Inside Google's Ice Cream Sandwich phones, tablets

While user-facing software is what usually makes or breaks a platform--and Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is no exception--underlying hardware can make the critical difference between a snappy and slow device. So what's going to power upcoming Android 4.0 phones and tablets?

Texas Instruments will be leading the way on Android 4.0. Its dual-core OMAP4460 chip is inside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which, in turn, is the launch vehicle for Android 4.0.

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is the launch vehicle for Google's 'Ice Cream Sandwich' Android 4.0. Inside is a Texas Instruments' dual-core chip.
(Credit:
CNET Asia)

This didn't happen overnight. TI and Google have been preparing for this week's Ice Cream Sandwich launch for a while. Google's policy is to work closely with one chipmaker to make sure its software is fully optimized on the chip's feature set.

TI's 4460 in the Galaxy Nexus runs at 1.2GHz and packs Imagination's PowerVR SGX 540 graphics sili... [Read more]

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