New class of low-power SoCs: Wearables?

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AFAIK, almost all of the smartwatches we've seen until now were using an underclocked Snapdragon 400 with two disabled Cortex A7 cores.
Today, Mediatek announced what they claim it's their first SoC exclusively for wearables:

The MT2601 includes 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A7, ARM Mali-400 MP GPU, and supports qHD display resolution. The MT2601 interfaces with a whole host of external sensors and the wireless connectivity SoC MT6630 for Bluetooth - all in a PCBA footprint of less than 480 mm2. This small PCB size meets the design requirements of wearable devices in sports and fitness, location tracking, and other categories. MediaTek noted it is a strong supporter of Android Wear and will continue to evolve MT2601 to align with the Android Wear roadmap.
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Strange that a SoC exlusively dedicated to wearables wouldn't have an integrated Bluetooth module..
 
ToTTenTranz said:
AFAIK, almost all of the smartwatches we've seen until now were using an underclocked Snapdragon 400 with two disabled Cortex A7 cores.
Today, Mediatek announced what they claim it's their first SoC exclusively for wearables:

Strange that a SoC exlusively dedicated to wearables wouldn't have an integrated Bluetooth module..
Click to expand...

I was wondering that too..why would they not have integrated Bluetooth? Oh and I'm still trying to figure out Motorola using an OMAP 3 in the Moto 360 :S

Dual A7 is fine but Mali 400 is getting really long in the tooth now..couldnt they have used a Mali 720 or something? I believe that is more power efficient. Makes me wonder if this is really a new SoC. Could they just be using their old 40nm 6577? Wouldn't exactly make sense from a power perspective but it would be dirt cheap!
 
They seem to be bragging a lot about the SoC's die size, so maybe they were simply looking for the smallest possible GPU for a given fillrate/target resolution and simplistic 3D capabilities.

As for OMAP3.. I guess they were at Texas' bargain bin.
 
I'm waiting with interest to see if Ineda has any news over the next while, for their range of socs for specifically designed for wearables upwards. They have some very interesting backers, including Qualcomm and Samsung. They are also very heavy on IMG IP.
 
I'd have thought that even the dated Mali 400 ought to be enough for the low-resolution of smart watch faces? The relatively tiny resolution (in modern day terms) should only require relatively tiny performance.
 
Samsung's been using their Exynos 3250 (2x A7 1GHz Mali 400MP2 133MHz) in their smart-watches for soon to be a year now.

I think the Mali 400 still might remain perf/W/mm² king out there for these form factors. Also I'm not aware of any SoC that has integrated BT.
 
Nebuchadnezzar said:
Samsung's been using their Exynos 3250 (2x A7 1GHz Mali 400MP2 133MHz) in their smart-watches for soon to be a year now.

I think the Mali 400 still might remain perf/W/mm² king out there for these form factors. Also I'm not aware of any SoC that has integrated BT.
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AFAIK they've also been using the same chip in some low end phones and it wasn't specifically designed for wearables. If Mediatek designed a new SoC just for wearables..why not integrate bluetooth as well.

From what I've read the Mali 400 is definitely king in terms of perf/mm2 but is it also the best choice in terms of perf/W is the question.
 
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