My blog about tablet pc android and smartphones

News from Russia, Baikal launched its first micro processor, model number is Baikal T1. This Baikal T1 is one dual core processor based on 28nm process technology. It does not adopt ARM framework, but MIPS framework. The working frequency is 1.2GHz. DDR3-1600 RAM, and 1MB 2-level cache. It can support 10GB Ethernet port, , two 1GB Ethernet ports, and SATA 3.0, PCIe Gen.3 X4 and USB 2.0 port.

This Baikal T1 can be used on printer, copier, Wifi access, traffic management system, and other devices. Now, there are some companies planning to adopt this Baikal T1 for their products. This processor will be launched in German, Brazil, China, and some other countries. This processor can be also adopted on smart phones as well. It will be available for sale in this autumn.

Though this Baikal T1 is one processor from Russia, but it will be produced by TSMC in Taiwan.

Recently, one new tablet pc coded Chopin-LTE from Samsung was displayed on suverimax.com. One interesting point is this tablet pc adopt the Intel Atom X5-8500 quad core processor, and 4GB RAM.

As the information on Suverimax, this tablet pc Chopin-LTE runs Android 5.1 operation system, CPU is the Intel Atom X5-8500 quad core, frequency is 2.24GHz. Frequency of single core is about 1005MHz, multi core frequency is 3426MHz. Its performance is similar as the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Till now, the screen size, and resolution are unknown, so we can not make sure how is its performance.

We will have further report about this Chopin LTE tablet in following week.

Recently, many news said Qualcomm will launch a new 64 bit processor, Snapdragon 815 to replace Snapdragon which has over heating problem. And some people even disclosed the specification of Snapdragon 815. Many people believe the news is true and reliable. But this morning, John Carvill denied this news, and announced Snapdragon 815 is not existing.

John Carvill said, Snapdragon 810 is the best choice for flagship smart phones, it does not have any problem, and Qualcomm is putting efforts on Snapdragon 812 processor.

This may be good news to XiaoMi Note, HTC M9 and other top smart phones. Even Snapdragon 815 is existing, Qualcomm will not have it available very soon.

Several months ago, we have already reported that XiaoMi will launch a cheap smart phone based on L1860C SOC from Mediatek, and its price will break the record. Today, in the new product presentation conference, CEO of XiaoMi showed this new smart phone, RedMi 2A. But its price is not as cheap as USD50 or USD60, but USD 100. Even so, this price is still rocking. And in 8th April, you can order it at 80 US dollars.

The design of this RedMi 2A is not outstanding, the only change is there are more colors available. As one entry level smart phone, its configuration is not too high. Screen size is 4.7 inch IPS from Sharp, resolution is 720P. CPU is the L1860C quad core processor from Mediatek, frequency is 1.5GHz. its RAm is 1GB LPDDR3, and flash memory space is 8GB. Front camera is 2M pixels, and rear camera is 8M pixels. Battery capacity is 2200Mah. It can support dual SIM card, dual standby and 4G LTE network.

Though, the performance of this RedMi 2A is not too high, but its price is quite good for users.

Today, XiaoMi announced that it will hold a new product presentation conference at the end of this month. It will launch a new tablet pc in the conference as well. But XiaoMi did not tell more information about this new product.

In last year, many news said XiaoMi will launch a cheap tablet pc with big screen size. Its screen size is 9.2 inch, and screen resolution is 720P. CPU is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core processor, frequency is 1.33GHz. RAM is 1GB. There are dual cameras built in. There is a SIM card slot on the body which can support GSM, WCDMA, TD-LTE, and LTE-FDD network. The operation system is Android 5.0 OS. Its price is around 100 US dollars.

In the second quarter of last year, XiaoMi launched its first tablet pc. It owns one 7.9 inch IPS screen, Nvidia Tegra K1 processor. The front camera is 5M pixels, and rear camera is 8M pixels. By its powerful performance, it is expected by many people.

But the result is not good. So XiaoMi changed its idea. Now, it is planning to launch more cost effective tablet pc, and with mobile phone function. By its success in smart phone, it may be a good choice. But now in market, the competition is very high. The situation is still not good.

When Windows 8 is launched, manufacturers who want to have the "Designed for Windows 8" mark have to meet several requirement from Microsoft. One of them is support UEFI Secure Boot. Though, it is quite an helpful function, but it will also bring troubles to users when they want to burn another operation system. So, Microsoft requested manufacturers to add "Close Secure Boot". So it will allow users to run another operation system. Now, Windows added a new rule.

UEFI Secure Boot can help block malicious software. In the WinHEC conference, Microsoft talked about hardware demand for Windows 10. Though, it is not settled down, but Microsoft mentioned that manufacturers can choose to add "Close Secure Boot" option, if not, then people who buy products with "Designed for Windows 10" will not support running another operation system. They are also not allowed to add their signature or certification.

Till now, Microsoft did not make any respond for now.

Today, Allwinner, solution supplier for tablets and mobile phones launched its latest V3 solution for dash cam. This solution can support dual channel 1080P video recording, and video format is H.264. One more feature is the Wifi connection.

To dash cam, chipset is the most important part, it will depend the video quality and product quality. Allwinner V3 is nearly the first solution for dual channel dash cam with H.264 encoding. Video quality is very high, and it can provide 100% auto protection in 360 degree. Except the high video quality, it also comes with a lot of new features, like LDWS, and FCWS. As it has the wifi connection function, you can download videos to your mobile phones and share it on Facebook and Twitter. Following is the main features of Allwinner V3 solution.

1. Dual channel recording in H.264, front camera is 1080P@30fps, and rear camera is 1080P@25fps.

2. ARM Cortex A7 framework.

3. High accurate, support LDWS and FCWS function.

4. Support Linux and Camdroid operation system.

5. Wifi connection, can connect with your smart phone and tablets.

6. Low power consumption

This Allwinner V3 will be massively produced at the end of April.

Last time, we have introduced the SoFIA 3G-R. As the demand of tablets is reduced dramatically in past year, the chipset suppliers are also in hard time except Intel and Mediatek. Rockchip is a well know solution supplier of tablet pc, and in 2015, it will move to mobile phone market. So 2015 is an important year for Rockchip.

In the MWC 2015, Rockchip launched its first product SoFIA 3G-R which is cooperated with Intel. And we have seen several samples with SoFIA 3G-R solution in the fair. SoFIA 3G-R adopts 28nm process technology, 64 bit X86 framework quad core. It has integrated the band base from Intel. It is mainly for smart phones and phablets. But this processor does not adopt the GPU from Intel, but ARM Mali-450 MP4. Now the only problem of this processor is the over heating problem.

In MWC 2015, Intel said they were working on improving the processors, the problems will be resolved, but Intel did not tell any schedule.

As the first product for smart phone market, Rockchip also care a lot about it. Today, news from Suverimax, this SoFIA 3G-R will be massively produced in April, and in the HK fair, we will see more products with this new solution.

In MWC 2015, Rockchip launched first 64 bit quad core 3G solution for smart phones, SoFIA 3G-R. This solution adopts the Intel Atom X86 framework, integrating 3G modem and connection technology. Its model number is Intel Atom x-3 C3230RK processor. it is for middle and low end market.

As one smart phone supplier said, the hardware part of SoFIA 3G-R is OK, but there is still some problem on software and power consumption. As estimation, it will be launched in May. The screen resolution 1920*1080 pixels. RAM will be 1GB and flash memory is 8GB. And target price is about 60 US dollars.

At end of Jan, Microsoft has already announced that the Surface 2 was out of production, people can go to Microsoft retail store, online store or dealers to order this unit. Recently, Surface 2 is removed from Microsoft official store, that means Windows RT becomes history.

Except Surface 2, the Surface Pro 2 is also removed. Surface 2 is the 2nd generation tablet pc with Windows RT OS. As it is out of production, all its tablets with Windows RT are out of production.

Windows 8 is not a successful operation system. It has three different editions: Windows 8 or laptop PC or desktop PC, Windows Phone 8 for smart phones, and Windows RT for tablets. But since Windows RT was launched, users complained it a lot. Though, it makes tablets more slim, but not compatible with traditional Windows software which is based on X86 framework. Developers have to re-work on their software for Windows RT OS.

In Sept, 2013, Microsoft launched 2nd generation tablet named Surface 2. But compared with Surface 2, the Surface Pro 2 is much more welcome, and so in May, 2014, Microsoft launched the 3rd generation, Surface Pro3 which owns bigger screen size, more important its high performance just makes up the drawback of Surface 2.