Marvell announces new XScale processors

Marvell (which took over Intel’s cellular and application processor division) has announced new processors in its XScale line of processors. The PXA3xx family (codename Monahans during development) will come with 3 processors. The PXA3xx family of processors delivers improved performance and extended battery life, enabling advanced video and audio capabilities. Wireless Intel SpeedStep with MusicMax technology provides intelligent power management, enabling varying power states so users can listen up to 30 hours of MP3s on their handsets without sacrificing battery life. Intel VideoMax technology in the PXA3xx family of application processors supports high-performance video capabilities, and will continue delivering improved resolution with future versions of the PXA3xx family of processors.

The PXA320 is currently offered as a 806MHz processor (although it was demonstrated to run at 1.2GHz). We can expect to see devices running the PXA320 in the first quarter of 2007.

The PXA300 offers performance and cost optimization. Basically, this is the entry level processor.

The PXA310 is focused on multimedia performance and supports high-resolution VGA multimedia (30fps H.264 playback).

2007 promises to be interesting: New processors and Crossbow from Microsoft. I expect we will see a few new devices!

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