Search results for

All search results
Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

December 3, 2021
As 2021 hurtles towards its end and we see 2022 appear on the horizon, you might think that there is no new tech news to be shared. But you would be wrong! There is much to be said about Qualcomm, MediaTek, the Raspberry Pi, and Qualcomm again!
System-on-a-Chip

LastPass

Are you using a password manager? Have you tried LastPass? Check out the latest deal for LastPass. #Ad

Qualcomm and MediaTek

At the heart of every smartphone, tablet, and many laptops is a System-on-a-Chip (SoC). More than just a CPU, an SoC also contains other key parts to make a complete system including a GPU, a 4G/5G modem, an image processor, a video encoder/decoder, a machine learning accelerator, and more.

We have had two big SoC announcements in the last few weeks, from Qualcomm, and from Media:

Qualcomm also unveiled a new set of Arm-based SoCs destined for laptops and detachable computers:

There was some controversy about the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 as Qualcomm was less than forthcoming about the internals of the chips, especially its CPU configuration. Charlie Demerjian put it like this: So we asked about the cores in the 8cx Gen 3 via email and the response made things clear, “We are not disclosing for compute or gaming platforms.”

We do know a few things. 1) The 8cx gen 3 uses 4x 3.0 GHz Prime cores + 4x 2.4 GHz Efficiency Cores. Also, it has 14MB total cache (8MB L3+6MB System cache). 2.4GHz is quite high for a Cortex-A55 core, so it looks like the 8cx gen 3 doesn’t use those cores. 2) Then Ryne Hager got the scoop from a talkative engineer, the 8cx gen 3 uses 4x Cortex-X1 cores and 4x Cortex-A78 cores.

Qualcomm’s announcement came just a few days after MediaTek’s announcement:

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W offers 5 times the performance in the same form factor as the original Pi Zero. It includes 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth, and access to the traditional Pi GPIO pins.

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W has the same processor as the Raspberry Pi 3, but it is clocked at 1.0GHz rather than 1.2GHz. Can the Pi Zero 2 W be overlocked to match or even beat the Pi 3? Yes! Here is how.

Qualcomm Again

Qualcomm and Microsoft have launched a new Snapdragon PC aimed at developers who want to test, profile, and debug their apps on Windows 10 and Windows 11 for Snapdragon.

I Found These Things Interesting, So Might You!

LastPass

Are you using a password manager? Have you tried LastPass? LastPass is more than just a password manager, much more! Check out the latest deal for LastPass. #Ad

Previous Newsletter
Gary Explains: Now is the time to talk about time 🕐
Gary Explains
amazon echo wall clock