Dell XPS 13 Review
Dell launched the 2015 version of their XPS 13 at CES in January, and it made a big impression because of something that was very small. The first thing you see when you look at the XPS 13 is how small the bezels are around the display. At 5.2 mm, they are easily the thinnest display bezels on any laptop made today. Dell claims the XPS 13 is a 13 inch display in the chassis of an 11 inch notebook, and while they have made that claim before, for 2015, it would be hard to argue with them. But the XPS 13 is more than just a display, and Dell has outfitted it with some very modern hardware to give us our first look at an Ultrabook based on the just launched Intel 5th Generation processors, Broadwell-U.
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Samsung Acquires Mobile Payment Company LoopPay
LoopPay is a unique example of a payment company that is building their payment system on top of the existing magnetic stripe payment infrastructure that currently exists in the US, rather than using NFC technology which can require waiting for retailer support and the purchase of new payment terminals for stores. Currently the company offers several smartphone cases as well as a keychain fob, and these devices wirelessly interface with the magnetic stripe readers on payment terminals.
It will be interesting to see how Samsung integrates LoopPay's technology into future products, and how they will handle expansion outside of the US where many countries have switched to chip and pin card terminals.
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Fractal Design Node 804 Case Review
Another cubic Micro-ATX case has found its way into our labs. This time, the Node 804 from Fractal Design is hoping to combine thermal performance and versatility with a sleek and elegant appearance. Is it the ideal choice for gaming systems in a living room? We find out in this review.
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Qualcomm Announces New SoC Lineup, Modem Branding
The Snapdragon 415 and 425 are additions to the low-end of Qualcomm's SoC offerings. The Snapdragon 415 is described a "quick transition piece" to the Snapdragon 410 which we suspect means it will be a pin-compatible SoC upgrade. It doubles up on the core-count from 4 A53 processors up to 8. The cores are still clocked in at the same 1.4GHz frequency. On the GPU side we see an upgrade from the Adreno 306 to a newer Adreno 405 and memory speeds have been slightly bumped from 533MHz to 667MHz LPDDR3, dropping LPDDR2 capability from the SKU.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Lineup | |||
| SoC | Snapdragon 410 | Snapdragon 415 | Snapdragon 425 |
| CPU | 4x Cortex A53@1.4GHz | 4x Cortex A53@?GHz 4x Cortex A53@1.4GHz |
4x Cortex A53@?GHz 4x Cortex A53@1.7GHz |
| Memory Controller |
1x 32-bit @ 533MHz LPDDR2/3 4.2GB/s b/w |
1x 32-bit @ 667MHz LPDDR3 5.3GB/s b/w |
1x 32-bit @ 933MHz LPDDR3 7.5GB/s b/w |
| GPU | Adreno 306 | Adreno 405 | Adreno 405 |
| Encode/ Decode |
1080p H.264 | 1080p H.264 1080p30 HEVC decode |
1080p H.264 1080p30 HEVC decode |
| Camera/ISP | 13.5MP | 13MP | Dual ISP 21MP |
| Integrated Modem |
Cat. 4 150Mbps | "X5 LTE" Cat. 4 150Mbps DL 50Mbps UL |
"X8 LTE" Cat. 7 300Mbps DL 100Mbps UL 2x20MHz C.A. (DL & UL) |
The Snapdragon 425 is also a octa-core A53 unit with the same GPU implementation, but clocked at a slightly higher 1.7GHz on the one of the A53 clusters. It's on the integrated modem side where things change, as the S425 employs a new integrated "X8 LTE" Category 7 LTE modem versus the Category 4 one found in the S415. The new unit also brings down the dual-ISP feature from the higher-end SoCs to the entry-level, enabling dual cameras up to 21MP. This should be an interesting SoC in the entry range as the specifications in terms of performance seem to match the Snapdragon 615 of the mid-range series.
While the entry range gets some large performance and connectivity boosts, today's biggest news comes in form of the Snapdragon 618 and 620. These are the first announced Cortex A72 SoCs, ARM's new high-end CPU architecture which was publicly announced just two weeks ago.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Lineup | ||||
| SoC | Snapdragon 610 | Snapdragon 615 | Snapdragon 618 | Snapdragon 620 |
| CPU | 4x Cortex A53@1.7GHz | 4x Cortex A53 @1.0GHz 4x Cortex A53 @1.7GHz |
4x Cortex A53 @1.2GHz 2x Cortex A72 @1.8GHz |
4x Cortex A53 @1.2GHz 4x Cortex A72 @1.8GHz |
| Memory Controller |
1x 32-bit @ 800MHz LPDDR3 6.4GB/s b/w |
1x 32-bit @ 800MHz LPDDR3 6.4GB/s b/w |
2x 32-bit @ 933MHz LPDDR3 14.9GB/s b/w |
2x 32-bit @ 933MHz LPDDR3 14.9GB/s b/w |
| GPU | Adreno 405 | Adreno 405 | "Next-gen" Adreno | "Next-gen" Adreno |
| Encode/ Decode |
1080p H.264 1080p30 HEVC decode |
1080p H.264 1080p30 HEVC decode |
2160p30, 1080p120 H.264 & HEVC |
2160p30, 1080p120 H.264 & HEVC |
| Camera/ISP | 21MP | 13MP | Dual ISP 21MP |
Dual ISP 21MP |
| Integrated Modem |
Cat. 4 150Mbps DL 50Mbps UL |
"X5 LTE" Cat. 4 150Mbps DL 50Mbps UL |
"X8 LTE" Cat. 7 300Mbps DL 100Mbps UL 2x20MHz C.A. (DL & UL) |
"X8 LTE" Cat. 7 300Mbps DL 100Mbps UL 2x20MHz C.A. (DL & UL) |
The Snapdragon 618 and 620 bring dual-channel memory back into the mid-range, employing LPDDR3 targeted at 933MHz, making them on par with today's Snapdragon 800 and 801 SoCs. The new offerings now employ full HEVC (H.265) hardware encoding and decoding, a feature first seen in the Snapdragon 810. Similarly to the 425, the usually high-end dual ISP functionality is brought down into the new SKUs and offer up to 21MP camera sensor functionality.
What Qualcomm doesn't specify though, is the GPU. We're being promised a new "next-generation" Adreno GPU, so we might be talking about a new 500-series, but we don't know for sure until Qualcomm actually announces the new architecture.
The Snapdragon 618 and 620 employ Qualcomm's new "X8" integrated modem solutions, capable of Category 7 LTE with up to 300Mbps downstream or 100Mbps upstream via 2x20MHz carrier aggregation on either upload or download channels.
Getting back to the CPU configuration: The Cortex A72 replaces the use of a higher-clocked A53 cluster as the "big" part of these new big.LITTLE SoCs. The A72 was announced as ARM's new flagship high-end core, so it's very interesting to see Qualcomm employ it in a mid-range SoC at only 1.8GHz. It would look like these new units are still manufactured under 28nm given the clock speeds. We still don't know much about the A72 core, but ARM's Peter Greenhalgh clarified that we should be seeing a 10-50% IPC gain over the A57 while improving power on the same process node and libraries. To see Qualcomm use the A72 in a mid-range SoC begs the question of exactly how big these new cores are, as pricing is be an important competitive factor below the high-end.
Qualcomm expects the Snapdragon 415, 425, 618 and 620 to ship in consumer devices in the latter half of 2015. This is an interesting timeline as the 618 and 620 pose direct competition to the Snapdragon 808 which we still haven't seen announced in any consumer device. On the high-end, Qualcomm is still keeping very quiet as we still don't know what the successor to the Snapdragon 810 will look like or what the state of Qualcomm's new ARMv8 core is in.
Modem re-branding
Finally as part of today's announcement, is a re-branding of Qualcomm's modem line-up. The "Gobi" name is abandoned in favour of a "X# LTE" denomination. It's to be noted that the model numbers don't correspond to actual LTE category capability, as for example the X10 and X12 modems are capable of respectively Category 9 and 10 LTE. The aforementioned parts are re-brandings of the modem variants which we find in the standalone Gobi 9x45 and 9x40 and Snapdragon 808 and 810 SoCs.
Today Qualcomm raised the bar for low- and mid-range SoCs and we're looking forward to what kind devices Qualcomm's OEM partners will come up with towards the end of the year.
Source (Qualcomm)
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DARPA Awards Boeing Contract to Test Jet Based Satellite Launches
DARPA's ALASA program will one day be able to launch satellites from fighter jets
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Report: Microsoft Plans to Double Windows XP Support Costs to Punish Holdouts
Those who refuse to move on will have to pay $400 in support costs per XP PC for 2015, with a cap of $500K
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BlackBerry Wages Legal War Against Ryan Seacrest's Typo 2 iPhone Keyboard
After first Typo keyboard is banned for infringement, Typo releases a brand new design, looking to escape ban
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Microsoft Launches Trade-In Program, Offers up to $361 (or More) Off Surface Pro 3
Trading in your Surface RT, Surface Pro, Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 will earn you between $84 and $650 off
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Report: Apple Thinks Its Watch Can Outsell Android 30-to-1, Move 5-6 Million Units
Despite scaled down feature set Apple believes it can outdo Android's 2014 sales by a factor of
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Pictured: Drone Survives Flyover of Russia's Largest Artificial Lightning Generator
Tower and its Siberian twin use Marx generators to achieve incredible science fiction worthy feats of Soviet engineering
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