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Chinese chip maker Rockhip has made a bit of a splash over the past few years by offering low-cost processors for Android tablets and TV boxes. But rival MediaTek seems to have been running laps around Rockchip recently, launching new chips at a rapid fire pace and dominating the Chinese smartphone space.
Earlier this year Rockchip unveiled its first 64-bit, octa-core processor. And now we’re starting to see products based on that Rockchip RK3368 processor.
Tronsmart says its upcoming Orion R68 TV box uses the new chip, which is “three times faster” and more efficient than competing quad-core chips.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Tronsmart introduces first TV box with Rockchip RK3368 64-bit chip
This will also be one of the first Android boxes to ship with Android 5.1 software. [Tronsmart] - Reports: Comixology could offer a Netflix-for-comic books subscription
Amazon already offers a subscription-based eBook service called Kindle Unlimited. Now there’s word that the company (which owns Comixology) could launch a similar service for comic books by this fall. [Ink, Bits, and Pixels] - Microsoft quietly adds a $1,299 Surface Pro 3 with Core i7/8GB/128GB
Some folks have been wondering if this means a Surface Pro 4 isn’t on the way. It’s just as likely that it means Microsoft figured some people wanted the option to get the most powerful processor available for a Surface Pro 3, but didn’t need 256GB or more of storage. [WinBeta] - Russian media reports the YotaPhone (dual-screen phone) could switch from Android to Sailfish OS
Surely that will make this niche product more popular, right? [GSM Dome] - Report: New Apple iPhones will support Apple Watch-like “Force Touch”
The phones would be available with 4.7 inch or 5.5 inch screens, and they’d be able to detect not just if you’re tapping the screen, but how hard you’re tapping. [Bloomberg] - Experimental build of Ubuntu 15.10 with 4.1 kernel optimized for Atom Bay Trail & Cherry Trail chips
This is a pretty basic build that doesn’t have support for WiFi or sound on common devices with Atom chips, but it uses the latest “unstable” chip which should be optimized for better general performance on devices like the Intel Compute Stick… you’ll just have to figure out how to enable WiFi and audio on your own. [Ian Morrison] - Astell & Kern’s $3,500 AK380 music player hits the FCC (made by iRiver)
Want one of the best portable audio players money can buy? How much money have you got?[FCC]
Not too long ago CNX reported that this processor is actually slower then last gen of rockchip CPUs and now they are claiming its 3x faster then competing chips but dont consider their last gen to be competition? – https://www.cnx-software.com/2015/04/08/rockchip-rk3368-64-bit-arm-android-boxes-are-coming-soon/
“Don’t expect amazing performance, as RK3368 will not be quite as fast as RK3288, but it will be more cost effective.”
Tronsmart claims the box will have HDMI 2.0 , not many options with that for now.
I think one of the confusion some people might have about HDMI 2.0 is the assumption it also has the latest HDCP protection in it. For me, the point of having HDMI 2.0 is to be able to stream 4K Netflix videos which also requires HDCP 2.2. I think some of the media box coming out might not have HDCP 2.2 but HDMI 2.0, therefore no Netflix 4k streaming. I could be wrong and people just want HDMI 2 for the 60fps videos.
I have the Asus C201 chromebox which has a Rockchip processor in it. So far, I’m very impressed. Would love to have their 64 bit chip and an IPS in a similar product down the line.