At the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), fabless chip vendor MediaTek Inc. rolled out two system on chips (SoCs) targeted at Google Android TVs and Android wearables.
For Google’s Android Wear devices, MediaTek has introduced its MT2601 SoC that the company said will open up a multitude of possibilities for the Android wear device market. The SOC is a small size chip that contains 41.5 percent fewer components and lower current consumption when compared to other SoCs on the market, MediaTek said.
The design also lowers the bill of materials (BOM) costs, enables a smaller printed circuit board (PCB) size and longer battery life all of which is something that is much desired by wearable manufacturers, MediaTek said. The MT2601 includes a 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A&, ARM Mali-400 MP GPU and supports qHD display resolution as well as support for Bluetooth.
The Chinese chipmaker also is helping to create an ultra-HD TV platform for Android TV. Made possible through MediaTek’s MT5595 SoC, users will be able to watch movies and shows from Google Play, stream apps and play Android games on their Ultra HD TV all enabled through voice search. By integrating MediaTek’s SoC in the Android TV setup allows for full use of the Android 5.0 Lollipop software
The MT5595 SoC features quad-core big.LiTTLE technology and incorporates the AMR Cortex-A17 and two ARM Cortex-A7 processors to provide a high quality of viewing at low power consumption, MediaTek said. The SoC also supports Google VP9 and HEVC codecs designed for 4K2K content streaming at 60 frames per second.
Joe Chen, senior VP and GM of MediaTek’s Home Entertainment Business Unit, said in a statement the integration of Android 5.0 Lollipop software will “significantly improve consumers’ engagement with their TVs.”
The MT5595 is in mass production with Android TVs expecting to become commercially available in March of this year.
One of the first offerings is the Sony Android TV, demonstrated for the first time at CES. MediaTek’s SoC will be the driving force in Sony’s Android TV that is Google Cast ready and supports 4K streaming and Bluetooth. On the Sony Android TV, users can stream shows and movies from Google Play, play Android games or use apps from Google Play.
Ching-Jiang Hsieh, president of MediaTek, said in a statement, that the Sony Android TV will “set the standard for future smart televisions” and that with MediaTek’s technology will help in “changing the way people watch TV.”
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