ST-Ericsson announced an ARM Cortex-A15 “Nova A9600” processor it says will be the first to offer Imagination Technologies' speedy “Rogue” graphics. The chipmaker also announced two Cortex-A9 application processors — the Nova A9540 and A9500 — plus three Cortex-A9-based “NovaThor” smartphone platforms, and an open source “Snowball” board and “Igloo” community based on the A9500.

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Axiomtek is readying an IP4X-rated, dust-proof digital signage player based on a dual-core, 1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 processor. The DSB-300 offers 4GB of DDR3 memory, dual PCIe slots with wireless options, a gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 2.0 ports, a serial port, and an optional hardware decoder that supports 1920 x 1080 HD video, says the company.

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Marvell announced a 1.2GHz processor for mobile devices claimed to be the first to combine 3G UMTS and TD-SCDMA cellular technology. In addition to unveiling the PXA978 processor, which is also touted for its advanced 3D graphics and 1080p multimedia playback, Marvell announced an open source mobile development platform called Kinoma.

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HTC announced a seven-inch, 1.5GHz tablet that features pen support and links to online video and gaming services. The HTC Flyer features a new version of HTC's Sense UI layer atop a hybrid version of Android 2.4, and offers 1GB RAM, 32GB of flash, microSD expansion, five-megapixel and 1.3-megapixel cameras, plus HSPA+, 802.11n, GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0.

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Qualcomm is using this week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona to demonstrate a peer-to-peer wireless technology for cell phones. To be tested by SK Telecom in South Korea, the “FlashLinq” technology would let devices communicate at broadband speeds without any intermediary infrastructure, the company says.

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Acer formally announced two previously tipped Android tablets, as well as an Android smartphone. The 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A500 and the seven-inch Iconia Tab A100 run Android 3.0 on a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and feature a five-megapixel and two-megapixel camera, while the 4.8-inch Iconia Smart phone runs Android 2.3 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon.

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Imagination Technologies — a key supplier of graphics IP to many ARM licensees and to Intel — says a new version of its software will boost performance at least 20 times. The Powervr Series6 architecture, code-named “Rogue,” has already been licensed to one “tier-one” company and will appear in product around the beginning of 2013, the company says.

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Intel made loud overtures in support of MeeGo at Mobile World Congress, getting Toshiba, Fujitsu, Asus, and Acer to stand behind the Linux-based OS, despite Nokia's defection. The MeeGo project also demonstrated the long-awaited MeeGo Tablet User Experience (UX).

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Renesas Electronics announced a mobile processor offering dual ARM Cortex-A9 cores and what's said to be the first implementation of Imagination Technologies' Powervr SGX MP graphics. The “SH-Mobile APE5R” is clocked at 1.2GHz, can provide 30fps stereoscopic HD video, and provides for both HDMI and USB interfaces, the company says.

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Novell's Mono Project has delivered a preview version of Moonlight 4, the open source Linux implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight multimedia development platform. Moonlight 4 offers support for Silverlight 4 APIs for H.264 video codecs, graphics hardware acceleration, 3D transformation, and pixel shaders, among other improvements.

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Wind River has updated its Wind River Platform for Android and Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, and will demonstrate a new tablet user experience for MeeGo. Wind River Platform for Android adds upgrade paths for Gingerbread and Honeycomb, multi-windowing features, plus support for Ethernet, USB On-the-Go, the Nvidia Tegra 2, and DLNA Digital Media Server (DMS).

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ViewSonic announced a tablet PC that's one of the first to employ Intel's “Oak Trail” Atom. The ViewPad 10Pro will be able to boot either Windows 7 or Android 2.2, features a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, includes 3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, and offers at least six hours of battery life, the company says.

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Samsung announced a 10.1-inch version of its Galaxy Tab tablet that advances to a dual-core 1GHz processor and Android 3.0. Due to be released by Vodafone in 20 markets this spring, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display, 16GB to 32GB flash memory, HSPA+, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, says the company.

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Samsung announced a next-generation Galaxy S smartphone, just a third of an inch thick. Featuring Android 2.3 running on a dual-core 1GHz processor, the Galaxy S II offers a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display, the new 21Mbps version of HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, optional NFC, dual cameras, and support for 1080p playback and record.

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Qualcomm announced three new entries in its Snapdragon family of processors, including the company's first quad-core offering. The MSM8930, MSM8960, and APQ8064 respectively include one, two, or four cores clocked at up to 2.5GHz, integrated LTE modems, and stereoscopic 3D imaging, the company says.

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