to market.

Distributors can contact Kelly at Gole here:
kelly@golechina.com
+8613427901718

Filmed at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair using my Panasonic G9 (I would like to update to the G9ii) with 12-60mm Leica https://amzn.to/3ZXlPDQ and the Saramonic Blink500 ProX B2R https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvi1DeQspd43hydxLddBjU8Z

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588Charbax
    Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing A
     

Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588

Od: Charbax
10. Červen 2023 v 17:17

Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing ARM-based mini PCs.

Now, you might be wondering, what exactly is Edge Computing? Well, let me shed some light on this transformative concept. Edge Computing refers to the practice of performing computation and data processing at or near the source of data generation, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers to do that work. By bringing computing power closer to the data source, Edge Computing enables faster processing, reduced latency, enhanced security, and greater autonomy in various applications. And that’s precisely what Geniatech’s new mini PCs are designed to deliver!

Let’s kick off the introduction with our first standout product, the Geniatech Case 3566. This sleek and compact mini PC boasts exceptional input and output capabilities, making it a perfect fit for Edge Computing use cases. It supports both Linux and Android operating systems, offering incredible versatility for a wide range of IoT projects. Equipped with a robust AI capability, the Case 3566 is ready to tackle complex tasks with ease.

Moving on, they have their remarkable space-saving Edge Computing box based on the RK 1126 chipset. This innovative device features not just one, but two Ethernet ports—an invaluable asset for various project requirements. Additionally, it offers USB 3 connectivity, further expanding its connectivity options. Designed with a pure Linux environment, it includes a powerful 4K encoder, allowing for seamless encoding and decoding operations. Their extensive expertise in encoding and decoding ensures optimal utilization of this feature, enabling smooth IP input and HDMI output functionality.

But wait, there’s more! Allow them to introduce their latest gem—the result of their collaboration with Rock Chip and their cutting-edge Rockchip 3588 chipset. This powerhouse mini PC sets new benchmarks in performance and capability. With two HDMI outputs capable of supporting up to 8K resolution, an HDMI input, a DP port, USB Type-C connectivity, and GPIO support, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Its impressive decoding and encoding capabilities bring unparalleled versatility, making it an indispensable asset for demanding applications. By pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally limited to x86 SOC devices, Geniatech’s new offering opens up exciting possibilities and expands the horizons of Edge Computing.

He is delighted to share that their customers have responded overwhelmingly positively to these new products. The feedback they have received thus far has been incredibly encouraging, validating their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

While they regret not being able to delve deeper into the features and functionalities of these remarkable mini PCs today, he promise to keep you updated with comprehensive insights in the near future. The world of Edge Computing is rapidly evolving, and Geniatech remains at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Thank you for joining us on this brief journey into the world of Geniatech’s Edge Computing solutions. Stay tuned for more updates, detailed reviews, and demonstrations as they continue to shape the future of computing with their groundbreaking products.

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoTCharbax
    Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs. One of the standout features of their product lineup is
     

Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoT

Od: Charbax
5. Červen 2023 v 09:17

Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs.

One of the standout features of their product lineup is the ARM board, which serves as the driving force behind their displays. By utilizing Rockchip and NXP as their main solutions, they ensure optimal performance and functionality. The host proudly presents a series of displays, demonstrating their capabilities and versatility.

Among the showcased displays is an all-in-one machine, which boasts two unique functions. Firstly, it serves as an all-in-one solution, providing an immersive user experience. Additionally, it features touch-plus functionality, allowing users to interact with the display effortlessly. The host explains that one of the highlights of this display is its Corona feature, eliminating the need for touch input. Instead, a sensor located inside the display accurately detects user actions. This becomes particularly useful during situations like the ongoing pandemic, where maintaining cleanliness and avoiding contact are crucial.

Moving on, the host presents more display options, emphasizing that Shenzhen AV Display doesn’t just sell individual components; they provide complete solutions. Each display is carefully designed and accompanied by a touch interface, PCB, and even their own custom-designed main board.

The video continues to explore their range of products, with the host introducing another impressive solution powered by Rockchip. This particular display features the Android operating system and is tailored for IoT applications. The host also showcases their smart display module, which comes in a compact five-inch size. It’s fascinating to see how Shenzhen AV Display offers various sizes and customization options to meet the specific requirements of their clients.

To add a touch of uniqueness, the host unveils displays with special shapes, including pottery-type and landscape-type designs. These unconventional displays not only capture attention but also provide immersive visual experiences.

During the conversation, the host reveals that Shenzhen AV Display has been attending Display Week for several years, establishing strong partnerships with renowned panel manufacturers such as BOE, Innolux. This collaboration ensures that they have access to high-quality panels, guaranteeing superior performance and reliability in their products.

Thank you for joining us on this captivating exploration of display technology with Shenzhen AV Display. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos. Stay tuned for the latest updates and advancements in the world of display!

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014Vegator
    Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsu
     

Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014

Od: Vegator
7. Květen 2015 v 14:22
Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsung LSI. The report mentions that HiSilicon, Intel and MediaTek had bigger growth than Qualcomm in 2014.

Qualcomm's strength based on Snapdragon 800 series wins in higher-tier phones


According to the report, Qualcomm's leadership was largely based on design wins for its Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 805 SoCs in the higher-tier market. Examples of this include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3. However, as I have previously reported Samsung has increased its use of in-house application processors starting from the second half of 2014, culminating in the exclusive use of Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 in 2015, putting pressure on Qualcomm.

Baseband share in 2014


Strategy Analytics has also published a report with details about baseband (modem) market share in smartphones. According to the report, LTE (4G) basebands accounted for 50% of cellular baseband share in 2014, and the figure is likely to increase significantly in 2015. Qualcomm led in LTE basebands, but HiSilicon, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek and Samsung also increased LTE baseband shipments.

In terms of revenues in the overall baseband market, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Speadtrum, Marvell and Intel had the top positions in 2104. Qualcomm had 66% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 17% and Speadtrum with 5% sare. Given the product lines of the respective companies in 2014, Qualcomm's revenues are based on both integrated SoC and separate modems, while Intel's sales were mostly separate modem chips, while the other players mostly shipped a mix of integrated SoCs and modem chips.

Comparison with 2013


Comparing with the reports that Strategy Analytics issued for 2013, Qualcomm saws it baseband revenue share remain relatively stable at 66% compared to 64% in 2013. MediaTek saw its AP market share increase from 10% in 2013 to 14% in 2014, and its baseband share increased.

Tablet processor market in 2014


According to another report issued by Strategy Analytics, the market for tablet processors grew 18% in 2014 to $4.2 billion. The top-five revenue share positions were occupied by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung LSI. Apple led with 27% share (which must be an estimate), followed by Intel with 17% and Qualcomm with 16% share.

Notable is the absence among the top five of traditional leaders in the Chinese white-box market such as Rockchip and Allwinner. This most likely reflects in increase in brand name tablet shipments at the expense of the white-box tablet market, the low selling prices of white-box tablet processor and the encroachment of MediaTek and Intel into that segment.

Source: Strategy Analytics (Smartphone AP market share), Strategy Analytics (cellular baseband market share), Strategy Analytics (Tablet processor market share)
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • China tablet processor market declines in Q1Vegator
    According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for th
     

China tablet processor market declines in Q1

Od: Vegator
6. Březen 2015 v 10:08
According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for the decline in shipments.

MediaTek leads Chinese tablet market in Q1 2015


Based on information published by DigiTimes Research, MediaTek, Rockchip, Allwinner and Intel were the top four providers of tablet processors in China, in that order, in Q4 2014. For Q1 2015, MediaTek is estimated to expand it market share by about 1% to reach 28.5%, although absolute shipments will decline significantly due to the overall market decline.

Rockchip, who was the market share leader for most of 2014, is estimated to see its market share remain stable in Q1 2015, registering a 0.6% increase according to DigiTimes Research, who did not supply a market share figure for Rockchip, although it is probably in the region of 25%. DigiTimes mentioned that Rockchip's new chips launched at the end of 2014 (which includes the Cortex-A7-based RK3126 and RK3128) have not yet reached strong shipments.

Meanwhile, Allwinner continues the trend of a steady decline a market share, being expected to have a share of 15.6% compared to 17.6% in Q4 2014. This allows it to be passed by Intel in terms of market share, with Intel's market share estimated to rise from 15% to 16.3% in Q1 2015.

Intel's global market share has increased and is significant, especially revenue share


It should be noted that in terms of global market share, Intel has a stronger position than what would be inferred just from the Chinese market due to a strong position at brand-name tablet manufacturers outside of China, such as Asus and Acer. The other chip players in the Chinese tablet processor market, especially Rockchip and Allwinner, have a weak position outside of China. Due to the higher-end nature of Intel's product mix, Intel also has a higher revenue share, whereas the sales of companies such as Allwinner are mostly concentrated in low-end processors. It has been reported that Intel is abandoning its "contra-revenue" strategy of subsidizing tablet processor sales, which it probably can afford to do because its chip solutions are fairly competitive on their own.

Global brand names gain share, use different chip suppliers


In the global tablet marker, brand name manufacturers are gaining share and dominate the dollar value of the market, also for semiconductor content. Apple and Samsung, who lead the global tablet market, use a lot of in-house chip solutions (100% in the case of Apple). Samsung also uses suppliers like Qualcomm and Marvell, who otherwise do not have a strong position in the Chinese tablet market.

MediaTek used to have strong market share among Taiwanese tablet manufacturers such as Asus and Acer. However, its market share their seems to have been eroded significantly by strong adoption of Intel's Atom SoCs at these manufacturers (who have strong ties with Intel through PC manufacturing).

Popular tablet SoCs as of Q1 2015


By analyzing the tablet models offered on Chinese e-commerce portals, one can get some idea of what SoCs are currently used the most in tablets from China. I took a look at the tablet offerings on Banggood.com.

Rockchip's RK3188 (which probably means the RK3188T variant in most cases) is still widely used. Originally a mid-range performance segment SoC, there are indications that Rockchip built a significant inventory of this SoC (which is not particularly cheap in terms of manufactuing cost) last year, and the chip has been used in cheaper models as well. Rockchip's RK3126, which is more cost-effective than RK3188, is slowly starting to appear in new tablet models.

Meanwhile, Rockchip's high-end RK3288 is used in several models from Pipo, Teclast and FNF, and these seem to be reasonably popular for a high-end product. I have some concerns about power consumption and battery life regarding these products due to the processor cores used in the SoC.

The most popular MediaTek chips used in tablets are SoCs with 3G connectivity such as the low-end dual-core MT8312 and quad-core MT8382 (the equivalent of the MT6572 and MT6582 smartphone SoCs), as well as the more performance oriented octa-core MT6592/MT8392, which provides good performance and battery-life and has moved down to lower-priced tablet models. Additionally, the new 64-bit MT8752 with 4G (equivalent to the MT6752 smartphone SoC) is starting to appear in new models (Cube, Teclast). For WiFi-only tablets, the MT8127 (which has a relatively powerful GPU for a cheap SoC) is used in some low-to-mid-range tablets.

Allwinner's A31s, which was released in 2013 but perhaps its last successful product introduction, appears to be still used for production. Low-end tablets are available with the A23 and A33 SoCs, although the A33 does not seem to have been very successful and has been affected by weakness in the low-end segment of the tablet market.

Allwinner's new octa-core A83T has started to appear in a few new models, and is probably replacing the high-end A80 Octa which is likely to have had low profit margins.

Finally, Intel's Z3735F, Z3735G and Z3736F Atom SoCs are widely used in tablets, although most prominently in higher-prices models that come equipped with Microsoft Windows.

Update (15 March): 3G smartphone chip inventory unloaded onto Chinese tablet market


In an article published on 13 March 2015, DigiTimes Research reported that due to a high inventory level of 3G smartphone solutions in China, such chips will be unloaded onto the Chinese tablet market by players such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum.

3G-enabled chip solutions for tablets are usually very similar to similar solutions for smartphones. For example, MediaTek's smartphone solutions have commonly been used in tablets, while MediaTek's official 3G-enabled tablet solutions most likely consist of a chip virtually identical to the smartphone version, with the main difference being a different model number (e.g. MT6582 vs MT8382). That MediaTek would target any excess inventory of 3G smartphone chipsets at the tablet market is not surprising.

However, I am little sceptical about the volume that may be involved. The Chinese tablet market is clearly contracting in the near term, and the volumes in the tablet market are considerably smaller than the smartphone market, even the declining 3G part of the smartphone SoC market. To put things into perspective, MediaTek's quarterly 3G smartphone chip shipments were on the order of 70 million in Q4 2014, while its 3G tablet chip shipments were probably in the range of 5 to 10 million.

The article also mentions Qualcomm, which in the past has not been a major player in the Chinese white-box tablet market. It mentions rumours that Qualcomm may form a partnership with Allwinner (which has been consistently losing market share) to penetrate the tablet market in China. The article also states that while Intel has introduced 3G tablet solutions, Intel's solutions are unlikely to be widely adopted until Intel introduces the 4G version of its Atom x3 (formerly SoFIA) platform.

Sources: DigiTimes (Q1 2015 China tablet AP market article)DigiTimes Research (smartphone chips inventory unloaded to tablet market)

Updated 15 March 2015.
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • New mobile SoCs announced at MWCVegator
    At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced. MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets. The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, accord
     

New mobile SoCs announced at MWC

Od: Vegator
2. Březen 2015 v 11:41
At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced.

MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones


MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets.

The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, according to MediaTek. Features include an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU with an unspecified number of cores. ARM's Mali-T720 GPU is positioned at a significantly lower performance bracket than the Mali-T760 used in the MT6752, positioning the MT6753 below the MT6752 in terms of cost and performance.

The MT6753 is described as being compatible with the previously announced MT6735 for entry-level smartphones. The MT6735 has four Cortex-A53 cores instead of eight but otherwise has a similar configuration with a Mali T720 GPU.

High-performance MT8173 tablet SoC uses small big.LITTLE clusters with Cortex-A72


The MT8173 is a high-performance tablet processor (without integrated modem) that utilizes ARM's new Cortex-A72 core in a big.LITTLE configuration. By using only two Cortex-A72 cores (clocked up to 2.4 GHz) as well as two Cortex-A53 cores, the chip has a lower cost than would be the case with the four-by-four core configuration commonly used for big.LITTLE designs, while still providing good performance.

The Cortex-A72 core, the successor of Cortex-A57, appears to be seeing quick adoption as Qualcomm has already announced performance-segment smartphone SoCs (Snapdragon 618 and 620) featuring the core.

MediaTek has previously used a similar two-by-two big.LITTLE configuration in its MT8135(V) tablet SoC, which has two Cortex-A15 cores and Cortex-A7 cores. This chip was used in Amazon tablets but otherwise did not see much adoption.

Other features include a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, which is part of Imagination's Series 6XT family, with higher performance and efficiency than the G6200 GPU used in chips such as the MT8135 and MT6595.

Other tablet SoCs not yet publicly announced by MediaTek


Meanwhile, tablet product announcements by Lenovo also refer to the MT8161 and MT8165 SoCs, which have not been announced. From the specifications of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 which is using it, the MT8161 appears to be a tablet SoC without modem with quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running up to 1.3 GHz, while the MT8165 (used in the Tab 2 A10) is a similar SoC with the CPU running up to 1.5 GHz. The 4G version of the Lenovo tablets come equipped with the MT8735 (Tab 2 A8) and MT8732 (Tab 2 A10). These chips are the tablet versions of the MT6735 and MT6732 smartphone SoCs.

MT6795 renamed to Helio X10


In a closed-door presentation at MWC, MediaTek also presented the Helio X10 smartphone SoC, featuring a 64-bit octa-core CPU up to 2.2 GHz, 120 Hz display refresh rate and H.265 video encode up to 4K2K @ 30 fps. A photograph of a slide taken at the presentation strongly suggests that Helio X10 is nothing other than the delayed MT6795 SoC, whose specifications closely match. Devices using this chip are likely to have already started production. MediaTek also talked about the Helio P series, a high-performance platform, which will make its way into devices before the end of the year.

Qualcomm gives preview of next-generation Snapdragon 820 SoC


In a press release, Qualcomm has given a preview of the Snapdragon 820, which utilizes Qualcomm's new custom 64-bit CPU architecture for mobile devices called Kryo. The chip will start sampling in the second half of 2015 according to Qualcomm, with devices becoming available in 2016. It will be manufactured on a next-generation FinFET process (which probably means TSMC's 16FF+, but Samsung cannot be excluded). In the press release, Qualcomm does not mention whether the chip will conform to ARM's ARMv8 instruction set architecture.

In conjuction with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm also announced the Zeroth hardware/software platform focusing on device intelligence features including video and audio recognition techniques (such as visual object and face recognition).

Intel introduces tablet and smartphone SoCs with integrated modem


Intel has finally introduced SoCs with an integrated cellular modem in its Atom system-on-a-chip product line. The former SoFIA platform has been renamed to Atom X3 and features multi-core 64-bit Atom processors with integrated 3G or 4G LTE modem technology. The following products are available:
  • Atom X3-C3130, which has dual-core Atom CPU running up to 1.0 GHz and integrates a 3G modem. It features Mali-400 MP2 GPU. Maximum display resolution is 1280x800. It appears to be in the same market segment as MediaTek's previous-generation 3G SoCs such as MT6572 and MT6582 and other SoCs that are already on the market.
  • Atom X3-C3230RK, which was developed by Intel partner Rockchip following the agreement announced last year. It has quad-core Atom CPU, integrates a 3G modem and features a Mali-450 MP4 GPU.
  • Atom X3-C3440, a quad-core Atom CPU platform that integrates a Cat 6 LTE 4G modem. It has an Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. This product appears to be one that is most likely to succeed in the market.
All feature a 32-bit memory interface with support for LPDDR2 (and DDR3/DDR3L with the X3-C3230RK). These are the first Intel products that have features (such as the integrated modem) that make them specifically suitable for the smartphone market. They also target cellular-enabled tablets.

The 3G products are a little behind the times, and their success is uncertain. It will be interesting observe whether Rockchip was able to develop the X3-C3230RK in time (one would expect Intel to have greater expertise/resources so that the other products will appear on the market first).

One notable fact is that these are among the first SoCs to integrate an ARM GPU core with a non-ARM CPU.

Intel announces first 14 nm Atom SoCs for tablets and all-in-ones


Intel also rolled out its first 14 nm Atom SoCs, the Atom x5 and x7 processor series (formely codenamed Cherry Trail) with  Intel Gen 8 graphics, targeting tablets and small screen all-in-ones.

Intel has also introduced a new stand-alone modem chip, XMM 7360, which support LTE Cat 10 and download speeds up to 450 Mbps, as well as wireless connnectivity products (including WiFi/Bluetooth, GNSS/GPS and NFC solutions).

Sources: MediaTek (MT6753 announcement), MediaTek (MT8173 announcement), Qualcomm (Snapdragon 820/Zeroth platform preview), Intel (MWC announcements), Intel Atom x3 Processor Series Brief
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC marketVegator
    Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015. Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not se
     

Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC market

Od: Vegator
17. Únor 2015 v 08:46
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015.

Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer


In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not selected the Snapdragon 810 processor for an upcoming flagship product. This is widely believed to refer to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. In fact the trend of increasing use of in-house Exynos processors already started last year, as models such as Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Note 4 already saw increasing use of Samsung's own Exynos processors, including modem technology in some cases.

Qualcomm also mentions a share shift among major OEMs that will result in relatively more modem chips as opposed to SoCs (clearly referring to Apple, which only uses Qualcom's modem chips), as well as heightened competition in China. Recently, Qualcomm also recently announced a resolution of the anti-trust investigation by authorities in China, which amounts to a reduction in the patent royalty rate it charges to customers in China.

Qualcomm's total market share currently still strong


At the moment, Qualcomm's market share for smartphone SoCs is still strong as shown by unit shipments and revenues for Q4 2014 and Qualcomm's estimates for Q1 2015, although its product mix has shifted to lower-end products. In comparison to competitor MediaTek, Qualcomm is doing much better in terms of maintaining or growing unit shipments (with Qualcomm in fact seeing a 14% increase in unit shipments in Q4 2014), suggesting that Qualcomm is taking market share from MediaTek as products such as Snapdragon 410 and the new Snapdragon 210 take over large parts of the low-end cost-sensitive market (especially in China) where MediaTek's 3G solutions where previously dominant.

MediaTek losing market share despite successful new products


Meanwhile, although MediaTek has seen widespread adoption of its new MT6752 and MT6732 SoCs with integrated LTE modem for the cost-sensitive mid-range market, the company saw lower unit shipments in Q4 2014 and predicts a 10 to 18% revenue decline for Q1 2015, suggesting its smartphone SoC shipments are under pressure. Given the fact that the new 4G chips have higher selling prices than existing 3G chips, the revenue decline probably reflects a relatively dramatic decline in shipments of existing 3G solutions, with resulting loss of total market share, although price reductions may also play a role. MediaTek has been affected especially by the late introduction of integrated 4G solutions and the lack of a low-end 4G solution and to a lesser extend the delayed introduction of the high-end MT6795.

Captive mobile SoC use becoming more important


Within the total smartphone SoC market (and also in the tablet maket), captive supply (whereby a smartphone manufacturer uses its own SoCs in its smartphone models) is becoming more important, which affects the market opportunity for companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. I already mentioned Samsung's increasing use of Exynos processors, which has a significant impact as Samsung is one of the two largest smartphone manufacturers. A major Chinese manufacturr, Huawei, is also increasingly using SoCs from its own HiSilicon division, also extending to lower end models. Apple's gains in market share also has an effect (especially on the high-end market) since it uses proprietary SoCs.

In the tablet market, the low-end and Chinese white-box market is seeing a sharp reduction in shipments in Q1 2015, with market share shifting to brand names (where captive solutions are more important, such as at Samsung) as total shipments are estimated to decline dramatically. This greatly affects traditional players in the tablet SoC market such as Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek. Intel's strategy of subsidizing tablet SoCs has also had an impact. According to DigiTimes, the total tablet market will decline 30% sequentially in Q1 2015, with estimates of a decline of 12% for the whole year 2015.


Sources: DigiTimes (tablet market article), DigiTimes (MediaTek results), Qualcomm, MediaTek

Highlights from HPG Conference 2024: Four exciting new research papers

5. Srpen 2024 v 20:48

AMD GPUOpen - Graphics and game developer resources

Learn more about our award-winning new papers covering HIP RT, ray tracing, geometry compression, and procedural generation with work graphs.

The post Highlights from HPG Conference 2024: Four exciting new research papers appeared first on AMD GPUOpen.

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC FairCharbax
    Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order. They al
     

Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC Fair

Od: Charbax
18. Říjen 2023 v 17:19

Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order.

They also do Rockchip CPU based products, the interviewee reveals that it is specifically designed for this product. They mention future releases, with plans for Gole2, Gole3, and Gole4 models, drawing a comparison to the iPhone’s naming convention.

Kelly also discusses their history of manufacturing PC sticks with gigabit Ethernet and numerous USB ports for over five years. They emphasize the price difference between using the RK3588 and Intel processors, stating that the former is slightly more expensive, about $10 USD per unit. Potential buyers are encouraged to contact them directly for the best deals.

When asked if they are the best factory for such products, the interviewee suggests testing their samples to determine their quality. They claim to have sold over a million pieces in the last seven years, with a particular focus on the new product introduced within the past two years.

Regarding the Mini PC’s stability, the interviewee assures viewers of its reliability and performance, emphasizing its fanless and compact design. They also showcase a Mini PC without a display, highlighting its affordability.

The interview moves on to other products, including waterproof and drop-proof Rock tablet PCs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes, with both Windows and Android OS options. The interviewee notes the stable RK 3399 CPU, and introduces the RK 3588 as the new and versatile processor, suitable for Mini PCs.

The video briefly features a live show of a Mini PC with an RK 3558 CPU, followed by an all-in-one PC with various ports, enabling connections to different devices. The interviewee also mentions a Russian customer’s substantial purchase of their products.

They conclude the interview by discussing a unique industrial tablet and the increasing popularity of such products at their https://www.golerugged.com despite economic challenges in some regions The interviewee acknowledges that the fanless design can cause some heat but assures viewers that it does not affect the device’s functionality. The company remains hopeful for continued growth in orders and mentions that their Shenzhen-based factory is constantly busy, with a dynamic R&D team consistently generating new ideas to market.

Distributors can contact Kelly at Gole here:
kelly@golechina.com
+8613427901718

Filmed at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair using my Panasonic G9 (I would like to update to the G9ii) with 12-60mm Leica https://amzn.to/3ZXlPDQ and the Saramonic Blink500 ProX B2R https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvi1DeQspd43hydxLddBjU8Z

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588Charbax
    Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing A
     

Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588

Od: Charbax
10. Červen 2023 v 17:17

Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing ARM-based mini PCs.

Now, you might be wondering, what exactly is Edge Computing? Well, let me shed some light on this transformative concept. Edge Computing refers to the practice of performing computation and data processing at or near the source of data generation, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers to do that work. By bringing computing power closer to the data source, Edge Computing enables faster processing, reduced latency, enhanced security, and greater autonomy in various applications. And that’s precisely what Geniatech’s new mini PCs are designed to deliver!

Let’s kick off the introduction with our first standout product, the Geniatech Case 3566. This sleek and compact mini PC boasts exceptional input and output capabilities, making it a perfect fit for Edge Computing use cases. It supports both Linux and Android operating systems, offering incredible versatility for a wide range of IoT projects. Equipped with a robust AI capability, the Case 3566 is ready to tackle complex tasks with ease.

Moving on, they have their remarkable space-saving Edge Computing box based on the RK 1126 chipset. This innovative device features not just one, but two Ethernet ports—an invaluable asset for various project requirements. Additionally, it offers USB 3 connectivity, further expanding its connectivity options. Designed with a pure Linux environment, it includes a powerful 4K encoder, allowing for seamless encoding and decoding operations. Their extensive expertise in encoding and decoding ensures optimal utilization of this feature, enabling smooth IP input and HDMI output functionality.

But wait, there’s more! Allow them to introduce their latest gem—the result of their collaboration with Rock Chip and their cutting-edge Rockchip 3588 chipset. This powerhouse mini PC sets new benchmarks in performance and capability. With two HDMI outputs capable of supporting up to 8K resolution, an HDMI input, a DP port, USB Type-C connectivity, and GPIO support, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Its impressive decoding and encoding capabilities bring unparalleled versatility, making it an indispensable asset for demanding applications. By pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally limited to x86 SOC devices, Geniatech’s new offering opens up exciting possibilities and expands the horizons of Edge Computing.

He is delighted to share that their customers have responded overwhelmingly positively to these new products. The feedback they have received thus far has been incredibly encouraging, validating their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

While they regret not being able to delve deeper into the features and functionalities of these remarkable mini PCs today, he promise to keep you updated with comprehensive insights in the near future. The world of Edge Computing is rapidly evolving, and Geniatech remains at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Thank you for joining us on this brief journey into the world of Geniatech’s Edge Computing solutions. Stay tuned for more updates, detailed reviews, and demonstrations as they continue to shape the future of computing with their groundbreaking products.

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoTCharbax
    Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs. One of the standout features of their product lineup is
     

Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoT

Od: Charbax
5. Červen 2023 v 09:17

Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs.

One of the standout features of their product lineup is the ARM board, which serves as the driving force behind their displays. By utilizing Rockchip and NXP as their main solutions, they ensure optimal performance and functionality. The host proudly presents a series of displays, demonstrating their capabilities and versatility.

Among the showcased displays is an all-in-one machine, which boasts two unique functions. Firstly, it serves as an all-in-one solution, providing an immersive user experience. Additionally, it features touch-plus functionality, allowing users to interact with the display effortlessly. The host explains that one of the highlights of this display is its Corona feature, eliminating the need for touch input. Instead, a sensor located inside the display accurately detects user actions. This becomes particularly useful during situations like the ongoing pandemic, where maintaining cleanliness and avoiding contact are crucial.

Moving on, the host presents more display options, emphasizing that Shenzhen AV Display doesn’t just sell individual components; they provide complete solutions. Each display is carefully designed and accompanied by a touch interface, PCB, and even their own custom-designed main board.

The video continues to explore their range of products, with the host introducing another impressive solution powered by Rockchip. This particular display features the Android operating system and is tailored for IoT applications. The host also showcases their smart display module, which comes in a compact five-inch size. It’s fascinating to see how Shenzhen AV Display offers various sizes and customization options to meet the specific requirements of their clients.

To add a touch of uniqueness, the host unveils displays with special shapes, including pottery-type and landscape-type designs. These unconventional displays not only capture attention but also provide immersive visual experiences.

During the conversation, the host reveals that Shenzhen AV Display has been attending Display Week for several years, establishing strong partnerships with renowned panel manufacturers such as BOE, Innolux. This collaboration ensures that they have access to high-quality panels, guaranteeing superior performance and reliability in their products.

Thank you for joining us on this captivating exploration of display technology with Shenzhen AV Display. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos. Stay tuned for the latest updates and advancements in the world of display!

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014Vegator
    Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsu
     

Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014

Od: Vegator
7. Květen 2015 v 14:22
Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsung LSI. The report mentions that HiSilicon, Intel and MediaTek had bigger growth than Qualcomm in 2014.

Qualcomm's strength based on Snapdragon 800 series wins in higher-tier phones


According to the report, Qualcomm's leadership was largely based on design wins for its Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 805 SoCs in the higher-tier market. Examples of this include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3. However, as I have previously reported Samsung has increased its use of in-house application processors starting from the second half of 2014, culminating in the exclusive use of Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 in 2015, putting pressure on Qualcomm.

Baseband share in 2014


Strategy Analytics has also published a report with details about baseband (modem) market share in smartphones. According to the report, LTE (4G) basebands accounted for 50% of cellular baseband share in 2014, and the figure is likely to increase significantly in 2015. Qualcomm led in LTE basebands, but HiSilicon, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek and Samsung also increased LTE baseband shipments.

In terms of revenues in the overall baseband market, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Speadtrum, Marvell and Intel had the top positions in 2104. Qualcomm had 66% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 17% and Speadtrum with 5% sare. Given the product lines of the respective companies in 2014, Qualcomm's revenues are based on both integrated SoC and separate modems, while Intel's sales were mostly separate modem chips, while the other players mostly shipped a mix of integrated SoCs and modem chips.

Comparison with 2013


Comparing with the reports that Strategy Analytics issued for 2013, Qualcomm saws it baseband revenue share remain relatively stable at 66% compared to 64% in 2013. MediaTek saw its AP market share increase from 10% in 2013 to 14% in 2014, and its baseband share increased.

Tablet processor market in 2014


According to another report issued by Strategy Analytics, the market for tablet processors grew 18% in 2014 to $4.2 billion. The top-five revenue share positions were occupied by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung LSI. Apple led with 27% share (which must be an estimate), followed by Intel with 17% and Qualcomm with 16% share.

Notable is the absence among the top five of traditional leaders in the Chinese white-box market such as Rockchip and Allwinner. This most likely reflects in increase in brand name tablet shipments at the expense of the white-box tablet market, the low selling prices of white-box tablet processor and the encroachment of MediaTek and Intel into that segment.

Source: Strategy Analytics (Smartphone AP market share), Strategy Analytics (cellular baseband market share), Strategy Analytics (Tablet processor market share)
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • China tablet processor market declines in Q1Vegator
    According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for th
     

China tablet processor market declines in Q1

Od: Vegator
6. Březen 2015 v 10:08
According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for the decline in shipments.

MediaTek leads Chinese tablet market in Q1 2015


Based on information published by DigiTimes Research, MediaTek, Rockchip, Allwinner and Intel were the top four providers of tablet processors in China, in that order, in Q4 2014. For Q1 2015, MediaTek is estimated to expand it market share by about 1% to reach 28.5%, although absolute shipments will decline significantly due to the overall market decline.

Rockchip, who was the market share leader for most of 2014, is estimated to see its market share remain stable in Q1 2015, registering a 0.6% increase according to DigiTimes Research, who did not supply a market share figure for Rockchip, although it is probably in the region of 25%. DigiTimes mentioned that Rockchip's new chips launched at the end of 2014 (which includes the Cortex-A7-based RK3126 and RK3128) have not yet reached strong shipments.

Meanwhile, Allwinner continues the trend of a steady decline a market share, being expected to have a share of 15.6% compared to 17.6% in Q4 2014. This allows it to be passed by Intel in terms of market share, with Intel's market share estimated to rise from 15% to 16.3% in Q1 2015.

Intel's global market share has increased and is significant, especially revenue share


It should be noted that in terms of global market share, Intel has a stronger position than what would be inferred just from the Chinese market due to a strong position at brand-name tablet manufacturers outside of China, such as Asus and Acer. The other chip players in the Chinese tablet processor market, especially Rockchip and Allwinner, have a weak position outside of China. Due to the higher-end nature of Intel's product mix, Intel also has a higher revenue share, whereas the sales of companies such as Allwinner are mostly concentrated in low-end processors. It has been reported that Intel is abandoning its "contra-revenue" strategy of subsidizing tablet processor sales, which it probably can afford to do because its chip solutions are fairly competitive on their own.

Global brand names gain share, use different chip suppliers


In the global tablet marker, brand name manufacturers are gaining share and dominate the dollar value of the market, also for semiconductor content. Apple and Samsung, who lead the global tablet market, use a lot of in-house chip solutions (100% in the case of Apple). Samsung also uses suppliers like Qualcomm and Marvell, who otherwise do not have a strong position in the Chinese tablet market.

MediaTek used to have strong market share among Taiwanese tablet manufacturers such as Asus and Acer. However, its market share their seems to have been eroded significantly by strong adoption of Intel's Atom SoCs at these manufacturers (who have strong ties with Intel through PC manufacturing).

Popular tablet SoCs as of Q1 2015


By analyzing the tablet models offered on Chinese e-commerce portals, one can get some idea of what SoCs are currently used the most in tablets from China. I took a look at the tablet offerings on Banggood.com.

Rockchip's RK3188 (which probably means the RK3188T variant in most cases) is still widely used. Originally a mid-range performance segment SoC, there are indications that Rockchip built a significant inventory of this SoC (which is not particularly cheap in terms of manufactuing cost) last year, and the chip has been used in cheaper models as well. Rockchip's RK3126, which is more cost-effective than RK3188, is slowly starting to appear in new tablet models.

Meanwhile, Rockchip's high-end RK3288 is used in several models from Pipo, Teclast and FNF, and these seem to be reasonably popular for a high-end product. I have some concerns about power consumption and battery life regarding these products due to the processor cores used in the SoC.

The most popular MediaTek chips used in tablets are SoCs with 3G connectivity such as the low-end dual-core MT8312 and quad-core MT8382 (the equivalent of the MT6572 and MT6582 smartphone SoCs), as well as the more performance oriented octa-core MT6592/MT8392, which provides good performance and battery-life and has moved down to lower-priced tablet models. Additionally, the new 64-bit MT8752 with 4G (equivalent to the MT6752 smartphone SoC) is starting to appear in new models (Cube, Teclast). For WiFi-only tablets, the MT8127 (which has a relatively powerful GPU for a cheap SoC) is used in some low-to-mid-range tablets.

Allwinner's A31s, which was released in 2013 but perhaps its last successful product introduction, appears to be still used for production. Low-end tablets are available with the A23 and A33 SoCs, although the A33 does not seem to have been very successful and has been affected by weakness in the low-end segment of the tablet market.

Allwinner's new octa-core A83T has started to appear in a few new models, and is probably replacing the high-end A80 Octa which is likely to have had low profit margins.

Finally, Intel's Z3735F, Z3735G and Z3736F Atom SoCs are widely used in tablets, although most prominently in higher-prices models that come equipped with Microsoft Windows.

Update (15 March): 3G smartphone chip inventory unloaded onto Chinese tablet market


In an article published on 13 March 2015, DigiTimes Research reported that due to a high inventory level of 3G smartphone solutions in China, such chips will be unloaded onto the Chinese tablet market by players such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum.

3G-enabled chip solutions for tablets are usually very similar to similar solutions for smartphones. For example, MediaTek's smartphone solutions have commonly been used in tablets, while MediaTek's official 3G-enabled tablet solutions most likely consist of a chip virtually identical to the smartphone version, with the main difference being a different model number (e.g. MT6582 vs MT8382). That MediaTek would target any excess inventory of 3G smartphone chipsets at the tablet market is not surprising.

However, I am little sceptical about the volume that may be involved. The Chinese tablet market is clearly contracting in the near term, and the volumes in the tablet market are considerably smaller than the smartphone market, even the declining 3G part of the smartphone SoC market. To put things into perspective, MediaTek's quarterly 3G smartphone chip shipments were on the order of 70 million in Q4 2014, while its 3G tablet chip shipments were probably in the range of 5 to 10 million.

The article also mentions Qualcomm, which in the past has not been a major player in the Chinese white-box tablet market. It mentions rumours that Qualcomm may form a partnership with Allwinner (which has been consistently losing market share) to penetrate the tablet market in China. The article also states that while Intel has introduced 3G tablet solutions, Intel's solutions are unlikely to be widely adopted until Intel introduces the 4G version of its Atom x3 (formerly SoFIA) platform.

Sources: DigiTimes (Q1 2015 China tablet AP market article)DigiTimes Research (smartphone chips inventory unloaded to tablet market)

Updated 15 March 2015.
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • New mobile SoCs announced at MWCVegator
    At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced. MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets. The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, accord
     

New mobile SoCs announced at MWC

Od: Vegator
2. Březen 2015 v 11:41
At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced.

MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones


MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets.

The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, according to MediaTek. Features include an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU with an unspecified number of cores. ARM's Mali-T720 GPU is positioned at a significantly lower performance bracket than the Mali-T760 used in the MT6752, positioning the MT6753 below the MT6752 in terms of cost and performance.

The MT6753 is described as being compatible with the previously announced MT6735 for entry-level smartphones. The MT6735 has four Cortex-A53 cores instead of eight but otherwise has a similar configuration with a Mali T720 GPU.

High-performance MT8173 tablet SoC uses small big.LITTLE clusters with Cortex-A72


The MT8173 is a high-performance tablet processor (without integrated modem) that utilizes ARM's new Cortex-A72 core in a big.LITTLE configuration. By using only two Cortex-A72 cores (clocked up to 2.4 GHz) as well as two Cortex-A53 cores, the chip has a lower cost than would be the case with the four-by-four core configuration commonly used for big.LITTLE designs, while still providing good performance.

The Cortex-A72 core, the successor of Cortex-A57, appears to be seeing quick adoption as Qualcomm has already announced performance-segment smartphone SoCs (Snapdragon 618 and 620) featuring the core.

MediaTek has previously used a similar two-by-two big.LITTLE configuration in its MT8135(V) tablet SoC, which has two Cortex-A15 cores and Cortex-A7 cores. This chip was used in Amazon tablets but otherwise did not see much adoption.

Other features include a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, which is part of Imagination's Series 6XT family, with higher performance and efficiency than the G6200 GPU used in chips such as the MT8135 and MT6595.

Other tablet SoCs not yet publicly announced by MediaTek


Meanwhile, tablet product announcements by Lenovo also refer to the MT8161 and MT8165 SoCs, which have not been announced. From the specifications of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 which is using it, the MT8161 appears to be a tablet SoC without modem with quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running up to 1.3 GHz, while the MT8165 (used in the Tab 2 A10) is a similar SoC with the CPU running up to 1.5 GHz. The 4G version of the Lenovo tablets come equipped with the MT8735 (Tab 2 A8) and MT8732 (Tab 2 A10). These chips are the tablet versions of the MT6735 and MT6732 smartphone SoCs.

MT6795 renamed to Helio X10


In a closed-door presentation at MWC, MediaTek also presented the Helio X10 smartphone SoC, featuring a 64-bit octa-core CPU up to 2.2 GHz, 120 Hz display refresh rate and H.265 video encode up to 4K2K @ 30 fps. A photograph of a slide taken at the presentation strongly suggests that Helio X10 is nothing other than the delayed MT6795 SoC, whose specifications closely match. Devices using this chip are likely to have already started production. MediaTek also talked about the Helio P series, a high-performance platform, which will make its way into devices before the end of the year.

Qualcomm gives preview of next-generation Snapdragon 820 SoC


In a press release, Qualcomm has given a preview of the Snapdragon 820, which utilizes Qualcomm's new custom 64-bit CPU architecture for mobile devices called Kryo. The chip will start sampling in the second half of 2015 according to Qualcomm, with devices becoming available in 2016. It will be manufactured on a next-generation FinFET process (which probably means TSMC's 16FF+, but Samsung cannot be excluded). In the press release, Qualcomm does not mention whether the chip will conform to ARM's ARMv8 instruction set architecture.

In conjuction with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm also announced the Zeroth hardware/software platform focusing on device intelligence features including video and audio recognition techniques (such as visual object and face recognition).

Intel introduces tablet and smartphone SoCs with integrated modem


Intel has finally introduced SoCs with an integrated cellular modem in its Atom system-on-a-chip product line. The former SoFIA platform has been renamed to Atom X3 and features multi-core 64-bit Atom processors with integrated 3G or 4G LTE modem technology. The following products are available:
  • Atom X3-C3130, which has dual-core Atom CPU running up to 1.0 GHz and integrates a 3G modem. It features Mali-400 MP2 GPU. Maximum display resolution is 1280x800. It appears to be in the same market segment as MediaTek's previous-generation 3G SoCs such as MT6572 and MT6582 and other SoCs that are already on the market.
  • Atom X3-C3230RK, which was developed by Intel partner Rockchip following the agreement announced last year. It has quad-core Atom CPU, integrates a 3G modem and features a Mali-450 MP4 GPU.
  • Atom X3-C3440, a quad-core Atom CPU platform that integrates a Cat 6 LTE 4G modem. It has an Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. This product appears to be one that is most likely to succeed in the market.
All feature a 32-bit memory interface with support for LPDDR2 (and DDR3/DDR3L with the X3-C3230RK). These are the first Intel products that have features (such as the integrated modem) that make them specifically suitable for the smartphone market. They also target cellular-enabled tablets.

The 3G products are a little behind the times, and their success is uncertain. It will be interesting observe whether Rockchip was able to develop the X3-C3230RK in time (one would expect Intel to have greater expertise/resources so that the other products will appear on the market first).

One notable fact is that these are among the first SoCs to integrate an ARM GPU core with a non-ARM CPU.

Intel announces first 14 nm Atom SoCs for tablets and all-in-ones


Intel also rolled out its first 14 nm Atom SoCs, the Atom x5 and x7 processor series (formely codenamed Cherry Trail) with  Intel Gen 8 graphics, targeting tablets and small screen all-in-ones.

Intel has also introduced a new stand-alone modem chip, XMM 7360, which support LTE Cat 10 and download speeds up to 450 Mbps, as well as wireless connnectivity products (including WiFi/Bluetooth, GNSS/GPS and NFC solutions).

Sources: MediaTek (MT6753 announcement), MediaTek (MT8173 announcement), Qualcomm (Snapdragon 820/Zeroth platform preview), Intel (MWC announcements), Intel Atom x3 Processor Series Brief
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC marketVegator
    Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015. Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not se
     

Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC market

Od: Vegator
17. Únor 2015 v 08:46
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015.

Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer


In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not selected the Snapdragon 810 processor for an upcoming flagship product. This is widely believed to refer to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. In fact the trend of increasing use of in-house Exynos processors already started last year, as models such as Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Note 4 already saw increasing use of Samsung's own Exynos processors, including modem technology in some cases.

Qualcomm also mentions a share shift among major OEMs that will result in relatively more modem chips as opposed to SoCs (clearly referring to Apple, which only uses Qualcom's modem chips), as well as heightened competition in China. Recently, Qualcomm also recently announced a resolution of the anti-trust investigation by authorities in China, which amounts to a reduction in the patent royalty rate it charges to customers in China.

Qualcomm's total market share currently still strong


At the moment, Qualcomm's market share for smartphone SoCs is still strong as shown by unit shipments and revenues for Q4 2014 and Qualcomm's estimates for Q1 2015, although its product mix has shifted to lower-end products. In comparison to competitor MediaTek, Qualcomm is doing much better in terms of maintaining or growing unit shipments (with Qualcomm in fact seeing a 14% increase in unit shipments in Q4 2014), suggesting that Qualcomm is taking market share from MediaTek as products such as Snapdragon 410 and the new Snapdragon 210 take over large parts of the low-end cost-sensitive market (especially in China) where MediaTek's 3G solutions where previously dominant.

MediaTek losing market share despite successful new products


Meanwhile, although MediaTek has seen widespread adoption of its new MT6752 and MT6732 SoCs with integrated LTE modem for the cost-sensitive mid-range market, the company saw lower unit shipments in Q4 2014 and predicts a 10 to 18% revenue decline for Q1 2015, suggesting its smartphone SoC shipments are under pressure. Given the fact that the new 4G chips have higher selling prices than existing 3G chips, the revenue decline probably reflects a relatively dramatic decline in shipments of existing 3G solutions, with resulting loss of total market share, although price reductions may also play a role. MediaTek has been affected especially by the late introduction of integrated 4G solutions and the lack of a low-end 4G solution and to a lesser extend the delayed introduction of the high-end MT6795.

Captive mobile SoC use becoming more important


Within the total smartphone SoC market (and also in the tablet maket), captive supply (whereby a smartphone manufacturer uses its own SoCs in its smartphone models) is becoming more important, which affects the market opportunity for companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. I already mentioned Samsung's increasing use of Exynos processors, which has a significant impact as Samsung is one of the two largest smartphone manufacturers. A major Chinese manufacturr, Huawei, is also increasingly using SoCs from its own HiSilicon division, also extending to lower end models. Apple's gains in market share also has an effect (especially on the high-end market) since it uses proprietary SoCs.

In the tablet market, the low-end and Chinese white-box market is seeing a sharp reduction in shipments in Q1 2015, with market share shifting to brand names (where captive solutions are more important, such as at Samsung) as total shipments are estimated to decline dramatically. This greatly affects traditional players in the tablet SoC market such as Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek. Intel's strategy of subsidizing tablet SoCs has also had an impact. According to DigiTimes, the total tablet market will decline 30% sequentially in Q1 2015, with estimates of a decline of 12% for the whole year 2015.


Sources: DigiTimes (tablet market article), DigiTimes (MediaTek results), Qualcomm, MediaTek

  • ✇Latest
  • More Than Half of Americans Think the First Amendment Provides Too Many RightsEmma Camp
    More than half of Americans believe the First Amendment can go too far in the rights it guarantees, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment–focused nonprofit. The survey, released on Thursday, asked 1,000 American adults a range of questions about the First Amendment, free speech, and the security of those rights. Fifty-three percent of respondents agreed with the statement "The
     

More Than Half of Americans Think the First Amendment Provides Too Many Rights

Od: Emma Camp
3. Srpen 2024 v 13:00
Megaphone | Photo 311750130 | Ai © Olga Demina | Dreamstime.com

More than half of Americans believe the First Amendment can go too far in the rights it guarantees, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment–focused nonprofit.

The survey, released on Thursday, asked 1,000 American adults a range of questions about the First Amendment, free speech, and the security of those rights. Fifty-three percent of respondents agreed with the statement "The First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees" to at least some degree, with 28 percent reporting that it "mostly" or "completely" describes their thoughts.

Americans were further divided along partisan lines. Over 60 percent of Democrats thought the First Amendment could go too far, compared to 52 percent of Republicans.

"Evidently, one out of every two Americans wishes they had fewer civil liberties," Sean Stevens, FIRE's chief research adviser, said on Thursday. "Many of them reject the right to assemble, to have a free press, and to petition the government. This is a dictator's fantasy."

Further, 1 in 5 respondents said they were "somewhat" or "very" worried about losing their job if someone complains about something they said. Eighty-three percent reported self-censoring in the past month, with 23 percent doing so "fairly" or "very" often.

Just 22 percent of respondents said they believed the right to free speech was "very" or "completely" secure. But despite these concerns, over a third said they trusted the government "somewhat," "very much," or "completely" to make fair decisions about what speech is deemed "intimidating," "threatening," "harassing," and "indecent," among other labels.

In all, almost 7 out of every 10 respondents agreed that America is going in the wrong direction when it comes to free speech—though it's not clear whether respondents think our culture and government are becoming too tolerant, or not tolerant enough, of controversial speech.

This latest survey indicates that many Americans are concerned about the security of free speech rights, yet also eager to censor speech they personally find distasteful.

"Americans have little tolerance for certain forms of protected speech and a lot of tolerance for unprotected conduct, when it should be the other way around," Stevens said. "This poll reveals that the state of free speech in America is dire."

The post More Than Half of Americans Think the First Amendment Provides Too Many Rights appeared first on Reason.com.

  • ✇Latest
  • The Wave of Political Violence Has No End in SightJ.D. Tuccille
    The recent attempted assassination of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, which resulted in the death of one rally attendee and injuries to the candidate and two others, was not an isolated event. The high profile incident occurred against a backdrop of lower-level attacks and violent protests across the country that indicate too many Americans are increasingly willing to exchange battles over ideas for fists, bullets, and firebombs. It
     

The Wave of Political Violence Has No End in Sight

2. Srpen 2024 v 13:00
Protesters in silhouette amid red and green smoke | Fedecandoniphoto | Dreamstime.com

The recent attempted assassination of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, which resulted in the death of one rally attendee and injuries to the candidate and two others, was not an isolated event. The high profile incident occurred against a backdrop of lower-level attacks and violent protests across the country that indicate too many Americans are increasingly willing to exchange battles over ideas for fists, bullets, and firebombs. It's a sign of an existential political climate in which nobody thinks they can afford to lose—or that opponents can be allowed to win.

Not-So-Isolated Incidents

"A Michigan man used an all-terrain vehicle to run over and critically injure an 80-year-old man who was putting a Trump sign in his yard, in what police have described as a politically motivated attack," the BBC reported July 23. The apparent attacker killed himself after calling police to confess to the crime.

Just days later, anti-Israel protesters vandalized property and battled police in Washington, D.C. in what has become almost a matter of routine.

The partisan Michigan attacker, the mysteriously motivated would-be assassin, and the subset of protesters who cross the line don't really represent mass endorsements of violence. They're often lone actors or extremists within their own movements. But no majority vote is required before people and property are attacked. It just takes somebody willing to get physical, and too many meet that bar.

Politics Plagued by a Violent Minority

Last month, the University of Chicago's Robert A. Pape, a professor of political science who studies political violence, released the results of a study on Americans' attitudes towards using violent means to achieve political ends. What he found is that 10 percent of respondents agree "the use of force is justified to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president." Opposing them are 6.9 percent of respondents who agree "the use of force is justified to restore Donald Trump to the presidency."

When questions about justifying violence are given broader scope, researchers find larger numbers open to its use. Last year a study from the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis found "one-third of respondents…considered violence to be usually or always justified to advance at least 1 of 17 specific political objectives," including preventing discrimination based on race or ethnicity and preserving an American way of life based on Western European traditions.

The good news is that even the larger numbers still represent a minority of the population, outnumbered by those who prefer to keep bullets and bombs out of their political discourse. The bad news is it only takes one person to target a candidate or run over a homeowner putting a sign on his lawn. And it only takes one, or a handful, to stage any of the myriad lower-profile incidents that suggest we're in a cycle of political strife.

Rising Tide of Threats and Attacks

In March, a California man pled guilty to firebombing a Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood clinic—the third suspect to do so in that crime. They had planned other attacks that were thwarted by their arrests.

In January, the Center of the American Experiment, the Upper Midwest Law Center, and TakeCharge—three Minnesota conservative groups—were targeted by arsonists in what was believed to be an act of political terrorism. The organizations are offering a $100,000 reward "for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals who started the arson fires."

A car belonging to a Portland, Oregon, city commissioner's family was torched outside his home just weeks before that. In response, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt warned "acts of political violence and acts of political vandalism are unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Gonzalez is far from alone in being violently targeted by people who disagree with him.

"The number of threats to public officials is growing," according to a May data review from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. "While 2013-2016 had an average of 38 federal charges per year, that number sharply increased to an average of 62 charges per year between 2017-2022."

The review added that ideological motivations could be confirmed for roughly half the cases, and that "the number of federal prosecutions is on pace to hit new record highs" this year.

High Stakes Politics and Rising Illiberalism

Much of this is the result of the rising tensions of recent years. Political factions have gone from opposing each other to despising each other and considering opponents too vile and dangerous to be allowed to win office and exercise power. That political leaders tear not just into each other, but into whole segments of the population they perceive as alien understandably reinforces fears of the criminal justice system and the regulatory state in the hands of enemies.

Added to that is the abandonment of liberal ideas about restrained government and tolerance by both the left and the right. In their place are thuggish ideologies that leave little room for dissent.

"On the left, a new crop of socialists hope to overthrow the liberal economic order, while the rise of intersectional identity politics has supplanted longstanding commitments to civil liberties," Reason's Stephanie Slade wrote in 2022. "On the right, support for free markets and free trade are more and more often derided as relics of a bygone century, while quasi-theocratic ideas are gathering support."

That creates an environment in which violence might become just another tactic for people who consider their causes of overriding importance. In January, The New York Times interviewed Andreas Malm, a celebrity activist who advocates for political violence on behalf of climate causes. He clarifies that he supports targeting property, not people, but "can't guarantee that it won't come with accidents."

He also thinks his opponents shouldn't be allowed to use the same tactics in return, saying "the idea that if you object to your enemy's use of a method, you therefore also have to reject your own use of this method would lead to absurd conclusions."

Malm, it should be noted, is Swedish. And that points to the fact that America isn't alone in seeing activists adopt violence as a preferred means of achieving results.

"American political violence has much in common with that taking place in Germany and India, as well as in France's most recent election," Rachel Kleinfeld recently noted in Foreign Affairs.

Shared misery is cold comfort, but it may be the only kind available right now.

The post The Wave of Political Violence Has No End in Sight appeared first on Reason.com.

  • ✇Ars Technica - All content
  • Rocket Report: Falcon 9 is back; Starship could be recovered off AustraliaStephen Clark
    Welcome to Edition 7.05 of the Rocket Report! The Federal Aviation Administration grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for 15 days after a rare failure of its upper stage earlier this month. The FAA gave the green light for Falcon 9 to return to flight July 25, and within a couple of days, SpaceX successfully launched three missions from three launch pads. There's a lot on Falcon 9's to-do list, so we expect SpaceX to quickly return to form with several flights per week. As always, we welcom
     

Rocket Report: Falcon 9 is back; Starship could be recovered off Australia

2. Srpen 2024 v 14:39

Welcome to Edition 7.05 of the Rocket Report! The Federal Aviation Administration grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for 15 days after a rare failure of its upper stage earlier this month. The FAA gave the green light for Falcon 9 to return to flight July 25, and within a couple of days, SpaceX successfully launched three missions from three launch pads. There's a lot on Falcon 9's to-do list, so we expect SpaceX to quickly return to form with several flights per week.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Big delay for a reusable rocket testbed. The French space agency, CNES, has revealed that the inaugural test flight of its Callisto reusable rocket demonstrator will not take place until late 2025 or early 2026, European Spaceflight reports. CNES unveiled an updated website for the Callisto rocket program earlier this month, showing the test rocket has been delayed from a debut launch later this year to until late 2025 or early 2026. The Callisto rocket is designed to test techniques and technologies required for reusable rockets, such as vertical takeoff and vertical landing, with suborbital flights from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

Read 19 remaining paragraphs | Comments

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC FairCharbax
    Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order. They al
     

Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC Fair

Od: Charbax
18. Říjen 2023 v 17:19

Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order.

They also do Rockchip CPU based products, the interviewee reveals that it is specifically designed for this product. They mention future releases, with plans for Gole2, Gole3, and Gole4 models, drawing a comparison to the iPhone’s naming convention.

Kelly also discusses their history of manufacturing PC sticks with gigabit Ethernet and numerous USB ports for over five years. They emphasize the price difference between using the RK3588 and Intel processors, stating that the former is slightly more expensive, about $10 USD per unit. Potential buyers are encouraged to contact them directly for the best deals.

When asked if they are the best factory for such products, the interviewee suggests testing their samples to determine their quality. They claim to have sold over a million pieces in the last seven years, with a particular focus on the new product introduced within the past two years.

Regarding the Mini PC’s stability, the interviewee assures viewers of its reliability and performance, emphasizing its fanless and compact design. They also showcase a Mini PC without a display, highlighting its affordability.

The interview moves on to other products, including waterproof and drop-proof Rock tablet PCs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes, with both Windows and Android OS options. The interviewee notes the stable RK 3399 CPU, and introduces the RK 3588 as the new and versatile processor, suitable for Mini PCs.

The video briefly features a live show of a Mini PC with an RK 3558 CPU, followed by an all-in-one PC with various ports, enabling connections to different devices. The interviewee also mentions a Russian customer’s substantial purchase of their products.

They conclude the interview by discussing a unique industrial tablet and the increasing popularity of such products at their https://www.golerugged.com despite economic challenges in some regions The interviewee acknowledges that the fanless design can cause some heat but assures viewers that it does not affect the device’s functionality. The company remains hopeful for continued growth in orders and mentions that their Shenzhen-based factory is constantly busy, with a dynamic R&D team consistently generating new ideas to market.

Distributors can contact Kelly at Gole here:
kelly@golechina.com
+8613427901718

Filmed at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair using my Panasonic G9 (I would like to update to the G9ii) with 12-60mm Leica https://amzn.to/3ZXlPDQ and the Saramonic Blink500 ProX B2R https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvi1DeQspd43hydxLddBjU8Z

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588Charbax
    Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing A
     

Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588

Od: Charbax
10. Červen 2023 v 17:17

Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing ARM-based mini PCs.

Now, you might be wondering, what exactly is Edge Computing? Well, let me shed some light on this transformative concept. Edge Computing refers to the practice of performing computation and data processing at or near the source of data generation, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers to do that work. By bringing computing power closer to the data source, Edge Computing enables faster processing, reduced latency, enhanced security, and greater autonomy in various applications. And that’s precisely what Geniatech’s new mini PCs are designed to deliver!

Let’s kick off the introduction with our first standout product, the Geniatech Case 3566. This sleek and compact mini PC boasts exceptional input and output capabilities, making it a perfect fit for Edge Computing use cases. It supports both Linux and Android operating systems, offering incredible versatility for a wide range of IoT projects. Equipped with a robust AI capability, the Case 3566 is ready to tackle complex tasks with ease.

Moving on, they have their remarkable space-saving Edge Computing box based on the RK 1126 chipset. This innovative device features not just one, but two Ethernet ports—an invaluable asset for various project requirements. Additionally, it offers USB 3 connectivity, further expanding its connectivity options. Designed with a pure Linux environment, it includes a powerful 4K encoder, allowing for seamless encoding and decoding operations. Their extensive expertise in encoding and decoding ensures optimal utilization of this feature, enabling smooth IP input and HDMI output functionality.

But wait, there’s more! Allow them to introduce their latest gem—the result of their collaboration with Rock Chip and their cutting-edge Rockchip 3588 chipset. This powerhouse mini PC sets new benchmarks in performance and capability. With two HDMI outputs capable of supporting up to 8K resolution, an HDMI input, a DP port, USB Type-C connectivity, and GPIO support, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Its impressive decoding and encoding capabilities bring unparalleled versatility, making it an indispensable asset for demanding applications. By pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally limited to x86 SOC devices, Geniatech’s new offering opens up exciting possibilities and expands the horizons of Edge Computing.

He is delighted to share that their customers have responded overwhelmingly positively to these new products. The feedback they have received thus far has been incredibly encouraging, validating their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

While they regret not being able to delve deeper into the features and functionalities of these remarkable mini PCs today, he promise to keep you updated with comprehensive insights in the near future. The world of Edge Computing is rapidly evolving, and Geniatech remains at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Thank you for joining us on this brief journey into the world of Geniatech’s Edge Computing solutions. Stay tuned for more updates, detailed reviews, and demonstrations as they continue to shape the future of computing with their groundbreaking products.

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoTCharbax
    Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs. One of the standout features of their product lineup is
     

Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoT

Od: Charbax
5. Červen 2023 v 09:17

Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs.

One of the standout features of their product lineup is the ARM board, which serves as the driving force behind their displays. By utilizing Rockchip and NXP as their main solutions, they ensure optimal performance and functionality. The host proudly presents a series of displays, demonstrating their capabilities and versatility.

Among the showcased displays is an all-in-one machine, which boasts two unique functions. Firstly, it serves as an all-in-one solution, providing an immersive user experience. Additionally, it features touch-plus functionality, allowing users to interact with the display effortlessly. The host explains that one of the highlights of this display is its Corona feature, eliminating the need for touch input. Instead, a sensor located inside the display accurately detects user actions. This becomes particularly useful during situations like the ongoing pandemic, where maintaining cleanliness and avoiding contact are crucial.

Moving on, the host presents more display options, emphasizing that Shenzhen AV Display doesn’t just sell individual components; they provide complete solutions. Each display is carefully designed and accompanied by a touch interface, PCB, and even their own custom-designed main board.

The video continues to explore their range of products, with the host introducing another impressive solution powered by Rockchip. This particular display features the Android operating system and is tailored for IoT applications. The host also showcases their smart display module, which comes in a compact five-inch size. It’s fascinating to see how Shenzhen AV Display offers various sizes and customization options to meet the specific requirements of their clients.

To add a touch of uniqueness, the host unveils displays with special shapes, including pottery-type and landscape-type designs. These unconventional displays not only capture attention but also provide immersive visual experiences.

During the conversation, the host reveals that Shenzhen AV Display has been attending Display Week for several years, establishing strong partnerships with renowned panel manufacturers such as BOE, Innolux. This collaboration ensures that they have access to high-quality panels, guaranteeing superior performance and reliability in their products.

Thank you for joining us on this captivating exploration of display technology with Shenzhen AV Display. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos. Stay tuned for the latest updates and advancements in the world of display!

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014Vegator
    Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsu
     

Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014

Od: Vegator
7. Květen 2015 v 14:22
Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsung LSI. The report mentions that HiSilicon, Intel and MediaTek had bigger growth than Qualcomm in 2014.

Qualcomm's strength based on Snapdragon 800 series wins in higher-tier phones


According to the report, Qualcomm's leadership was largely based on design wins for its Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 805 SoCs in the higher-tier market. Examples of this include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3. However, as I have previously reported Samsung has increased its use of in-house application processors starting from the second half of 2014, culminating in the exclusive use of Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 in 2015, putting pressure on Qualcomm.

Baseband share in 2014


Strategy Analytics has also published a report with details about baseband (modem) market share in smartphones. According to the report, LTE (4G) basebands accounted for 50% of cellular baseband share in 2014, and the figure is likely to increase significantly in 2015. Qualcomm led in LTE basebands, but HiSilicon, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek and Samsung also increased LTE baseband shipments.

In terms of revenues in the overall baseband market, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Speadtrum, Marvell and Intel had the top positions in 2104. Qualcomm had 66% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 17% and Speadtrum with 5% sare. Given the product lines of the respective companies in 2014, Qualcomm's revenues are based on both integrated SoC and separate modems, while Intel's sales were mostly separate modem chips, while the other players mostly shipped a mix of integrated SoCs and modem chips.

Comparison with 2013


Comparing with the reports that Strategy Analytics issued for 2013, Qualcomm saws it baseband revenue share remain relatively stable at 66% compared to 64% in 2013. MediaTek saw its AP market share increase from 10% in 2013 to 14% in 2014, and its baseband share increased.

Tablet processor market in 2014


According to another report issued by Strategy Analytics, the market for tablet processors grew 18% in 2014 to $4.2 billion. The top-five revenue share positions were occupied by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung LSI. Apple led with 27% share (which must be an estimate), followed by Intel with 17% and Qualcomm with 16% share.

Notable is the absence among the top five of traditional leaders in the Chinese white-box market such as Rockchip and Allwinner. This most likely reflects in increase in brand name tablet shipments at the expense of the white-box tablet market, the low selling prices of white-box tablet processor and the encroachment of MediaTek and Intel into that segment.

Source: Strategy Analytics (Smartphone AP market share), Strategy Analytics (cellular baseband market share), Strategy Analytics (Tablet processor market share)
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • China tablet processor market declines in Q1Vegator
    According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for th
     

China tablet processor market declines in Q1

Od: Vegator
6. Březen 2015 v 10:08
According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for the decline in shipments.

MediaTek leads Chinese tablet market in Q1 2015


Based on information published by DigiTimes Research, MediaTek, Rockchip, Allwinner and Intel were the top four providers of tablet processors in China, in that order, in Q4 2014. For Q1 2015, MediaTek is estimated to expand it market share by about 1% to reach 28.5%, although absolute shipments will decline significantly due to the overall market decline.

Rockchip, who was the market share leader for most of 2014, is estimated to see its market share remain stable in Q1 2015, registering a 0.6% increase according to DigiTimes Research, who did not supply a market share figure for Rockchip, although it is probably in the region of 25%. DigiTimes mentioned that Rockchip's new chips launched at the end of 2014 (which includes the Cortex-A7-based RK3126 and RK3128) have not yet reached strong shipments.

Meanwhile, Allwinner continues the trend of a steady decline a market share, being expected to have a share of 15.6% compared to 17.6% in Q4 2014. This allows it to be passed by Intel in terms of market share, with Intel's market share estimated to rise from 15% to 16.3% in Q1 2015.

Intel's global market share has increased and is significant, especially revenue share


It should be noted that in terms of global market share, Intel has a stronger position than what would be inferred just from the Chinese market due to a strong position at brand-name tablet manufacturers outside of China, such as Asus and Acer. The other chip players in the Chinese tablet processor market, especially Rockchip and Allwinner, have a weak position outside of China. Due to the higher-end nature of Intel's product mix, Intel also has a higher revenue share, whereas the sales of companies such as Allwinner are mostly concentrated in low-end processors. It has been reported that Intel is abandoning its "contra-revenue" strategy of subsidizing tablet processor sales, which it probably can afford to do because its chip solutions are fairly competitive on their own.

Global brand names gain share, use different chip suppliers


In the global tablet marker, brand name manufacturers are gaining share and dominate the dollar value of the market, also for semiconductor content. Apple and Samsung, who lead the global tablet market, use a lot of in-house chip solutions (100% in the case of Apple). Samsung also uses suppliers like Qualcomm and Marvell, who otherwise do not have a strong position in the Chinese tablet market.

MediaTek used to have strong market share among Taiwanese tablet manufacturers such as Asus and Acer. However, its market share their seems to have been eroded significantly by strong adoption of Intel's Atom SoCs at these manufacturers (who have strong ties with Intel through PC manufacturing).

Popular tablet SoCs as of Q1 2015


By analyzing the tablet models offered on Chinese e-commerce portals, one can get some idea of what SoCs are currently used the most in tablets from China. I took a look at the tablet offerings on Banggood.com.

Rockchip's RK3188 (which probably means the RK3188T variant in most cases) is still widely used. Originally a mid-range performance segment SoC, there are indications that Rockchip built a significant inventory of this SoC (which is not particularly cheap in terms of manufactuing cost) last year, and the chip has been used in cheaper models as well. Rockchip's RK3126, which is more cost-effective than RK3188, is slowly starting to appear in new tablet models.

Meanwhile, Rockchip's high-end RK3288 is used in several models from Pipo, Teclast and FNF, and these seem to be reasonably popular for a high-end product. I have some concerns about power consumption and battery life regarding these products due to the processor cores used in the SoC.

The most popular MediaTek chips used in tablets are SoCs with 3G connectivity such as the low-end dual-core MT8312 and quad-core MT8382 (the equivalent of the MT6572 and MT6582 smartphone SoCs), as well as the more performance oriented octa-core MT6592/MT8392, which provides good performance and battery-life and has moved down to lower-priced tablet models. Additionally, the new 64-bit MT8752 with 4G (equivalent to the MT6752 smartphone SoC) is starting to appear in new models (Cube, Teclast). For WiFi-only tablets, the MT8127 (which has a relatively powerful GPU for a cheap SoC) is used in some low-to-mid-range tablets.

Allwinner's A31s, which was released in 2013 but perhaps its last successful product introduction, appears to be still used for production. Low-end tablets are available with the A23 and A33 SoCs, although the A33 does not seem to have been very successful and has been affected by weakness in the low-end segment of the tablet market.

Allwinner's new octa-core A83T has started to appear in a few new models, and is probably replacing the high-end A80 Octa which is likely to have had low profit margins.

Finally, Intel's Z3735F, Z3735G and Z3736F Atom SoCs are widely used in tablets, although most prominently in higher-prices models that come equipped with Microsoft Windows.

Update (15 March): 3G smartphone chip inventory unloaded onto Chinese tablet market


In an article published on 13 March 2015, DigiTimes Research reported that due to a high inventory level of 3G smartphone solutions in China, such chips will be unloaded onto the Chinese tablet market by players such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum.

3G-enabled chip solutions for tablets are usually very similar to similar solutions for smartphones. For example, MediaTek's smartphone solutions have commonly been used in tablets, while MediaTek's official 3G-enabled tablet solutions most likely consist of a chip virtually identical to the smartphone version, with the main difference being a different model number (e.g. MT6582 vs MT8382). That MediaTek would target any excess inventory of 3G smartphone chipsets at the tablet market is not surprising.

However, I am little sceptical about the volume that may be involved. The Chinese tablet market is clearly contracting in the near term, and the volumes in the tablet market are considerably smaller than the smartphone market, even the declining 3G part of the smartphone SoC market. To put things into perspective, MediaTek's quarterly 3G smartphone chip shipments were on the order of 70 million in Q4 2014, while its 3G tablet chip shipments were probably in the range of 5 to 10 million.

The article also mentions Qualcomm, which in the past has not been a major player in the Chinese white-box tablet market. It mentions rumours that Qualcomm may form a partnership with Allwinner (which has been consistently losing market share) to penetrate the tablet market in China. The article also states that while Intel has introduced 3G tablet solutions, Intel's solutions are unlikely to be widely adopted until Intel introduces the 4G version of its Atom x3 (formerly SoFIA) platform.

Sources: DigiTimes (Q1 2015 China tablet AP market article)DigiTimes Research (smartphone chips inventory unloaded to tablet market)

Updated 15 March 2015.
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • New mobile SoCs announced at MWCVegator
    At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced. MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets. The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, accord
     

New mobile SoCs announced at MWC

Od: Vegator
2. Březen 2015 v 11:41
At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced.

MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones


MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets.

The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, according to MediaTek. Features include an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU with an unspecified number of cores. ARM's Mali-T720 GPU is positioned at a significantly lower performance bracket than the Mali-T760 used in the MT6752, positioning the MT6753 below the MT6752 in terms of cost and performance.

The MT6753 is described as being compatible with the previously announced MT6735 for entry-level smartphones. The MT6735 has four Cortex-A53 cores instead of eight but otherwise has a similar configuration with a Mali T720 GPU.

High-performance MT8173 tablet SoC uses small big.LITTLE clusters with Cortex-A72


The MT8173 is a high-performance tablet processor (without integrated modem) that utilizes ARM's new Cortex-A72 core in a big.LITTLE configuration. By using only two Cortex-A72 cores (clocked up to 2.4 GHz) as well as two Cortex-A53 cores, the chip has a lower cost than would be the case with the four-by-four core configuration commonly used for big.LITTLE designs, while still providing good performance.

The Cortex-A72 core, the successor of Cortex-A57, appears to be seeing quick adoption as Qualcomm has already announced performance-segment smartphone SoCs (Snapdragon 618 and 620) featuring the core.

MediaTek has previously used a similar two-by-two big.LITTLE configuration in its MT8135(V) tablet SoC, which has two Cortex-A15 cores and Cortex-A7 cores. This chip was used in Amazon tablets but otherwise did not see much adoption.

Other features include a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, which is part of Imagination's Series 6XT family, with higher performance and efficiency than the G6200 GPU used in chips such as the MT8135 and MT6595.

Other tablet SoCs not yet publicly announced by MediaTek


Meanwhile, tablet product announcements by Lenovo also refer to the MT8161 and MT8165 SoCs, which have not been announced. From the specifications of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 which is using it, the MT8161 appears to be a tablet SoC without modem with quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running up to 1.3 GHz, while the MT8165 (used in the Tab 2 A10) is a similar SoC with the CPU running up to 1.5 GHz. The 4G version of the Lenovo tablets come equipped with the MT8735 (Tab 2 A8) and MT8732 (Tab 2 A10). These chips are the tablet versions of the MT6735 and MT6732 smartphone SoCs.

MT6795 renamed to Helio X10


In a closed-door presentation at MWC, MediaTek also presented the Helio X10 smartphone SoC, featuring a 64-bit octa-core CPU up to 2.2 GHz, 120 Hz display refresh rate and H.265 video encode up to 4K2K @ 30 fps. A photograph of a slide taken at the presentation strongly suggests that Helio X10 is nothing other than the delayed MT6795 SoC, whose specifications closely match. Devices using this chip are likely to have already started production. MediaTek also talked about the Helio P series, a high-performance platform, which will make its way into devices before the end of the year.

Qualcomm gives preview of next-generation Snapdragon 820 SoC


In a press release, Qualcomm has given a preview of the Snapdragon 820, which utilizes Qualcomm's new custom 64-bit CPU architecture for mobile devices called Kryo. The chip will start sampling in the second half of 2015 according to Qualcomm, with devices becoming available in 2016. It will be manufactured on a next-generation FinFET process (which probably means TSMC's 16FF+, but Samsung cannot be excluded). In the press release, Qualcomm does not mention whether the chip will conform to ARM's ARMv8 instruction set architecture.

In conjuction with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm also announced the Zeroth hardware/software platform focusing on device intelligence features including video and audio recognition techniques (such as visual object and face recognition).

Intel introduces tablet and smartphone SoCs with integrated modem


Intel has finally introduced SoCs with an integrated cellular modem in its Atom system-on-a-chip product line. The former SoFIA platform has been renamed to Atom X3 and features multi-core 64-bit Atom processors with integrated 3G or 4G LTE modem technology. The following products are available:
  • Atom X3-C3130, which has dual-core Atom CPU running up to 1.0 GHz and integrates a 3G modem. It features Mali-400 MP2 GPU. Maximum display resolution is 1280x800. It appears to be in the same market segment as MediaTek's previous-generation 3G SoCs such as MT6572 and MT6582 and other SoCs that are already on the market.
  • Atom X3-C3230RK, which was developed by Intel partner Rockchip following the agreement announced last year. It has quad-core Atom CPU, integrates a 3G modem and features a Mali-450 MP4 GPU.
  • Atom X3-C3440, a quad-core Atom CPU platform that integrates a Cat 6 LTE 4G modem. It has an Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. This product appears to be one that is most likely to succeed in the market.
All feature a 32-bit memory interface with support for LPDDR2 (and DDR3/DDR3L with the X3-C3230RK). These are the first Intel products that have features (such as the integrated modem) that make them specifically suitable for the smartphone market. They also target cellular-enabled tablets.

The 3G products are a little behind the times, and their success is uncertain. It will be interesting observe whether Rockchip was able to develop the X3-C3230RK in time (one would expect Intel to have greater expertise/resources so that the other products will appear on the market first).

One notable fact is that these are among the first SoCs to integrate an ARM GPU core with a non-ARM CPU.

Intel announces first 14 nm Atom SoCs for tablets and all-in-ones


Intel also rolled out its first 14 nm Atom SoCs, the Atom x5 and x7 processor series (formely codenamed Cherry Trail) with  Intel Gen 8 graphics, targeting tablets and small screen all-in-ones.

Intel has also introduced a new stand-alone modem chip, XMM 7360, which support LTE Cat 10 and download speeds up to 450 Mbps, as well as wireless connnectivity products (including WiFi/Bluetooth, GNSS/GPS and NFC solutions).

Sources: MediaTek (MT6753 announcement), MediaTek (MT8173 announcement), Qualcomm (Snapdragon 820/Zeroth platform preview), Intel (MWC announcements), Intel Atom x3 Processor Series Brief
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC marketVegator
    Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015. Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not se
     

Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC market

Od: Vegator
17. Únor 2015 v 08:46
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015.

Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer


In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not selected the Snapdragon 810 processor for an upcoming flagship product. This is widely believed to refer to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. In fact the trend of increasing use of in-house Exynos processors already started last year, as models such as Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Note 4 already saw increasing use of Samsung's own Exynos processors, including modem technology in some cases.

Qualcomm also mentions a share shift among major OEMs that will result in relatively more modem chips as opposed to SoCs (clearly referring to Apple, which only uses Qualcom's modem chips), as well as heightened competition in China. Recently, Qualcomm also recently announced a resolution of the anti-trust investigation by authorities in China, which amounts to a reduction in the patent royalty rate it charges to customers in China.

Qualcomm's total market share currently still strong


At the moment, Qualcomm's market share for smartphone SoCs is still strong as shown by unit shipments and revenues for Q4 2014 and Qualcomm's estimates for Q1 2015, although its product mix has shifted to lower-end products. In comparison to competitor MediaTek, Qualcomm is doing much better in terms of maintaining or growing unit shipments (with Qualcomm in fact seeing a 14% increase in unit shipments in Q4 2014), suggesting that Qualcomm is taking market share from MediaTek as products such as Snapdragon 410 and the new Snapdragon 210 take over large parts of the low-end cost-sensitive market (especially in China) where MediaTek's 3G solutions where previously dominant.

MediaTek losing market share despite successful new products


Meanwhile, although MediaTek has seen widespread adoption of its new MT6752 and MT6732 SoCs with integrated LTE modem for the cost-sensitive mid-range market, the company saw lower unit shipments in Q4 2014 and predicts a 10 to 18% revenue decline for Q1 2015, suggesting its smartphone SoC shipments are under pressure. Given the fact that the new 4G chips have higher selling prices than existing 3G chips, the revenue decline probably reflects a relatively dramatic decline in shipments of existing 3G solutions, with resulting loss of total market share, although price reductions may also play a role. MediaTek has been affected especially by the late introduction of integrated 4G solutions and the lack of a low-end 4G solution and to a lesser extend the delayed introduction of the high-end MT6795.

Captive mobile SoC use becoming more important


Within the total smartphone SoC market (and also in the tablet maket), captive supply (whereby a smartphone manufacturer uses its own SoCs in its smartphone models) is becoming more important, which affects the market opportunity for companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. I already mentioned Samsung's increasing use of Exynos processors, which has a significant impact as Samsung is one of the two largest smartphone manufacturers. A major Chinese manufacturr, Huawei, is also increasingly using SoCs from its own HiSilicon division, also extending to lower end models. Apple's gains in market share also has an effect (especially on the high-end market) since it uses proprietary SoCs.

In the tablet market, the low-end and Chinese white-box market is seeing a sharp reduction in shipments in Q1 2015, with market share shifting to brand names (where captive solutions are more important, such as at Samsung) as total shipments are estimated to decline dramatically. This greatly affects traditional players in the tablet SoC market such as Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek. Intel's strategy of subsidizing tablet SoCs has also had an impact. According to DigiTimes, the total tablet market will decline 30% sequentially in Q1 2015, with estimates of a decline of 12% for the whole year 2015.


Sources: DigiTimes (tablet market article), DigiTimes (MediaTek results), Qualcomm, MediaTek

Galaxy S25’s Chip: Will Samsung Return to Exynos?

Od: Abdullah
24. Červen 2024 v 10:58
Galaxy S25 battery

Samsung’s Galaxy S series has consistently been a frontrunner in the premium smartphone market, offering cutting-edge technology and refined user experiences. As anticipation builds for ...

The post Galaxy S25’s Chip: Will Samsung Return to Exynos? appeared first on Gizchina.com.

  • ✇Latest
  • The Stop Comstock Act Doesn't Go Far EnoughElizabeth Nolan Brown
    New legislation would repeal parts of the Comstock Act, a Victorian-era law that's being revived to attack abortion pills. Passed in 1873, the Comstock Act was a big deal in earlier eras, sending people to prison for publishing information about birth control, critiques of marriage, and more. The law is vague and broad, banning the mailing of any "article, matter, thing, device, or substance" that the government deems "obscene, lewd, lascivious,
     

The Stop Comstock Act Doesn't Go Far Enough

21. Červen 2024 v 20:05
Packet of mifepristone and misoprostol tablets | Comstock image: DPST/Newscom;  Pills: Soumyabrata Roy/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

New legislation would repeal parts of the Comstock Act, a Victorian-era law that's being revived to attack abortion pills.

Passed in 1873, the Comstock Act was a big deal in earlier eras, sending people to prison for publishing information about birth control, critiques of marriage, and more.

The law is vague and broad, banning the mailing of any "article, matter, thing, device, or substance" that the government deems "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile," along with anything "designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use." Essentially, the Comstock Act weaponizes the U.S. Postal Service to give the federal government an in against things that otherwise wouldn't be its business.

"Anthony Comstock, the law's namesake and an anti-smut crusader, lobbied for and personally enforced the law as a special agent of the U.S. Postal Service," noted the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) lawyer Robert Corn-Revere in a recent piece for Reason about efforts to posthumously pardon publisher D.M. Bennett. "Under the law's broad mandate, everything that Comstock considered immoral was by definition obscene and, therefore, illegal. Comstock's concept of immorality included blasphemy, sensational novels and news stories, art, and even scientific and medical texts." (You can read more about Comstock, "the prodigal censor," here.)

The Comstock Act lay dormant for a while, rendered toothless in part by court interpretations of the First Amendment that were more vigorously protective of free speech. But these days, activists and politicians opposed to abortion are trying to revive the law, seeing its potential usefulness in going after mifepristone and misoprostol, the two-pill regimen approved to end first-trimester pregnancies.

The resurgence of interest in the Comstock Act underscores the need to repeal bad laws, not simply assume them defanged by decades of latency.

The Biden administration certainly isn't going to start prosecuting people under the Comstock Act, but a more conservative future administration could. "[Donald] Trumps' [sic] advisors are…arguing that the Comstock Act is a de facto national abortion ban already on the books," says Madison Roberts, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "They are wrong. The Department of Justice has made clear and federal appeals courts have uniformly held for almost a century that the Comstock Act does not apply to legal abortion care. But anti-abortion extremists have manipulated the law to ban abortion before, and there's no reason to think they won't try it again."

Moreover, the law was cited in a legal challenge to abortion pills and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to let them be sent via mail. The district judge who first heard the case (and sided with the plaintiffs) wrote that "dispensing of chemical abortion drugs through mail violates unambiguous federal criminal law." That case was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court last week on procedural grounds, but it certainly won't be the last attempt to stop the prescription and mailing of abortion pills. Nor is it likely to be the last time Comstock is invoked for this purpose—unless the act is revised or repealed.

"It is too dangerous to leave this law on the books," Sen. Tina Smith (D–Minn.) said in a statement.

The Stop Comstock Act, which Smith is slated to introduce soon (no draft has been released yet, however), would repeal the parts of the law "that could be used by an anti-abortion administration to ban the mailing of mifepristone and other drugs used in medication abortions, instruments and equipment used in abortions, and educational material related to sexual health," per Smith's press release. A companion bill will be introduced in the House by Rep. Becca Balint (D–Vt.).

This is good, but not far enough, if it only partially repeals the law.

Why stop with repealing the parts that could be used to target abortion? The Comstock Act's reach is much more broad than that, and every bit could do some damage in the wrong hands.

Here's the full spate of things that the Comstock Act declares criminal to mail:

Every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use; and

Every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral purpose; and

Every written or printed card, letter, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any kind giving information, directly or indirectly, where, or how, or from whom, or by what means any of such mentioned matters, articles, or things may be obtained or made, or where or by whom any act or operation of any kind for the procuring or producing of abortion will be done or performed, or how or by what means abortion may be produced, whether sealed or unsealed; and

Every paper, writing, advertisement, or representation that any article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing may, or can, be used or applied for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral purpose; and

Every description calculated to induce or incite a person to so use or apply any such article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing.

It's time to repeal the whole thing.

Today, it's only the abortion part of the law that people are trying to revive. But a few years ago, most of us weren't expecting a Comstock revival at all. Who's to say that a few years from now, people won't try to use it against all sorts of information, art, etc. that they don't like?

If we want to stop the Comstock Act from ever again being used to suppress speech, restrict access to contraceptives, punish people for homosexuality, and more, then we need to stop the Comstock Act entirely.

The post The Stop Comstock Act Doesn't Go Far Enough appeared first on Reason.com.

  • ✇American Civil Liberties Union
  • "Taking Pride in Who We Are"Larissa Hubbard
    A freshly pressed tuxedo shirt. A black bowtie and a crisp black tuxedo jacket, topped off by my curly red afro. On that day last fall, I knew I looked good. I felt like myself. I was so excited to take my senior class portrait. It was a rite of passage I’d been looking forward to for a long time. I think back fondly on the memories I made at Harrison Central High School in Mississippi. I loved playing basketball with the Red Rebelettes, volunteering with the honor societies, or having so much f
     

"Taking Pride in Who We Are"

21. Červen 2024 v 20:11

A freshly pressed tuxedo shirt. A black bowtie and a crisp black tuxedo jacket, topped off by my curly red afro. On that day last fall, I knew I looked good. I felt like myself. I was so excited to take my senior class portrait. It was a rite of passage I’d been looking forward to for a long time.

I think back fondly on the memories I made at Harrison Central High School in Mississippi. I loved playing basketball with the Red Rebelettes, volunteering with the honor societies, or having so much fun with my friends. I take pride in my accomplishments and experiences.

Most of all, I am immensely proud of who I am – a gay woman of color.

I was eager to take my senior portrait for the yearbook and create a keepsake for my friends, family, and high school community to remember me for years to come.

With my school’s approval, my mom and I scheduled my portrait appointment at the local photography studio. When I arrived, the photographer told me that if I wore my tuxedo then my senior portrait would not be included in the yearbook. I was told my school district required girls to wear a drape – a black off-the-shoulder top that mimics the look of a formal gown. Only boys could wear tuxedos.

I was devastated.

Throughout high school I consistently wore traditionally masculine clothing. Wearing masculine clothing is a central part of the way I express my gender and my sexual orientation. I could not believe that based on my sex, I would be forced to either wear a drape, or have my senior portrait excluded from the yearbook.

My mom and I decided that I would not accept this unfair and sexist rule. I held firm and took my senior portrait – a photograph meant to represent me – in my tuxedo.

When my mom contacted Harrison County Superintendent Mitchell King to ask for my portrait to be included in the yearbook, she got an outright rejection. Superintendent King insisted on enforcing the school district’s requirement that girls must wear drapes for their senior portraits.

My mom kept fighting for my rights. She bought a full-page senior ad and included my senior portrait in it. But in late March, a school staff member told my mom that the principal hadn’t approved the use of my portrait in the ad yet.

By this time, I’d attended my senior prom, wearing – you guessed it – a tuxedo. I received nothing but compliments. No one said that my attire violated the dress code. I was utterly confused at this point. What was so wrong about me wearing a tuxedo in my senior portrait?

When I received my yearbook, I discovered that the school district had deleted me from the graduating senior section of the yearbook entirely. Not only did they refuse to use my portrait, they also refused to print my name, academic honors, sports, or activities. They deleted my portrait from the ad my mom paid for in the yearbook. It was as if my time at Harrison Central never happened.

Not being recognized in the yearbook really hurt. When I look at the senior section today, I see all my peers, I see where my name and accomplishments should have been, and yet I am not there. It feels like the school district erased who I am and what I have achieved.

Despite what happened with the yearbook, I was so excited for my graduation ceremony. I was going to graduate with high honors and experience this once-in-a-lifetime event. As the crowd waited for the seniors to walk the stage, the school played a slideshow with portraits of each member of the graduating class. My family eagerly waited to see my portrait, but it never came. The slideshow skipped right past me.

While I have happy memories of celebrating with my family, it still hurts that the school excluded my portrait from the graduation ceremony. But I won’t let the school – or anyone – stop me from choosing to be myself. The school has no right to try to shame me or erase me or my pride. I am looking ahead to brighter times, starting with playing basketball and studying sports management in college.

I am also committed to ensuring that the next student who shows up at the portrait studio is free to choose a tuxedo or a drape for their senior portrait based on who they are, not who the school thinks they should be. That’s why I joined other Harrison County students in fighting back against the School District’s discriminatory actions by filing a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. No student should be forced to conform to rigid sex stereotypes to take part in high school, let alone at capstone events like the yearbook and graduation.

You only graduate from high school once. Together with the ACLU and the community that supports my authentic self-expression, we won’t let schools silence, exclude, or erase us for taking pride in who we are and daring to be ourselves.

  • ✇GAME PRESS
  • Mario and Luigi: Brothership oznámeno, na trh se dostane v listopadu tohoto rokuAdam Jacik
    Série Mario a Luigi byla téměř deset let nezvěstná, naposledy se dočkala nového dílu v roce 2015 (remaky nevyjímaje), ale Nintendo to konečně napravilo. V návaznosti na nedávné vydání Mario RPG v podobě několika remaků se Super Mario RPG a Paper Mario: Tisícleté dveře, nyní společnost oznámila Mario and Luigi: Brothership. Mario and Luigi: Brothership je zbrusu nový přírůstek do série a ano, jedná se o plnohodnotné RPG, pokud se fanoušci řady Paper Mario obávají, že by tomu tak nemuselo být. Ve
     

Mario and Luigi: Brothership oznámeno, na trh se dostane v listopadu tohoto roku

19. Červen 2024 v 07:46

Série Mario a Luigi byla téměř deset let nezvěstná, naposledy se dočkala nového dílu v roce 2015 (remaky nevyjímaje), ale Nintendo to konečně napravilo.

V návaznosti na nedávné vydání Mario RPG v podobě několika remaků se Super Mario RPG a Paper Mario: Tisícleté dveře, nyní společnost oznámila Mario and Luigi: Brothership.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership je zbrusu nový přírůstek do série a ano, jedná se o plnohodnotné RPG, pokud se fanoušci řady Paper Mario obávají, že by tomu tak nemuselo být. Ve hře budou hráči cestovat na tajemné ostrovy a odhalovat jejich tajemství. Vrátí se také řada oblíbených a známých postav, včetně takových, jako je Bowser a princezna Peach, přičemž kombinované útoky a pohyby Maria a Luigiho v boji i mimo něj se také dočkaly několika vylepšení. Podívejte se na trailer níže, kde najdete další podrobnosti.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership vyjde pro Nintendo Switch 7. listopadu. Zatím není známo, kdo hru vyvíjí, protože bývalý vývojář série AlphaDream ukončil v roce 2019 činnost. Zůstaňte naladěni na další podrobnosti.

Článek Mario and Luigi: Brothership oznámeno, na trh se dostane v listopadu tohoto roku se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC FairCharbax
    Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order. They al
     

Latest Gole1 Mini PC, Rugged Tablets, Fanless Mini PC, Intel and Rockchip based at HKTDC Fair

Od: Charbax
18. Říjen 2023 v 17:19

Kelly from Gole presents their latest Gole1 Mini PC, featuring an Intel processor. I launched the Gole1 for them 7 years ago here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B0E9Zp4Ffc The device boasts various connectivity options such as Micro SD, USB, HDMI, and gigabit Ethernet. Kelly mentions that this product was initially launched seven years ago, with several updates and models released over the years. The latest version is currently priced at around $250 USD, with discounts for bulk order.

They also do Rockchip CPU based products, the interviewee reveals that it is specifically designed for this product. They mention future releases, with plans for Gole2, Gole3, and Gole4 models, drawing a comparison to the iPhone’s naming convention.

Kelly also discusses their history of manufacturing PC sticks with gigabit Ethernet and numerous USB ports for over five years. They emphasize the price difference between using the RK3588 and Intel processors, stating that the former is slightly more expensive, about $10 USD per unit. Potential buyers are encouraged to contact them directly for the best deals.

When asked if they are the best factory for such products, the interviewee suggests testing their samples to determine their quality. They claim to have sold over a million pieces in the last seven years, with a particular focus on the new product introduced within the past two years.

Regarding the Mini PC’s stability, the interviewee assures viewers of its reliability and performance, emphasizing its fanless and compact design. They also showcase a Mini PC without a display, highlighting its affordability.

The interview moves on to other products, including waterproof and drop-proof Rock tablet PCs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch sizes, with both Windows and Android OS options. The interviewee notes the stable RK 3399 CPU, and introduces the RK 3588 as the new and versatile processor, suitable for Mini PCs.

The video briefly features a live show of a Mini PC with an RK 3558 CPU, followed by an all-in-one PC with various ports, enabling connections to different devices. The interviewee also mentions a Russian customer’s substantial purchase of their products.

They conclude the interview by discussing a unique industrial tablet and the increasing popularity of such products at their https://www.golerugged.com despite economic challenges in some regions The interviewee acknowledges that the fanless design can cause some heat but assures viewers that it does not affect the device’s functionality. The company remains hopeful for continued growth in orders and mentions that their Shenzhen-based factory is constantly busy, with a dynamic R&D team consistently generating new ideas to market.

Distributors can contact Kelly at Gole here:
kelly@golechina.com
+8613427901718

Filmed at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair using my Panasonic G9 (I would like to update to the G9ii) with 12-60mm Leica https://amzn.to/3ZXlPDQ and the Saramonic Blink500 ProX B2R https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvi1DeQspd43hydxLddBjU8Z

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588Charbax
    Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing A
     

Geniatech ARM-Based Mini PC Edge Computing at Computex 2023, Rockchip RK3566/3588

Od: Charbax
10. Červen 2023 v 17:17

Geniatech is happy to reconnect with the Computex audience after a strange gap of four years. During this time, Geniatech has been hard at work, engaging in numerous productive meetings with their esteemed customers. Although they have only a brief five minutes before they have to head to the airport, they am determined to utilize this time efficiently and provide you with an overview of several groundbreaking products that Geniatech has developed—specifically, their new line of Edge Computing ARM-based mini PCs.

Now, you might be wondering, what exactly is Edge Computing? Well, let me shed some light on this transformative concept. Edge Computing refers to the practice of performing computation and data processing at or near the source of data generation, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud servers to do that work. By bringing computing power closer to the data source, Edge Computing enables faster processing, reduced latency, enhanced security, and greater autonomy in various applications. And that’s precisely what Geniatech’s new mini PCs are designed to deliver!

Let’s kick off the introduction with our first standout product, the Geniatech Case 3566. This sleek and compact mini PC boasts exceptional input and output capabilities, making it a perfect fit for Edge Computing use cases. It supports both Linux and Android operating systems, offering incredible versatility for a wide range of IoT projects. Equipped with a robust AI capability, the Case 3566 is ready to tackle complex tasks with ease.

Moving on, they have their remarkable space-saving Edge Computing box based on the RK 1126 chipset. This innovative device features not just one, but two Ethernet ports—an invaluable asset for various project requirements. Additionally, it offers USB 3 connectivity, further expanding its connectivity options. Designed with a pure Linux environment, it includes a powerful 4K encoder, allowing for seamless encoding and decoding operations. Their extensive expertise in encoding and decoding ensures optimal utilization of this feature, enabling smooth IP input and HDMI output functionality.

But wait, there’s more! Allow them to introduce their latest gem—the result of their collaboration with Rock Chip and their cutting-edge Rockchip 3588 chipset. This powerhouse mini PC sets new benchmarks in performance and capability. With two HDMI outputs capable of supporting up to 8K resolution, an HDMI input, a DP port, USB Type-C connectivity, and GPIO support, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Its impressive decoding and encoding capabilities bring unparalleled versatility, making it an indispensable asset for demanding applications. By pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally limited to x86 SOC devices, Geniatech’s new offering opens up exciting possibilities and expands the horizons of Edge Computing.

He is delighted to share that their customers have responded overwhelmingly positively to these new products. The feedback they have received thus far has been incredibly encouraging, validating their commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

While they regret not being able to delve deeper into the features and functionalities of these remarkable mini PCs today, he promise to keep you updated with comprehensive insights in the near future. The world of Edge Computing is rapidly evolving, and Geniatech remains at the forefront of this technological revolution.

Thank you for joining us on this brief journey into the world of Geniatech’s Edge Computing solutions. Stay tuned for more updates, detailed reviews, and demonstrations as they continue to shape the future of computing with their groundbreaking products.

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇ARMdevices.net
  • Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoTCharbax
    Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs. One of the standout features of their product lineup is
     

Shenzhen AV Display at Display Week 2023, Hover Touch, Rockchip, NXP Display Driver Boards, IoT

Od: Charbax
5. Červen 2023 v 09:17

Shenzhen AV Display as they showcase their cutting-edge products and solutions at Display Week 2023 Let’s dive right in Our host introduces herself as the representative from the sales department at Shenzhen AV Display. She takes us through their impressive range of integrated display solutions, highlighting how they provide a total package to their customers. From displays to PCBs, they offer a seamless system that caters to various needs.

One of the standout features of their product lineup is the ARM board, which serves as the driving force behind their displays. By utilizing Rockchip and NXP as their main solutions, they ensure optimal performance and functionality. The host proudly presents a series of displays, demonstrating their capabilities and versatility.

Among the showcased displays is an all-in-one machine, which boasts two unique functions. Firstly, it serves as an all-in-one solution, providing an immersive user experience. Additionally, it features touch-plus functionality, allowing users to interact with the display effortlessly. The host explains that one of the highlights of this display is its Corona feature, eliminating the need for touch input. Instead, a sensor located inside the display accurately detects user actions. This becomes particularly useful during situations like the ongoing pandemic, where maintaining cleanliness and avoiding contact are crucial.

Moving on, the host presents more display options, emphasizing that Shenzhen AV Display doesn’t just sell individual components; they provide complete solutions. Each display is carefully designed and accompanied by a touch interface, PCB, and even their own custom-designed main board.

The video continues to explore their range of products, with the host introducing another impressive solution powered by Rockchip. This particular display features the Android operating system and is tailored for IoT applications. The host also showcases their smart display module, which comes in a compact five-inch size. It’s fascinating to see how Shenzhen AV Display offers various sizes and customization options to meet the specific requirements of their clients.

To add a touch of uniqueness, the host unveils displays with special shapes, including pottery-type and landscape-type designs. These unconventional displays not only capture attention but also provide immersive visual experiences.

During the conversation, the host reveals that Shenzhen AV Display has been attending Display Week for several years, establishing strong partnerships with renowned panel manufacturers such as BOE, Innolux. This collaboration ensures that they have access to high-quality panels, guaranteeing superior performance and reliability in their products.

Thank you for joining us on this captivating exploration of display technology with Shenzhen AV Display. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos. Stay tuned for the latest updates and advancements in the world of display!

Support this channel:
Sign up for free for Wise at http://wise.charbax.com – world’s cheapest international money transfer, currency exchange and debit card for traveling – Donate to me to my Wise account at charbax@gmail.com (or send me a YouTube Thanks or Super Chat during live stream) if you want I can mention you in my next video. Value for value 😁

Check out my Display Week 2023 sponsors https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjCrPLmMguxH5aIl4y75Lr- and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvhNinXlfK22GotQv-7gjT4H both of whom I will soon be filming new videos with, so check back!

  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014Vegator
    Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsu
     

Smartphone and tablet processor market share in 2014

Od: Vegator
7. Květen 2015 v 14:22
Strategy Analytics has published its yearly report detailing global smartphone application processor market share in 2014. The total market had sales of about $21 billion with robust growth of 21%. The report shows that Qualcomm continued to lead the market in terms of revenue share with 52%, followed by Apple with 18% and MediaTek with 14%. The Apple number most likely reflects an estimate because Apple does not sell its chips to third parties. In fourth and fifth place were Speadtrum and Samsung LSI. The report mentions that HiSilicon, Intel and MediaTek had bigger growth than Qualcomm in 2014.

Qualcomm's strength based on Snapdragon 800 series wins in higher-tier phones


According to the report, Qualcomm's leadership was largely based on design wins for its Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 805 SoCs in the higher-tier market. Examples of this include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3. However, as I have previously reported Samsung has increased its use of in-house application processors starting from the second half of 2014, culminating in the exclusive use of Exynos 7420 in the Galaxy S6 in 2015, putting pressure on Qualcomm.

Baseband share in 2014


Strategy Analytics has also published a report with details about baseband (modem) market share in smartphones. According to the report, LTE (4G) basebands accounted for 50% of cellular baseband share in 2014, and the figure is likely to increase significantly in 2015. Qualcomm led in LTE basebands, but HiSilicon, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek and Samsung also increased LTE baseband shipments.

In terms of revenues in the overall baseband market, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Speadtrum, Marvell and Intel had the top positions in 2104. Qualcomm had 66% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 17% and Speadtrum with 5% sare. Given the product lines of the respective companies in 2014, Qualcomm's revenues are based on both integrated SoC and separate modems, while Intel's sales were mostly separate modem chips, while the other players mostly shipped a mix of integrated SoCs and modem chips.

Comparison with 2013


Comparing with the reports that Strategy Analytics issued for 2013, Qualcomm saws it baseband revenue share remain relatively stable at 66% compared to 64% in 2013. MediaTek saw its AP market share increase from 10% in 2013 to 14% in 2014, and its baseband share increased.

Tablet processor market in 2014


According to another report issued by Strategy Analytics, the market for tablet processors grew 18% in 2014 to $4.2 billion. The top-five revenue share positions were occupied by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung LSI. Apple led with 27% share (which must be an estimate), followed by Intel with 17% and Qualcomm with 16% share.

Notable is the absence among the top five of traditional leaders in the Chinese white-box market such as Rockchip and Allwinner. This most likely reflects in increase in brand name tablet shipments at the expense of the white-box tablet market, the low selling prices of white-box tablet processor and the encroachment of MediaTek and Intel into that segment.

Source: Strategy Analytics (Smartphone AP market share), Strategy Analytics (cellular baseband market share), Strategy Analytics (Tablet processor market share)
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • China tablet processor market declines in Q1Vegator
    According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for th
     

China tablet processor market declines in Q1

Od: Vegator
6. Březen 2015 v 10:08
According to a recent article published by DigiTimes Research, tablet applications processor unit shipments to Chinese manufacturers grew by 4.7% in Q4 2014 to reach 34.7 million units. However, shipments are estimated to decline by 24% in Q1 2015 when compared to Q4 2104. Year-over-year, shipments are expected to drop by about 8%, which marks the first time quarterly tablet processor shipments in China experience a year-over-year decline. Excess inventory from Q4 2014 is given as a cause for the decline in shipments.

MediaTek leads Chinese tablet market in Q1 2015


Based on information published by DigiTimes Research, MediaTek, Rockchip, Allwinner and Intel were the top four providers of tablet processors in China, in that order, in Q4 2014. For Q1 2015, MediaTek is estimated to expand it market share by about 1% to reach 28.5%, although absolute shipments will decline significantly due to the overall market decline.

Rockchip, who was the market share leader for most of 2014, is estimated to see its market share remain stable in Q1 2015, registering a 0.6% increase according to DigiTimes Research, who did not supply a market share figure for Rockchip, although it is probably in the region of 25%. DigiTimes mentioned that Rockchip's new chips launched at the end of 2014 (which includes the Cortex-A7-based RK3126 and RK3128) have not yet reached strong shipments.

Meanwhile, Allwinner continues the trend of a steady decline a market share, being expected to have a share of 15.6% compared to 17.6% in Q4 2014. This allows it to be passed by Intel in terms of market share, with Intel's market share estimated to rise from 15% to 16.3% in Q1 2015.

Intel's global market share has increased and is significant, especially revenue share


It should be noted that in terms of global market share, Intel has a stronger position than what would be inferred just from the Chinese market due to a strong position at brand-name tablet manufacturers outside of China, such as Asus and Acer. The other chip players in the Chinese tablet processor market, especially Rockchip and Allwinner, have a weak position outside of China. Due to the higher-end nature of Intel's product mix, Intel also has a higher revenue share, whereas the sales of companies such as Allwinner are mostly concentrated in low-end processors. It has been reported that Intel is abandoning its "contra-revenue" strategy of subsidizing tablet processor sales, which it probably can afford to do because its chip solutions are fairly competitive on their own.

Global brand names gain share, use different chip suppliers


In the global tablet marker, brand name manufacturers are gaining share and dominate the dollar value of the market, also for semiconductor content. Apple and Samsung, who lead the global tablet market, use a lot of in-house chip solutions (100% in the case of Apple). Samsung also uses suppliers like Qualcomm and Marvell, who otherwise do not have a strong position in the Chinese tablet market.

MediaTek used to have strong market share among Taiwanese tablet manufacturers such as Asus and Acer. However, its market share their seems to have been eroded significantly by strong adoption of Intel's Atom SoCs at these manufacturers (who have strong ties with Intel through PC manufacturing).

Popular tablet SoCs as of Q1 2015


By analyzing the tablet models offered on Chinese e-commerce portals, one can get some idea of what SoCs are currently used the most in tablets from China. I took a look at the tablet offerings on Banggood.com.

Rockchip's RK3188 (which probably means the RK3188T variant in most cases) is still widely used. Originally a mid-range performance segment SoC, there are indications that Rockchip built a significant inventory of this SoC (which is not particularly cheap in terms of manufactuing cost) last year, and the chip has been used in cheaper models as well. Rockchip's RK3126, which is more cost-effective than RK3188, is slowly starting to appear in new tablet models.

Meanwhile, Rockchip's high-end RK3288 is used in several models from Pipo, Teclast and FNF, and these seem to be reasonably popular for a high-end product. I have some concerns about power consumption and battery life regarding these products due to the processor cores used in the SoC.

The most popular MediaTek chips used in tablets are SoCs with 3G connectivity such as the low-end dual-core MT8312 and quad-core MT8382 (the equivalent of the MT6572 and MT6582 smartphone SoCs), as well as the more performance oriented octa-core MT6592/MT8392, which provides good performance and battery-life and has moved down to lower-priced tablet models. Additionally, the new 64-bit MT8752 with 4G (equivalent to the MT6752 smartphone SoC) is starting to appear in new models (Cube, Teclast). For WiFi-only tablets, the MT8127 (which has a relatively powerful GPU for a cheap SoC) is used in some low-to-mid-range tablets.

Allwinner's A31s, which was released in 2013 but perhaps its last successful product introduction, appears to be still used for production. Low-end tablets are available with the A23 and A33 SoCs, although the A33 does not seem to have been very successful and has been affected by weakness in the low-end segment of the tablet market.

Allwinner's new octa-core A83T has started to appear in a few new models, and is probably replacing the high-end A80 Octa which is likely to have had low profit margins.

Finally, Intel's Z3735F, Z3735G and Z3736F Atom SoCs are widely used in tablets, although most prominently in higher-prices models that come equipped with Microsoft Windows.

Update (15 March): 3G smartphone chip inventory unloaded onto Chinese tablet market


In an article published on 13 March 2015, DigiTimes Research reported that due to a high inventory level of 3G smartphone solutions in China, such chips will be unloaded onto the Chinese tablet market by players such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Spreadtrum.

3G-enabled chip solutions for tablets are usually very similar to similar solutions for smartphones. For example, MediaTek's smartphone solutions have commonly been used in tablets, while MediaTek's official 3G-enabled tablet solutions most likely consist of a chip virtually identical to the smartphone version, with the main difference being a different model number (e.g. MT6582 vs MT8382). That MediaTek would target any excess inventory of 3G smartphone chipsets at the tablet market is not surprising.

However, I am little sceptical about the volume that may be involved. The Chinese tablet market is clearly contracting in the near term, and the volumes in the tablet market are considerably smaller than the smartphone market, even the declining 3G part of the smartphone SoC market. To put things into perspective, MediaTek's quarterly 3G smartphone chip shipments were on the order of 70 million in Q4 2014, while its 3G tablet chip shipments were probably in the range of 5 to 10 million.

The article also mentions Qualcomm, which in the past has not been a major player in the Chinese white-box tablet market. It mentions rumours that Qualcomm may form a partnership with Allwinner (which has been consistently losing market share) to penetrate the tablet market in China. The article also states that while Intel has introduced 3G tablet solutions, Intel's solutions are unlikely to be widely adopted until Intel introduces the 4G version of its Atom x3 (formerly SoFIA) platform.

Sources: DigiTimes (Q1 2015 China tablet AP market article)DigiTimes Research (smartphone chips inventory unloaded to tablet market)

Updated 15 March 2015.
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • New mobile SoCs announced at MWCVegator
    At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced. MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets. The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, accord
     

New mobile SoCs announced at MWC

Od: Vegator
2. Březen 2015 v 11:41
At the Mobile World Congress this week, several new mobile SoCs are being announced.

MediaTek announces cost-reduced MT6753 for smartphones


MediaTek anounced two mobile SoCs, the MT6753 for smartphones and the MT8173 for tablets.

The MT6753 appears to be a cost-reduced version of the successful MT6752, equpped with "WorldMode" modem technology. By offering compatibility with the CDMA2000 standard, it gives customers worldwide greater diversity and flexibility in their product layouts, according to MediaTek. Features include an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU with an unspecified number of cores. ARM's Mali-T720 GPU is positioned at a significantly lower performance bracket than the Mali-T760 used in the MT6752, positioning the MT6753 below the MT6752 in terms of cost and performance.

The MT6753 is described as being compatible with the previously announced MT6735 for entry-level smartphones. The MT6735 has four Cortex-A53 cores instead of eight but otherwise has a similar configuration with a Mali T720 GPU.

High-performance MT8173 tablet SoC uses small big.LITTLE clusters with Cortex-A72


The MT8173 is a high-performance tablet processor (without integrated modem) that utilizes ARM's new Cortex-A72 core in a big.LITTLE configuration. By using only two Cortex-A72 cores (clocked up to 2.4 GHz) as well as two Cortex-A53 cores, the chip has a lower cost than would be the case with the four-by-four core configuration commonly used for big.LITTLE designs, while still providing good performance.

The Cortex-A72 core, the successor of Cortex-A57, appears to be seeing quick adoption as Qualcomm has already announced performance-segment smartphone SoCs (Snapdragon 618 and 620) featuring the core.

MediaTek has previously used a similar two-by-two big.LITTLE configuration in its MT8135(V) tablet SoC, which has two Cortex-A15 cores and Cortex-A7 cores. This chip was used in Amazon tablets but otherwise did not see much adoption.

Other features include a PowerVR GX6250 GPU, which is part of Imagination's Series 6XT family, with higher performance and efficiency than the G6200 GPU used in chips such as the MT8135 and MT6595.

Other tablet SoCs not yet publicly announced by MediaTek


Meanwhile, tablet product announcements by Lenovo also refer to the MT8161 and MT8165 SoCs, which have not been announced. From the specifications of the Lenovo Tab 2 A8 which is using it, the MT8161 appears to be a tablet SoC without modem with quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU running up to 1.3 GHz, while the MT8165 (used in the Tab 2 A10) is a similar SoC with the CPU running up to 1.5 GHz. The 4G version of the Lenovo tablets come equipped with the MT8735 (Tab 2 A8) and MT8732 (Tab 2 A10). These chips are the tablet versions of the MT6735 and MT6732 smartphone SoCs.

MT6795 renamed to Helio X10


In a closed-door presentation at MWC, MediaTek also presented the Helio X10 smartphone SoC, featuring a 64-bit octa-core CPU up to 2.2 GHz, 120 Hz display refresh rate and H.265 video encode up to 4K2K @ 30 fps. A photograph of a slide taken at the presentation strongly suggests that Helio X10 is nothing other than the delayed MT6795 SoC, whose specifications closely match. Devices using this chip are likely to have already started production. MediaTek also talked about the Helio P series, a high-performance platform, which will make its way into devices before the end of the year.

Qualcomm gives preview of next-generation Snapdragon 820 SoC


In a press release, Qualcomm has given a preview of the Snapdragon 820, which utilizes Qualcomm's new custom 64-bit CPU architecture for mobile devices called Kryo. The chip will start sampling in the second half of 2015 according to Qualcomm, with devices becoming available in 2016. It will be manufactured on a next-generation FinFET process (which probably means TSMC's 16FF+, but Samsung cannot be excluded). In the press release, Qualcomm does not mention whether the chip will conform to ARM's ARMv8 instruction set architecture.

In conjuction with the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm also announced the Zeroth hardware/software platform focusing on device intelligence features including video and audio recognition techniques (such as visual object and face recognition).

Intel introduces tablet and smartphone SoCs with integrated modem


Intel has finally introduced SoCs with an integrated cellular modem in its Atom system-on-a-chip product line. The former SoFIA platform has been renamed to Atom X3 and features multi-core 64-bit Atom processors with integrated 3G or 4G LTE modem technology. The following products are available:
  • Atom X3-C3130, which has dual-core Atom CPU running up to 1.0 GHz and integrates a 3G modem. It features Mali-400 MP2 GPU. Maximum display resolution is 1280x800. It appears to be in the same market segment as MediaTek's previous-generation 3G SoCs such as MT6572 and MT6582 and other SoCs that are already on the market.
  • Atom X3-C3230RK, which was developed by Intel partner Rockchip following the agreement announced last year. It has quad-core Atom CPU, integrates a 3G modem and features a Mali-450 MP4 GPU.
  • Atom X3-C3440, a quad-core Atom CPU platform that integrates a Cat 6 LTE 4G modem. It has an Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. This product appears to be one that is most likely to succeed in the market.
All feature a 32-bit memory interface with support for LPDDR2 (and DDR3/DDR3L with the X3-C3230RK). These are the first Intel products that have features (such as the integrated modem) that make them specifically suitable for the smartphone market. They also target cellular-enabled tablets.

The 3G products are a little behind the times, and their success is uncertain. It will be interesting observe whether Rockchip was able to develop the X3-C3230RK in time (one would expect Intel to have greater expertise/resources so that the other products will appear on the market first).

One notable fact is that these are among the first SoCs to integrate an ARM GPU core with a non-ARM CPU.

Intel announces first 14 nm Atom SoCs for tablets and all-in-ones


Intel also rolled out its first 14 nm Atom SoCs, the Atom x5 and x7 processor series (formely codenamed Cherry Trail) with  Intel Gen 8 graphics, targeting tablets and small screen all-in-ones.

Intel has also introduced a new stand-alone modem chip, XMM 7360, which support LTE Cat 10 and download speeds up to 450 Mbps, as well as wireless connnectivity products (including WiFi/Bluetooth, GNSS/GPS and NFC solutions).

Sources: MediaTek (MT6753 announcement), MediaTek (MT8173 announcement), Qualcomm (Snapdragon 820/Zeroth platform preview), Intel (MWC announcements), Intel Atom x3 Processor Series Brief
  • ✇Mobile semiconductors blog
  • Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC marketVegator
    Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015. Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not se
     

Qualcomm and MediaTek see challenges in smartphone SoC market

Od: Vegator
17. Únor 2015 v 08:46
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek recently reported financial results for the fourth quarter of Q4 2014 and made projections for future periods. Both companies are seeing challenges that are already affecting their revenues and market share now or later in 2015.

Qualcomm lowers forecast for 2015 due to weakness at major customer


In their financial report for Q4 2014, Qualcomm lowered their outlook for 2015, citing as one of the reasons reduced demand from a major customer as that customer has not selected the Snapdragon 810 processor for an upcoming flagship product. This is widely believed to refer to Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6. In fact the trend of increasing use of in-house Exynos processors already started last year, as models such as Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Note 4 already saw increasing use of Samsung's own Exynos processors, including modem technology in some cases.

Qualcomm also mentions a share shift among major OEMs that will result in relatively more modem chips as opposed to SoCs (clearly referring to Apple, which only uses Qualcom's modem chips), as well as heightened competition in China. Recently, Qualcomm also recently announced a resolution of the anti-trust investigation by authorities in China, which amounts to a reduction in the patent royalty rate it charges to customers in China.

Qualcomm's total market share currently still strong


At the moment, Qualcomm's market share for smartphone SoCs is still strong as shown by unit shipments and revenues for Q4 2014 and Qualcomm's estimates for Q1 2015, although its product mix has shifted to lower-end products. In comparison to competitor MediaTek, Qualcomm is doing much better in terms of maintaining or growing unit shipments (with Qualcomm in fact seeing a 14% increase in unit shipments in Q4 2014), suggesting that Qualcomm is taking market share from MediaTek as products such as Snapdragon 410 and the new Snapdragon 210 take over large parts of the low-end cost-sensitive market (especially in China) where MediaTek's 3G solutions where previously dominant.

MediaTek losing market share despite successful new products


Meanwhile, although MediaTek has seen widespread adoption of its new MT6752 and MT6732 SoCs with integrated LTE modem for the cost-sensitive mid-range market, the company saw lower unit shipments in Q4 2014 and predicts a 10 to 18% revenue decline for Q1 2015, suggesting its smartphone SoC shipments are under pressure. Given the fact that the new 4G chips have higher selling prices than existing 3G chips, the revenue decline probably reflects a relatively dramatic decline in shipments of existing 3G solutions, with resulting loss of total market share, although price reductions may also play a role. MediaTek has been affected especially by the late introduction of integrated 4G solutions and the lack of a low-end 4G solution and to a lesser extend the delayed introduction of the high-end MT6795.

Captive mobile SoC use becoming more important


Within the total smartphone SoC market (and also in the tablet maket), captive supply (whereby a smartphone manufacturer uses its own SoCs in its smartphone models) is becoming more important, which affects the market opportunity for companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. I already mentioned Samsung's increasing use of Exynos processors, which has a significant impact as Samsung is one of the two largest smartphone manufacturers. A major Chinese manufacturr, Huawei, is also increasingly using SoCs from its own HiSilicon division, also extending to lower end models. Apple's gains in market share also has an effect (especially on the high-end market) since it uses proprietary SoCs.

In the tablet market, the low-end and Chinese white-box market is seeing a sharp reduction in shipments in Q1 2015, with market share shifting to brand names (where captive solutions are more important, such as at Samsung) as total shipments are estimated to decline dramatically. This greatly affects traditional players in the tablet SoC market such as Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek. Intel's strategy of subsidizing tablet SoCs has also had an impact. According to DigiTimes, the total tablet market will decline 30% sequentially in Q1 2015, with estimates of a decline of 12% for the whole year 2015.


Sources: DigiTimes (tablet market article), DigiTimes (MediaTek results), Qualcomm, MediaTek

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