Despite Samsung’ own chip-making prowess, the company has reportedly decided to use an Intel chip in their latest rendition of the Galaxy Tab. This outsourcing move means a lot to Intel, which has admittedly had difficulty breaking into the mobile industry. ARM Holdings, their biggest competitor, has their chips embedded in nearly all available smartphones and tablets, including the last Galaxy Tab to hit store shelves. In contrast, Intel's fleet of microprocessors can be found in merely 12 smartphones and 15 tablets -- none of them massively popular models, either.
The Atom Z2580, part of the recently announced Clover Trail+ lineup, is the microprocessor that Samsung has slated for the upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, an anonymous source told Reuters. Samsung’s marquee tablet will run Android 4.2.2 out of the box and feature a 1280 x 800 resolution display.
Seeing as Samsung and Intel could be considered chip-making rivals, this partnership certainly comes as a surprise. Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64, believes that the decision might have something to do with software compatibility. “It’s the first version of Atom that can support both Android and Windows 8 differed from their platforms for Android. So, it would be possible for Samsung to build a Galaxy Tab that is physically the same hardware and use it for a Windows 8 version,” he said.
Another assumption is that Samsung wants to develop a rapport with Intel; a relationship that will especially come in handy once tablet-laptop hybrids become popular.
Samsung currently uses Intel chips in several of their desktops and laptops, as well as the Ativ Windows 8 hybrids. Intel’s highly anticipated Bay Trail chip is expected to be a major overhaul on past microprocessor designs and the hope is that the technology will revolutionize the hybrid experience. This development might be exactly what Samsung is and has been waiting for.
https://www.techspot.com/news/52747-samsung-taps-intel-to-power-the-galaxy-tab-3.html
