14 DAY TRIAL // Chip maker Qualcomm is expected to start producing quad-core application processors for mobile devices in the near future, and a recently leaked roadmap from the company provides all of the necessary info we were hopping for on this.
Although Nvidia promised the first quad-core application processor for smartphones and tablets for the fourth quarter of the ongoing year, Qualcomm will need a little more before being capable to make a similar move.
Apparently, its first such chip, the MSM8974 Snapdragon processor, should arrive on shelves in the first quarter of 2013, running at somewhere between 2.0 and 2.5GHz.
The rumored specs of this device would include L2 2MB and 2×667/800MHz LPDDR3, along with LTE Cat4, DC-HSPA+, 1xAdv/DOrA/B and TD-SCDMA, as well as 1080p HD Video@60fps; 30Mpix, and Adreno 320 3D 225M tri/sec (DX9.3).
However, before the quad-core processors arrive, the company is expected to bring to the market a new series of dual-core chips, many of which should be packed in high-end and mid-level devices.
MSM8960 is one of these, a dual-core CPU clocked in at 1.5-1.7 GHz, with L2 1MB and 2x500MHz LPDDR2, which already received the necessary certification for being used with tablet PCs running under Windows 8.
It would sport LTE FDD/TDD cat3(8960), DC-HSPA(8270), 21HSPA+(8260A) or TD-SCDMA (8960, 8260A) connectivity, along with 1080p HD Video@30fps; 3D 20Mpix, and the Adreno 225 3D/2D 125M tri./sec (DX9.3) GPU.
Next year, the company should also launch the MSM8930 chip, with lower specs and the Adreno 305 GPU, aimed mainly at less expensive mobile devices.
Reportedly, its specs would include 1.0-1.2GHz Krait/ L2 1MB, 1x533MHz LPDDR2 • 1x533MHz LPDDR2, 1080p HD Video@30fps; 3D 12MPix, and LTE Cat2/DC-HSPA+ (8930), 21HSPA+ (8230), TD-SCDMA.
These Krait based 28nm dual-core SoCs should start arriving on shelves in the next six months, a recent article on MobileTechWorld reads. There, you will also find a link to the leaked PDF documnet that details Qualcomm's roadmap.