More qores! We are just starting to get the taste of dual-core processors in our mobile devices but not for long, if Qualcomm has anything to do with it. Determined to smack that taste out of our mouths with blazing fast 2.5Ghz speeds, the next generation of Snapdragon processors are slated for early 2012, with handsets coming later that year. Codenamed “Krait,” this family of processors will be offered in one, two, and four cored variants at peak speeds of 2.5Ghz per core and come packing with WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and FM radio (lulz). NFC and stereoscopic 3D video and photo capture (powered by the new quad-3D core Adreno 320 GPU) and playback will also be supported as well as multi-mode LTE modem integration, all in a 28mm chipset. Expect these blazing speeds to blaze through your battery life? Think again, says Qualcomm, as the 150% performance boost will also entail a 65% power consumption reduction over current ARM CPUs. Christmas 2012 can’t come soon enough!
Supposedly the new processor gets 12x the performance of the first generation Snapdragons, while using a quarter of the power consumption. This is absolutely fantastic news for nerds everywhere.
When the press release talks about a 150 percent increase in power over current ARM processors, is that per core? It would seem like the quad-core version of this processor would outperform the current ARM CPUs by a much greater margin than that.
The press release says that the increases will be "overall performance" so without reading in too much into the marketing copy, it seems that the 2.5Ghz Quad-Core in its entirety will be 150% more powerful than the best currently available ARM processor. They're probably pitting it against a 1.2GHz single-core.
But how could the 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon out-pace the original 1 GHz Snapdragon by 1200%, but only outpace the 1.2 GHz single-core ARM by 150%?
I think the press release was badly worded. Hopefully we'll get clarification when Qualcomm presents the processor in Barcelona.
Welcome to the world of public relations, where copy always lives in duality!