ST-Ericsson NovaThor L8580 Quad-Core Mobile CPU Announced

ST-Ericsson is yet another chip maker who brought to the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a new processor designed for mobile devices, namely the NovaThor L8580. Unveiled as a quad-core CPU, the new NovaThor L8580 is said to be the fastest mobile processor with LTE connectivity packed inside, while featuring far less power needs than similar products. Featuring four Cortex-A9 cores, the new chipset is said to be on par with Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad series. The new ST-Ericsson processor can be clocked all the way up to 2.5 GHz, while featuring 0.6 V power consumption. The CPU also features built-in PowerVR SGX544 graphics from Imagination Technologies, along with support for LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, and EDGE...

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No Offline Navigation for Nokia Maps 3.06 with Latest Map Data

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has confirmed an issue with its Nokia Maps 3.06 app on Symbian devices that also have the latest map data installed. Released in December last year, the newest map data from Nokia (namely 0.2.47.103) would cause Navigation in Nokia Maps to not launch when in offline mode. Furthermore, Nokia confirms that users are provided with the following error message: “Car navigation cannot start at this location.” The company says that it is currently looking into the matter, and proposes a temporary fix for the issue. “The workaround is to set Maps in online mode, navigation will then start properly,” the company notes. Undoubtedly, an official fix will be delivered soon, yet the company hasn’t...

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An 8-Core Galaxy S IV Is Closer to Reality Now

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung has been long rumored to bring to the market a successor to its Galaxy S III flagship device that would sport next-gen hardware specifications, but that handset seems now closer to becoming reality. Dubbed Galaxy S IV, the smartphone was rumored to arrive on shelves with an 8-core processor packed inside, as well as with a flexible touchscreen display, specs that now seem very likely to make it inside such a device. At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung unveiled to the world the rumored 8-core mobile processor, the Exynos 5 Octa, which might indeed power the Galaxy S IV, although nothing has been officially confirmed on this as of now. Destined specifically...

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Acer Plans Better “Retina-Class” Displays for Certain Laptops

Acer has done its best to change from a quantity-focused laptop maker to a quality-focused one, and it hasn't had much to brag about yet, but maybe 2013 will be the time of rebound for it. At the very least, the purported plans for the notebook market, where Acer draws most of its revenue from, seem solid. Of course, things may still go sour, but there are only so many tactics one can take for promoting laptops. Since everyone, consumers and IT companies alike, seems to be gushing over displays with resolutions beyond Full HD, Acer decided to do the same. This year (2013), there should be quite a few special laptops equipped with “retina-class” screens. That is to say, displays with a native resolution of 2880...

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