Amazon is now a custom ARM chipmaker

[Shawn Knight]

Amazon is now in the hardware business, and I don't mean another phone or tablet. After acquiring Israeli-based chipmaker Annapurna Labs a year ago, the e-commerce giant is now selling custom ARM chips.

The chips aren't something the average Joe will be able to order for Prime delivery via Amazon's main site. Instead, they'll be offered to OEMs and service providers for use in products like home gateways, network attached storage (NAS) devices, IoT devices and Wi-Fi routers.

Annapurna Labs offers both 32-bit ARMv7 and 64-bit ARMv8 architectures with up to four cores. While not capable of powering the next flagship smartphone or tablet, the chips are more than capable in devices like home gateways, network attached storage (NAS) devices, IoT devices and Wi-Fi routers. In fact, Asus, Netgear, QNAP and Synology have all either announced or released products using Alpine chips.

It's unclear whether Amazon will or is already using Alpine chips in some capacity in its e-book readers, tablets or streaming media boxes.

Annapurna Labs was founded by Avigdor Willenz in 2011. Amazon purchased the chipmaker in January 2015 for an undisclosed sum. Sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal at the time that Amazon had discussed paying between $350 million and $375 million for the chipmaker. Willenz also founded chip design firm Galileo Technologies which Marvell scooped up in 2000 for a whopping $2.7 billion.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63391-amazon-now-custom-arm-chipmaker.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Ohhhhhhh, computer chips! I was hopping they had bought out Lays Potato Chips!

 

[captaincranky]

Ohhhhhhh, computer chips! I was hopping they had bought out Lays Potato Chips!

Not to worry, the ARM chips will control the drones, the drones will drop the potato chips in your lap. (Although you may have to go out and sit in the yard for that service).

This is a bold move on Amazon's part! In one fell swoop they could render wives, children, and the physical act of walking to the kitchen obsolete.

And don't worry about the "Lay's" brand, I'm sure Amazon will soon be able to 3D print potato chips which taste just like the real thing!

 

[Steve]

Ohhhhhhh, computer chips! I was hopping they had bought out Lays Potato Chips!

Not to worry, the ARM chips will control the drones, the drones will drop the potato chips in your lap. (Although you may have to go out and sit in the yard for that service).

This is a bold move on Amazon's part! In one fell swoop they could render wives, children, and the physical act of walking to the kitchen obsolete.

And don't worry about the "Lay's" brand, I'm sure Amazon will soon be able to 3D print potato chips which taste just like the real thing!

The real Skynet will be a potato chip ... wait what were we talking about?

 

[captaincranky]

The real Skynet will be a potato chip ... wait what were we talking about?

Elon Musk launching Skynet with a reusable booster guided by ARM chips made by Amazon using 3D printed potato chips for fuel.

Or maybe it was Colonel Mustard killing the ARM guided drone bringing the potato chips with a tire iron on the porch.

I swear each of those two sentences could have used a comma or two but sometimes my mind just races so fast..