Microsoft's next Surface RT to feature Qualcomm processor

Microsoft is planning to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset with LTE support for its next generation Surface RT tablet with Windows RT.

Microsoft is planning to use Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon mobile chipset for its next generation Surface RT tablet. Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with Microsoft's plan, that the company will add Qualcomm to its list of chipset supplier. The next version of the Surface RT tablets will come in several versions and some of them will carry the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. Meanwhile, the company will continue to work with Nvidia as the chipset vendor for Surface tablets as well.

Microsoft and Nvidia worked together to empower the processing muscle for the Surface RT tablets. The Surface RT tablet packs a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 mobile processor, 2 GB RAM and 32 GB or 64 GB storage space.

For the next generation Surface tablet, Microsoft has decided to rope in Qualcomm for its latest Snapdragon family chipsets. It is fair to assume that the next surface will arrive with the top of the line Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with Adreno 330 graphics chip. The chip has been recently announced and has been reported of topping several mobile platform benchmarks.

Microsoft specifically chose Qualcomm also for the LTE modem chip that bears close integration with the mobile processors. That also points to the fact that next generation Surface RT tablets will also offered in LTE supporting versions. Microsoft already promised to bring Outlook email and Calendar application to the Windows RT version.

Microsoft's Surface RT features VaporMg casing design that also includes Touch or Type Cover. The entire Surface RT package with the Touch or Type Cover costs Rs 30,000 ($499). We hope that Microsoft comes out with smaller screen size bearing Surface at little affordable price points.

Tags: MICROSOFT, QUALCOMM, SNAPDRAGON 800, NVIDIA, MOBILE, WINDOWS RT, SURFACE RT

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP benchmarks: prepare for ludicrous speed

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP benchmarks: prepare for ludicrous speed 

Today we had a chance to play with Qualcomm's latest MDP devices (tablet and phone) which pack the company's mighty Snapdragon 800 SoC (MSM8974). The tablet is slightly larger than than last year's and features an 11.6-inch 1920 x 1080-pixel display, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 32GB of built-in flash storage (with microSD expansion), USB 3.0 support and a 12 megapixel AF rear camera with flash (2MP fixed-focus in front). All of this is crammed into a slim (0.46 inches / 11.7mm) chassis that's powered by a 3400mAh Li-ion battery and incorporates a bevvy of radios (LTE band 17, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4 LE, GPS, NFC) and sensors (including pressure and humidity).

The phone shares most of the tablet's specs but swaps the screen for a 4.3-inch panel (1280 x 720 pixels) and the battery for a smaller (1500mAh) pack. We put these Snapdragon 800-equipped MDPs through their paces by running our usual suite of benchmarks (plus a few more). The results? Prepare for ludicrous speed! More after the break.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP tablet screenshots

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP phone screenshots

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP devices

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As you can tell from the numbers, the Snapdragon 800 certainly smokes its predecessors and even Samsung's zippy Exynos 5 Octa. Still, Nvidia's Tegra 4 put up a decent fight and even managed to beat Qualcomm's processor in a couple of tests. It'll be interesting to see how the SoC wars shape up as these chips make it into consumer devices later this year. We're certainly looking forward to it.

	S800 MDP tablet (MSM8974)	S800 MDP phone (MSM8974)	S4 Pro MDP tablet (APQ8064)	Samsung Galaxy S 4 (Exynos 5 Octa)
Quadrant 2.0	20,762	22,022	7,698	13,326
Vellamo 2.0	2,997	2,914	2,538	1,977
AnTuTu 3.x	35,783	33,828	13,826	28,167
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)	543	566	1,227	732
SunSpider 1.0 (ms)	657	674	N/A	N/A
GLBenchmark Egypt 2.5 Offscreen (fps)	69	68	N/A	41
CF-Bench	36,744	33,876	18,219	20,800
AnTuTu 3D (on-screen)	10,143	10,923	N/A	8,144
3DMark (Ice Storm)	13,738	14,371	N/A	10,179
Google Octane	3,254	3,292	N/A	3,730
Linpack (multi-thread)	819	937	N/A	563
Smartbench (productivity/gaming)	10,377/4,288	10,068/4,548	N/A	6,884/3,700
AndEBench (native)	17,697	15,086	N/A	12,600
SunSpider: lower scores are better

	Samsung Galaxy S 4 (S600)	HTC One (S600)	HTC First (S400)	HTC Droid DNA (S4 Pro)
Quadrant 2.0	12,684	12,495	5,952	8,028
Vellamo 2.0	1,903	2,429	2,239	1,752
AnTuTu 3.x	26,143	25,140	11,267	14,474
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)	772	991	1,995	1,150
SunSpider 1.0 (ms)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
GLBenchmark Egypt 2.5 Offscreen (fps)	39	34	14	31
CF-Bench	28,111	25,267	11,267	18,386
AnTuTu 3D (on-screen)	5,618	6,099	N/A	N/A
3DMark (Ice Storm)	11,145	11,495	N/A	N/A
Google Octane	2,265	1,524	N/A	N/A
Linpack (multi-thread)	655	567	N/A	N/A
Smartbench (productivity/gaming)	7,265/2,702	7,136/2,851	N/A	N/A
AndEBench (native)	14,228	6,808	N/A	N/A
SunSpider: lower scores are better

	Samsung Galaxy Note II (Exynos 4 Quad)	Nvidia Tegra 4 ref device
Quadrant 2.0	6,819	16,436
Vellamo 2.0	1,831	N/A
AnTuTu 3.x	13,539	36,305
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)	1,023	499
SunSpider 1.0 (ms)	N/A	N/A
GLBenchmark Egypt 2.5 Offscreen (fps)	17	N/A
CF-Bench	15,267	41,325
AnTuTu 3D (on-screen)	N/A	N/A
3DMark (Ice Storm)	N/A	N/A
Google Octane	N/A	N/A
Linpack (multi-thread)	N/A	N/A
Smartbench (productivity/gaming)	N/A	N/A
AndEBench (native)	N/A	N/A
SunSpider: lower scores are better

Nicole Lee contributed to this report.

TAGS: benchmark, hands-on, MDP, mobilepostcross, Qualcomm, Snapdragon, Snapdragon 800,Snapdragon800