The new ARM Cortex-A17 chips were presented just yesterday but the Chinese chipmaker MediaTek is ready with its first offering, based on the new technology. The new MediaTek chip is called MT6595 and fully complies with the big.LITTLE architecture coming with four Cortex-A17 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores.
The Cortex-A17 processors operate at 2.5 GHz and handle computing intensive tasks, while the Cortex-A7 chips run at 1.7 GHz and handle simpler tasks. It is not clear, however if all eight cores are capable of working together or not, something that the Samsung Exynos chip promises to be able to do. The rest of the specs of the MT6595 include PowerVR Rogue graphics, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, support for LTE, and a GPS receiver. The new MediaTek chip targets high-end smartphones.
It is not clear when the first devices with the MediaTek MT6595 SoC will come to market.
Source: MediaTek