While the quad-core revolution has already arrived with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processors in Android devices like the ASUS Transformer Prime and HTC One X, new details have surfaced suggesting that we could see Tegra 4 chips make their way into Android and Windows 8 devices by next year already. CNET reports:
“Starting in the first quarter of 2013, the 1.8GHz Tegra 4 should make an appearance in a “10-inch” device (read: tablet), according to VR-ZONE. Other Tegra 4 versions will appear in the third quarter of 2013.”
Samsung Galaxy S3 Exynos and NVIDIA Tegra 4 rumors
Now if you’ve been following Samsung Galaxy S3 rumors to date, you will be well aware of the purported 1.8GHz quad-core Exynos processor coupled with 2GB RAM which could make the Galaxy S3 the most powerful Android phone on the market. Unfortunately though, given that most flagship smartphones here in the US are LTE capable, the current generation of quad-core chips don’t seem to be compatible with LTE and hence the swaps (e.g. the HTC EVO 4G LTE packs a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip instead of a quad-core Tegra 3 as expected in order to work with LTE radios).
If Samsung’s in-house quad-core Exynos processors are compatible with LTE radios then we could see a stream of quad-core smartphones flood the US market as early as this year. Otherwise, we may be waiting for a while until Samsung and ARM (makers of NVIDIA chips) can make their processors compatible.
Are you holding out for a quad-core phone or ready to settle for the latest generation of dual-core phones given that recent tests show them to be as powerful (if not more)? Or is it too difficult to shake off the mentality that ‘more is always better’? Sound off in the comments below.
