Although the two devices from the new tech rivals serve very different purposes, on the chip level, they have a lot in common.
GoogleTV is manufactured by Logitech and Sony and contains a System on Chip (SoC) designed by Intel. The iPad's SoC is an ARM design made by Apple (though manufacturing is outsourced to Samsung). However, both of these SoCs use a PowerVR graphics processor from a small UK-based company called Imagination.
Graphics Processor Units or GPUs are what powers the video displays and turns those ones and zeros into the video you see on the screen.
Not surprisingly, Apple (9.5%) and Intel (16.02%) both own significant stakes in Imagination.
Below you can see the SoC architecture of the CE4100 from Intel, the one they advertise as being the heart of the GoogleTV. Notice the graphics processor is a SGX535 (red).
In the latest installment of Connected, Fortune Senior Editor-at-Large Adam Lashinsky talks with Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jen-Hsun Huang about his company's strategy for tablets and smartphones, and its ongoing legal battle with Intel (INTC).
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Mason Cohn, Producer - Mar 8, 2010 12:29 PM ET
Hours before rival Intel turned in stellar quarterly results, I had breakfast this morning with John Taylor, a marketing guy at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), to talk about its prospects for 2010 and beyond. The underdog chipmaker has a good chance to mount a comeback after some damaging missteps over the past couple of years, and I wanted to know whether there's a plan to take on Intel.
Jon Fortt - Jan 14, 2010 4:56 PM ETEvery morning, discover the companies, deals and trends in tech that are moving markets and making headlines. SUBSCRIBE
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