Pixel chip latest proof of Google’s ambitions
System-on-a-chip threatens semiconductor suppliers such as Intel, Nvidia Corp.
SAN FRANCISCO— Google unveiled its first internally designed chip for consumer devices on Tuesday, the latest sign of the search engine’s hardware ambitions and a threat to its current semiconductor suppliers.
Pixel Visual Core is a system-on-achip that improves the camera of the Pixel 2, Google’s latest smartphone. The chip will help the phone handle images with high dynamic range, or HDR, a technology that captures more detail in mixed lighting situations, Google said in a blog post.
Designing chips is time-consuming and expensive, and few smartphone makers beyond Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. do it themselves. Google has crafted processors for its data centres, but this is the first time the company has tried it for its nascent consumer hardware. If the company wants to catch smartphone leaders like Apple, it has to do more to marry the hardware and software features of these devices.
Using the Pixel Visual Core, Google said the phone’s camera hardware will process HDR images five times faster and use less than a tenth of power than doing so on its main applications processor. It’ll be activated in coming months via a software update that will let other apps tap into the chip’s capabilities, the Alphabet Inc. unit said.
Google included a picture of its new chip’s layout, showing it contains many of the constituents of a fullblown modern applications processor. Part of the art of building a highend phone component is the ability to get all of the parts packed in tightly together and working in harmony.
Google’s in-house work on chips for its data centres is already considered a threat to suppliers such as Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. That’s part of a larger push by companies such as Apple, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to supply themselves with silicon for at least some of their needs.