Staff Writer

Articles by: Dorian Black

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The International ARM Race: Rise Of The Chinese SoC

By Lucian Armasu, Dorian Black published

Thanks to low prices and a gradual increase in both quality and performance, Chinese chip makers are starting to pose serious problems for Qualcomm, Nvidia and others.

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An Introduction To The Major ARM-Based SoCs

By Lucian Armasu, Dorian Black published

When it comes to mobility, ARM-based SoCs dominate. Join us as we take a look at where the flagship processors from Qualcomm, Apple, Nvidia, and Samsung land in the competitive landscape.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 801: Performance Previewed

By Dorian Black, Alex Davies published

Snapdragon 801, the recently-announced update to the Snapdragon 800, shares some of the same SKUs as Snapdragon 800. So, how do you tell the difference? We break down the family and introduce you to the first benchmarks of Sony's Xperia Z2 tablet, too.

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Audience MQ100 And eS700 Series Sensor Coprocessors

By Dorian Black published

Audience introduces two new revisions to their sensor processor family: the MQ100 Motion and earSmart eS700 series. Using proprietary CASA technology that models human hearing, the company aims to improve sensing and environmental awareness.

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Intel Reveals XMM 7260, XMM 7160, & M.2 4G LTE Modems

By Dorian Black published

Last year’s XMM 7160 was Intel’s first LTE 4G CAT 4 modem, with 15 bands it covers most of Europe and North America at 150 Mb/s. This year, Intel introduces the XMM 7260 CAT 6 LTE-Advanced modem, supporting 22 bands at 300 Mb/s, all under one global SKU.

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GFXBench 3.0: A Fresh Look At Mobile Benchmarking

By Dorian Black published

Over the past few years, Kishonti has become a leading name in mobile GPU benchmarking. The newly-released GFXBench 3.0 is comprised of nearly all new tests, including battery, render quality, and the first serious OpenGL ES 3.0 performance metric.

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MediaTek MT6595: 8 Cores, Cortex-A17, PowerVR Rogue, LTE

By Dorian Black published

Chinese chipset maker MediaTek has announced a new SoC for smartphones and tablets that promises to take the company into new markets. The octo-core MT6595 features big.LITTLE ARM Cortex-A17, PowerVR Rogue Series 6, H.265 UHD video, 802.11ac, and LTE.

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Google Nexus 5 Review: A Fast, Affordable Phone With LTE For All

By Dorian Black published

There's a new flagship smartphone in town. The LG-made Nexus 5 offers a fast Snapdragon platform, LTE for all markets, a 5” 1080p display, and Android 4.4 “KitKat”. Best of all, the 16 GB model sells for just $350 off-contract. Is it too good to be true?

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Nvidia Tegra K1 Benchmarks from Lenovo ThinkVision 28

By Dorian Black, Alex Davies published

Nvidia is claiming the new mobile performance king at CES this year with its new Tegra K1 SoC. Luckily, Lenovo had a working K1-based product on the showroom floor, and we managed to run a few benchmarks. So, does Nvidia’s new Tegra live up to the hype?

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Rogue Squadron: Imagination Technologies PowerVR Series6X

By Dorian Black published

So, a new Consumer Electronics Show is upon us, and with it a new set of revisions to Imagination Technologies' PowerVR Rogue GPU core - as made famous in last year's Apple A7 SoC.

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Oppo Find 5 Review: A Phone Of Firsts From A Brand To Watch

By Tarun Iyer, Dorian Black published

Has a relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer of high-end home theater equipment actually created a flagship Android smartphone capable of going head to head with the industry's established heavyweights? We take Oppo's S4 Pro-powered Find 5 for a spin.

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EVGA Tegra Note 7 Review: Nvidia's Tegra 4 For $200

By Marcus Yam, Dorian Black published

Nvidia is partnering with EVGA on the company's second Tegra 4-based device. Its Tegra Note 7 sells for $200, sports unique stylus technology, and ships with a bloatware-free build of Android. Can it set a new standard for affordable seven-inch tablets?

Vivante Ups Mobile GPU Ante With Vega

By Dorian Black published

Last week, we had the opportunity to sit down with Vivante and discuss the company’s upcoming GPU core. Codenamed Vega, the product is aimed at the mobile, home entertainment, and automotive segments. Suffice to say, Vega looks very promising.