Claiming to be the "world's first" single chip solution with 3G UMTS and China's fave TD-SCDMA (with HSPA support), Marvell's using its MWC 2011 time to unveil the PXA978 chip with 1.2GHz clockspeeds and a 40nm size. Alongside that, the company's announced Kinoma Play as a barebones, no-nonsense platform with Android underneath the skin. A developer SDK is in the works, and if you're so inclined, video and press releases are after the break. Rest assured, we'll be swinging by Marvell's booth this week to see it for ourselves.
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Marvell Announces First 'World Phone' Single Chip Solution: 3G TD-SCDMA Baseband Combining High Performance 1.2 GHz Application Processor with Advanced 3D Graphics and 1080p Multimedia
Marvell's new single chip solution runs on the Kinoma Platform combining unprecedented
hardware and software capabilities aimed at billions of smartphone and tablet users around the globe
BARCELONA, Spain (Feb. 14, 2011) - Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, continues to build on its heritage of mobile communications innovations with the announcement of its world phone platform based on the Marvell® PXA978 communications processor with Marvell HSPA modem. Marvell's PXA978 is the industry's first single-chip solution to feature 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and China's TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) standard with HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) support and is intended to enable mobile developers to design 3G cellular devices and tablets that can be used and supported globally.
"The quest to deliver seamless connectivity on a global scale requires fundamental breakthroughs in mobile telephony. I'm very proud of our engineering teams for continuously delivering some of the most innovative technologies in our industry. It's truly amazing that a tiny chip like the PXA978 integrates both 3G and TD-SCDMA basebands, a powerful application processor, all advanced 3D graphics capability, with a very low-power profile and affordable cost structure ideal for mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets," said Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-Founder. "With the addition of Kinoma's elegant and intuitive software experience and integration of cutting-edge mobile technologies, Marvell has enabled the entire ecosystem – in both its depth and breadth – to convert conventional cell phones into multi-functional mobile gadgets ideal for gaming, video chatting, live news, and more. This small device has the potential to make a huge impact on our world. I envision that a true world phone will transform the global economy by lowering the cost and barriers to entry for billions more consumers and innovators."
Unlike current technology on the market, the Marvell world phone development platform is the world's first and only available solution of its kind featuring R7 3G UMTS and TD-SCDMA with HSPA. Additionally, the platform will feature the industry's first Mobile MIMO, Avastar™ 88W8797, an 802.11n 2x2 dual-band Wi-Fi SoC designed to support high data rates for next-generation mobile devices. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) no longer need to design separate development platforms to accommodate different wireless standards and target markets around the world, saving months of design time and cost. Instead, they can focus on creating a wide portfolio of 3G UMTS supported phones that can be used globally with other UMTS carriers worldwide – all based on a single development platform.
China Mobile, the world's largest carrier with more than 500 million subscribers, recently reported that there are currently more than 18 million TD-SCDMA users in China. With that number expected to grow exponentially, Marvell's world phone platform based handsets will provide wireless handset OEMs with a wireless phone platform designed to deliver unmatched performance and addresses the rapidly expanding requirements of one of the world's largest populations.
Marvell's PXA978 single chip solution uses advanced 40nm process technology and is designed to deliver 3G TD-SCDMA baseband combining high performance 1.2 GHz application processor with advanced 3D graphics and 1080p multimedia, ensuring a feature-rich, fast and exceptionally smooth user experience. Additionally, the processor's extremely high power efficiency and true multitasking capabilities is intended to enable OEMs to design mobile devices that represent a significant leap beyond today's most advanced smartphone and tablet devices. The platform will support all leading OS platforms.
Marvell will demonstrate the newest version of Kinoma Play in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress (Courtyard CY15). For those unable to see Kinoma Play in person, a video showing the speed, elegance, and simplicity of Kinoma Play is available on the Marvell web site.
Marvell Introduces Kinoma– Revolutionary Open Software Platform to Unify Applications
Simple, elegant, intuitive and lightening fast user experience will debut at Mobile World Congress
BARCELONA, Spain, (Feb. 14, 2011) - Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today announced the Kinoma®, a software platform that will dramatically transform the way consumers interact with the devices that fuel their digital lives. Kinoma is a new foundation for creating and delivering fast, simple user experiences for an unprecedented range of devices. Through its recent acquisition of Kinoma, a visionary creator of mobile media software, Marvell now offers an experience and solution that is fully integrated from silicon to applications, creating new opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturers while freeing developers from traditional restraints.
"We are living in an exciting world of proliferating electronic devices. They are becoming a key part of our lives. More than ever consumers demand great ease-of-use and seamless connectivity across all these devices," said Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-Founder. "I am very excited to bring the talented Kinoma team to Marvell – it is our mission to coherently integrate our industry-leading hardware solutions with beautiful software experiences to enable the entire ecosystem to address this emerging demand. The addition of Kinoma– a simple, intuitive, easy to use software experience optimized for Marvell's total silicon solutions – provides a unified look and feel across an array of products from handheld devices to smart appliances and smart furnishings. It gives designers and developers the freedom to dream up more innovative, personalized, and intelligent products and applications that I believe will change the world by making consumers' lives easier and more convenient. That's our passion."
The newest version of Kinoma Play is the first product built on Kinoma. Featuring an elegant, touch-friendly design coupled with lightning fast speed, Kinoma Play shows how the Kinoma delivers a seamlessly integrated user experience. Combining 40 applications, ranging from social networking to digital media to location to search, Kinoma Play offers consumers a simple, consistent user experience for work and play.
To encourage broad industry adoption, Marvell will offer Kinoma under an open source license. Developers will be able to adapt Kinoma for any device they can imagine. Marvell will also provide two software development kits (SDKs). The first SDK is for application developers to fully integrate their content and services into Kinoma powered devices. The second SDK is for OEMs and manufacturers to port and customize Kinoma for their products.
"As digital devices have become more powerful, creating the software to power them has become increasingly difficult," said Peter Hoddie, vice president of the Kinoma Platform at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. "Kinoma makes it easier for developers to bring their ideas to life. Kinoma lets developers focus on creating great applications with thoughtfully refined user experiences that taps into the full power of the underlying hardware. We want to make life better for developers, so they can craft the products that make life better for our users."
"Kinoma delivers on the promise so many companies are chasing – a thoughtfully designed, beautiful user interface that enhances user experience," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. "The capabilities of this platform are crucial for creating a new class of connected devices with a simple, consistent user experience and access to the content they need, no matter where they are."
Marvell will demonstrate the newest version of Kinoma Play in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress (Courtyard CY15). For those unable to see Kinoma Play in person, a video showing the speed, elegance, and simplicity of Kinoma Play is available on the Marvell web site.
Marvell will announce further information on developing with Kinoma and licensing in the coming weeks.
About Marvell
Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions. Marvell's diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home and storage networking. As used in this release, the term "Marvell" refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit Marvell.com.
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Marvell, the M logo and Kinoma are registered trademarks of Marvell and/or its affiliates. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
