MWC: ST-Ericsson launches new smartphone/tablet platforms

ST-Ericsson has staked its claim on future smartphone and tablet development with new application processors, thin modems and a combination of both.

Gilles Delfassy, president and chief executive at ST-Ericsson, said during a media briefing at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today that the company is on a journey that had seen some difficult integration, but is now ready to look forward.

"We are starting to see the benefits of these strategy changes," he said. "We have exciting new products, new business and will see a big improvement on our financial performance."

Key to the firm's plans is an increased role in the smartphone market, which Delfassy said is "where the action is", adding that "smartphones and tablets are a good place to be right now".

Delfassy explained that being in the smartphone businesses means being under the hood of the most capable devices, and announced details of forthcoming application processors and thin modems which can be combined to create a powerful smartphone platform. "We are trying to impress you," he said.

The platform comprises the Nova high performance application processor family, of which there are three, one currently being trialled and two announced today, and the Thor thin modem range.

Delfassy said that these are high-performance, low-power devices that enable a range of performance boosts, from increased functionality to immersive gaming.

Joining the already trialled A9500 are the A9450 application processor, which is dual-core and runs at 1.85GHz, and the A9600 which Delfassy described as " something rather special".

The A9600 is again dual-core but has been clocked up to 2.5GHz. Delfassy added that the A9600 offers a 20 times graphics improvement against comparable models, and uses the Rogue graphics engine from Imagination Technologies.

The Thor thin modems, meanwhile, join ST Ericsson's LTE and HSPA+ range, offering low power consumption and a small footprint. The M7300 is an HSPA+ dual-carrier version that runs at 42Mbit/s or 84Mbit/s, while the M7400 runs at 100Mbit/s.

The modems are pitched at forward-looking high-speed networks, but are backwards compatible and support up to eight LTE/WCDMA/GSM frequency bands.

The modems and application processors combine to form two smartphone platforms, the NovaThor T5008 and U4500, which are described as best in class.

The U4500 is aimed at the low-end device market that ST Ericsson covets, while the more powerful T5008 has already been adopted by Quanta for use in a 10.1in tablet PC announced at Mobile World Congress.