New tablets to feature MIPS for both applications and baseband processing
The folks from Altair Semiconductor, MIPS Technologies, and Ingenic Semiconductor have announced that they are bringing Altair's MIPS-Based FourGee LTE chipset to MIPS-Based Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablets from Ingenic.
Altair is a leading developer of ultra-low power, small footprint and high-performance 4G LTE chipsets, and Ingenic Semiconductor is a leading China-based CPU provider for mobile multimedia applications. Both companies' products are based on the industry-standard MIPS architecture from MIPS Technologies. Combining their processors, the new tablet will be the first to leverage the MIPS architecture for both baseband and applications processing.
Originally announced in December 2011, the Ingenic tablet is the world's first Android 4.0 tablet. During Mobile World Congress, being held February 27 - March 1, 2012 in Barcelona, MIPS and Altair will demonstrate a prototype of the new solution integrating the Ingenic tablet with Altair's FourGee chipset. The companies expect that a version of the tablet with LTE on-board will sample to customers in the second quarter of this year, with potential commercial availability in the second half of 2012.
"We are excited to add Android tablets to the growing list of products, including USB dongles, portable hotspots and smartphones, which feature Altair's low power, high-performance LTE chipsets. The close cooperation between Altair, Ingenic and MIPS holds great promise for the industry, since we share a vision of delivering a combination of high performance, power efficiency and lower total cost of ownership," said Eran Eshed, co-founder and vice president of marketing and business development at Altair Semiconductor.
"Our MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablet, which features 1GHz performance along with an innovative ultra-low-power pipelining architecture, is already in production with multiple OEMs. When we made the decision to add 4G connectivity to this groundbreaking tablet, it was clear that Altair was the most suitable partner for Ingenic. Like Ingenic's solutions, Altair's processors feature extremely high-performance and ultra-low power capabilities, and as fellow MIPS licensees, it is easy for us to work together to speed time to market," said Qiang Liu, chairman and CEO, Ingenic Semiconductor.
"Altair and Ingenic are innovative and forward-thinking MIPS licensees who realized early the benefits of leveraging the performance-efficient MIPS architecture for mobile device development. As a result, these two companies are offering low power, high performance products that offer differentiation for their customers in a highly competitive and fast-moving market," said Gideon Intrater, vice president of marketing, MIPS Technologies.
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