ARM Unveils 64-Bit Cortex Processor, Touts to Power Mobiles Devices, Microservers
Chip technology firm ARM spilled out on Tuesday its new line of processors that were aimed to capture more tech market segments apart from its present dominance in the mobile device sector.
Unveiling its new batch of processing chips, chiefly bannered by the 64-bit Cortex A-50 series, ARM chief executive Warren East touted the enhanced line-up as likely the power that will make for more exciting tablet and smartphone feature in the years ahead.
What the world will see are more attractive, cutting-edge and powerful product rollouts from Apple, Android and Windows device manufacturers, the ARM chief said.
But the company, Mr East admitted, is looking beyond gadgets as its new chip architecture now fully supports low-energy that corporate clients would find very useful for their data server needs.
He confirmed that apart from consolidating its hold on mobile computing business, ARM is eyeing the server arena, with the move leading the company in direct collision with Intel, which has become a laggard in the mobile gadget chips competition following years of supremacy in the PC processing business.
With ARM-designed chips now on the 64-bit technology, Mr East said the company not only matched that of previous Intel chips in terms of processing muscle but also surpassed its rival's unchecked hunger for energy.
This new ARM technology could potentially slash chips' power consumption by up to 75 per cent and would in the future spawn new generation of smartphones and tablet computers, Mr East said.
But the more exciting prospect for ARM, the company boss added, is the major role it could play in the projected growth of the nascent microserver industry, which promises the same data centre efficiency of previously delivered by traditional servers but will less power required.
What the ARM chips did in the PC industry could be replicated in the data centre business, Mr East said, adding that by 2020 20 per cent of global data centres would rely on ARM technology for their server needs.
In fact, over the next two years microserver chips designed on top of the ARM architecture could become commercially available courtesy of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, Reuters said on Tuesday.
Other chip producers lined up to churn out the Cortex processors are Broadcom, Calxeda, HiSilicon, Samsung and STMicroelectronics, according to the wire news agency.