iPhone 4 and Samsung ‘Wave’ use the same chip? Not Suprised.
Last week, we saw a report on cnet making claims that Apple’s iPhone 4 is powered by the same device as the Samsung Wave S8500. The renowned A4 chip is manufactured by Samsung – it makes sense that it might appear in a Samsung device.
What many North American’s don’t know is that Samsung is a massive company – much larger then they might think. Samsung plays in semiconductor design, manufacturing, consumer electronics, appliances and even automotive (ie. They make cars). From personal experience, the various divisions have difficulty working together. The concept of a Samsung device having a Samsung core is slightly less likely then you probably thought.
R&D costs on a chip such as the A4 are bound to be quite high. Have you ever seen a chip that you weren’t able to ID on Samsung’s website? Chances are it has proprietary claims – much like “Apple’s A4″.
Well, today Dr. Wreck has news for you – semiconductor manufacturers often resell or repackage bare die in an effort to extend a devices life-expectancy or even functional base. That means you might find yourself purchasing a crippled or often repackaged device for your next design application. This is often done by rotating the die 90 degrees inside of the package – which modifies the pin-out.
What is the device actually called? The S5PC110A01. It’s no wonder Apple, the king of branding in all things electronic, decided on something simple and sexy like the A4. This news is really no surprise – that said, the iPhone is about the only smartphone anyone should really consider building proprietary devices for (sales volumes are high enough to support R&D and tapeout).
Technical Specifications at a glance:
- PowerVR SGX 535 3D Graphics core
- 1 GHz Cortex-A8 (iPad)
- L1 cache – 64KB
- L2 cache – 640KB
- PoP – 2x 128MB DDR SDRAM chips, 64-bit data bus
Make sure to check out @DrWreck on twitter for the latest and greatest in Smartphone news.
i always wait and look on the internet about the latest consumer electronics items that i can buy.’;;
so what would be the hottest consumer elecdtronic items for the year 2010?’.:
Good information. Today I just got a Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 in the mail from ebay, and it at present appears that it is at stock settings for your Verizon Network. I prepare to make use of this cell phone on Metro PCS. I also desire to set Windows Mobile 6.5 on right here, but I’m not sure which purchase I must do this in. Should I consider it to Metro PCS as is and have it activated, and then afterwards flash the ROM with 6.five? Or need to I modify the ROM first after which it acquire it to Metro PCS? I’ve been seeking around and I’m unable to find the response to this.
Thanks for the awesome article, so I’ve been a samsung person for about five years now, and I lately upgraded from a samsung omnia i910 to the Samsung Wave and thus far I’m loving it! (I do miss a few features of my omnia despite the fact that) I’m from Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada, I was originaly going to wait it out for the galaxy s to arrive at the bell community but determined to shop for the wave instead and retailer myself $400.