[Neely2005]

Did anyone else see this?

"The rumor mill says that the next-gen RIM smartphones will be underpinned by quad-core Snapdragon S4 chipsets and that will feature HD displays, LTE support, and, of course, the new BlackBerry 10 OS."

Carriers Thrilled About BlackBerry 10 Smartphones, Says RIM Official

What are the chances that this is true?

[GTiLeo]

if it is infact the quad core version of the S4 pro then that is fantastic news it will not onyl have a great OS but be a powerhouse, maybe Thors german roots are coming out

[ad19]

I feel like the author just misinterpreted the report from BBOS that the upcoming BB10 phones will be running the Snapdragon S4 chipset and just assumed it was the quad-core variant.

[GreyGhostRos]

RIM to make use of Snapdragon S4 Pro processors in BlackBerry 10 devices? | CrackBerry.com

[SFWriter]

“Rumours are like melons; they may seem solid with substance but once opened they can be empty of essence”.

I have seen this rumour on a number of blogs and discussion boards in recent weeks. While I hope that this holds true, I have been disappointed in the past and do not want to get my hopes up.

I know that many of my friends and colleague’s are already talking of jumping ship to the dreaded dark side (The two ‘A’ phones) should the BB10 not, at best meet the current standard of 'other' handsets, or better still surpass the current crop of smart phones.

Time and Thorsten will tell in the end. “May the RIM be with us all in these dark days (que sinister music here)”

[timmy t]

Since Thorsten and the other top executives of RIM actually also use Apple and Android phones, it is highly unlikely that they will allow a BB10 phone to come out that is not equivalent to (but not a copy of) the two main smartphones.
The only real issue is apps. How many of the top apps are available. Does Netfix really matter?

[SFWriter]

........ Does Netfix really matter?

Ahhh; a question that has been asked over and over again young Grasshopper.

[GTiLeo]

Since Thorsten and the other top executives of RIM actually also use Apple and Android phones, it is highly unlikely that they will allow a BB10 phone to come out that is not equivalent to (but not a copy of) the two main smartphones.
The only real issue is apps. How many of the top apps are available. Does Netfix really matter?

the way i see it, No bt everyone is always crying about skype and netflix

[mikeo007]

Since Thorsten and the other top executives of RIM actually also use Apple and Android phones, it is highly unlikely that they will allow a BB10 phone to come out that is not equivalent to (but not a copy of) the two main smartphones.
The only real issue is apps. How many of the top apps are available. Does Netfix really matter?

I would argue that Netflix matters much more on a tablet than it does on a phone. While it's useful on both, it's much better suited for a tablet.

BB10 will need to have a large percentage of the top apps available at launch, and RIM knows this very well.

[Blackberry_boffin]

The issue of the quad core processor has been widely reported indeed as a 'rumour' by all the usual suspects so much that someone who knows something has been tapped and predictably kept mum. Rumours do not just come up, and do not also necessarily pan out to be true.
The chip exists (I hear the LG Optimus will use it) so the question why and why not should RIM use it?
RIM needs to bring on its A game and sometimes this means playing up to the hype machine and going bonkers with specs even you don't really need to.
Q1 2013 is such a long way that running with a chip that is not cutting edge even now would be a sad mistake, esp as we are guaranteed the slew of devices coming up are certain to raise the bar again. So the S4 maybe be making us all go wow now but next year for come back devices it maybe a meh...
I know the argument will branch into OS optimizations but on a spec sheet you do not write, "resource light OS"

[Knightcrawler]

as long as they're using the latest and greatest chipset available at this moment i am happy. You can only future proof so much, but in this changing landscape, you'll be behind on specs every 6 months, no matter how you look at it.

Its easy for the numerous android OEM's to push hardware specs, since they launch new devices so readily, but when it comes to the OS/hardware combo (like apple, rim and MS/nokia) you'll see less of a hardware push. These companies will be launching devices yearly (hopefully), so at some point you have to settle on specific hardware, and stop worrying about who might be coming out with better hardware in a month. All those updates happen in the next product cycle.

That being said, i really wish my bb10 phone comes equipped with a laser. That would ROCK.

[VerryBestr]

I agree with ad19, I also think the quad-core rumor is just misinterpretation of the initial report that the BB10 phones would use the upcoming Snapdragon processors with the Adreno 320 GPU.

The issue of the quad core processor ... The chip exists (I hear the LG Optimus will use it) so the question why and why not should RIM use it? ...

Qualcomm has announced two processors with the label "Pro." They will both use the new Adreno 320 GPU, which is supposed to be much faster than GPUs in Qualcomm's previous processors.

One model is dual core and contains, on the same chip, all the radio functions necessary for LTE and nearly all other radio standards in use. The quad core model does not contain the radio circuitry, which must be added with another chip. See the table of "SnapDragon S4" processors in this Wikipedia entry:
| Snapdragon (system on chip) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Using the dual core wiith variant onchip radio is supposed to have power drain and space advantages. I believe the power drain advantage is important to RIM. I do hope that RIM puts 2GB of RAM in the phones, though. That plus the new GPU would give RIM a high end phone, even without 4 processors.

[BBPandy]

I would rather RIM use the Snapdragon 4 PRO processors with the Adreno 320 GPU.

Just becasue something has more cores doesn't make it a better chip. I read somewhere (think andtech) that bnechmarks ect. showed the dual core to be more powerful. It's got the better 28nm GPU & also the intergrated radio chip. Not only would the quadcore chip be slower, it will use more battery.

[mikeo007]

I would rather RIM use the Snapdragon 4 PRO processors with the Adreno 320 GPU.

Just becasue something has more cores doesn't make it a better chip. I read somewhere (think andtech) that bnechmarks ect. showed the dual core to be more powerful. It's got the better 28nm GPU & also the intergrated radio chip. Not only would the quadcore chip be slower, it will use more battery.

I sincerely doubt that a quad-core CPU would be slower than dual-core when paired with QNX.

It comes down to cost/performance (with the cost including monetary cost and battery life cost).

[Rello]

I hope people don't get their hopes up for the quadcore processor. Most sites (crackberry &n4bb) are saying that it be the dual core version because it comes integrated with LTE. I'm perfectly happy if this is the case. Even in January it should still be considered a modern chip. What it will boil down to is how well optimised RIM has BB10 to work with the new horse power

[Rello]

I would rather RIM use the Snapdragon 4 PRO processors with the Adreno 320 GPU.

Just becasue something has more cores doesn't make it a better chip. I read somewhere (think andtech) that bnechmarks ect. showed the dual core to be more powerful. It's got the better 28nm GPU & also the intergrated radio chip. Not only would the quadcore chip be slower, it will use more battery.

Which chips are u talking about? Are u sure u aren't comparing the S4 (not the pro version) to the Tegra 3?....I'm pretty sure that benchmarks were done on both and in many instances, the S4 held its own against the wuad core tegra 3.

The last benchmarks for the quadcore S4 Pro that I saw though blew everything out the water. I'm pretty sure I saw it on engadget

[sam_b77]

I don't want multiple cores. I want battery life... Quad core sounds nice, but if it gives a battery life of half an hour then I will pass on it. QNX is not as light on battery usage as most people make it out to be. The PB is proof of it. The battery life on PB is decent, not spectacular as one would expect if one believes all the hype about QNX having a special relationship with batteries.

[00stryder]

Since Thorsten and the other top executives of RIM actually also use Apple and Android phones, it is highly unlikely that they will allow a BB10 phone to come out that is not equivalent to (but not a copy of) the two main smartphones.
The only real issue is apps. How many of the top apps are available. Does Netfix really matter?

Thorsten stated that he uses Apple and Android devices to know the competition, but has gone on record to say that he is currently using a BB10 device as his personal phone. But that wasn't really your point; I think Netflix is losing it's luster with customers. I think most people like to throw that out there just to point out another service that isn't on BlackBerry devices, but from what I see people aren't really using their smartphones for Netflix anymore. Definitely Skype, Kindle, etc., but if RIM can leverage a partnership with Redbox to create a mobile app then it might knock the wind out of this ridiculous Netflix requirement. And hopefully, those "big partnerships" that RIM mentioned at World include Skype and other relevant big guns.

[Rello]

I don't want multiple cores. I want battery life... Quad core sounds nice, but if it gives a battery life of half an hour then I will pass on it. QNX is not as light on battery usage as most people make it out to be. The PB is proof of it. The battery life on PB is decent, not spectacular as one would expect if one believes all the hype about QNX having a special relationship with batteries.

I agree. PlayBook battery life really isn't that good to me. There are other 7" tablets with much better battery life. I'm hoping that's more cause the PlayBook isn't really optimized since they are working on BB10 and not because of QNX necessarily.

[GTiLeo]

I would rather RIM use the Snapdragon 4 PRO processors with the Adreno 320 GPU.

Just becasue something has more cores doesn't make it a better chip. I read somewhere (think andtech) that bnechmarks ect. showed the dual core to be more powerful. It's got the better 28nm GPU & also the intergrated radio chip. Not only would the quadcore chip be slower, it will use more battery.

The S4 PRO comes in a quadcore it just doesn't have a wireless radio its simply just a processor and GPU. So it's especially just a beast same core features with two ecpxtra cores and the adreno 320GPU

[GTiLeo]

I agree. PlayBook battery life really isn't that good to me. There are other 7" tablets with much better battery life. I'm hoping that's more cause the PlayBook isn't really optimized since they are working on BB10 and not because of QNX necessarily.

The playbook OS was also never optimized to be a mobile phone its still simply a tablet and most often used and plugged in if not its close to a power source for charging while a phone is meant for use where power is not availible, so I'm sure the battery life will be fine on the phones

[FSeverino]

I would argue that Netflix matters much more on a tablet than it does on a phone. While it's useful on both, it's much better suited for a tablet.

BB10 will need to have a large percentage of the top apps available at launch, and RIM knows this very well.

but by rim showing that bb10 is a great platform for advancement, and that BB is here to stay, netflix will be much more likely to develop for the PB due to the fact that people will be more likely to buy PBs once they already have BB phones.

[BBPandy]

Which chips are u talking about? Are u sure u aren't comparing the S4 (not the pro version) to the Tegra 3?....I'm pretty sure that benchmarks were done on both and in many instances, the S4 held its own against the wuad core tegra 3.

The last benchmarks for the quadcore S4 Pro that I saw though blew everything out the water. I'm pretty sure I saw it on engadget

This was a while ago...may have been the Tegra 3....

The S4 PRO comes in a quadcore it just doesn't have a wireless radio its simply just a processor and GPU. So it's especially just a beast same core features with two ecpxtra cores and the adreno 320GPU

my mistake...thought it had the old GPU...guess I was thinking of a different chip.

I would still prefer the Dual Core unless RIM can figgure out how to get Great (better then 9900) Battery life out of the Quad Core.

[ccbs]

Heard from a source in Qualcomm that there will be at least 10 top of the line phones using 8960T spanning every key Android manufacturer coming out next month.
I wasn't told about the specific model but judging from what is going on, I guess those should include Motorola Razr HD, Sony Xperia X, HTC One XX, some from LG and Samsung too. There will be plenty of benchmarks to see how it performs before we see this from RIM.

[jedibeeftrix]

never mind quad cores, just ensure it comes with the Adreno 320 GPU from the get-go in order that BBOS10 all hardware is OpenGL ES 3.0 compliant throughout the platforms life.