Marvell targets the ‘worldphone’ with quad-core processor that works on different networks

Targeting the universal smart device market, chip maker Marvell announced its most advanced single-chip quad-core processor for worldphones and tablets today.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s Marvell PXA1088 combines four processing cores with communications on a system-on-chip device for low-power, high-performance mobile computing. It supports all global broadband standards, which will allow you to roam the world without having to get a new SIM card or switch phones.

The company expects commercial production in the first half of this year. The device features 3G cellular modem support with High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Time division High Speed Packet Access Plus (TD-HSPA+), and Enhanced Data for GSM Environment (EDGE).

“We’re very excited that global original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and original device manufacturer (ODM) partners have embraced and committed to this platform,” said Weili Dai, co-founder of Marvell, in a statement. “I believe our industry-leading single-chip platform will drive mass market adoption of high-quality, high-performance, very affordable smartphone and tablet solutions worldwide to enrich people’s connected lifestyle.”

The chip has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 with Marvell’s own WCDMA and TD-SCDMA modems. The chip is targeted at low-cost 3G platforms for smartphones and tablets. It can handle multimedia, games, high-definition video, and standard phone capabilities such as Bluetooth 4.0, Avastar wide-area networking, and hybrid location processing.

The chip is compatible with the dual-core 3G chips, the PXA988 and the PXA986. The company will be showing off the chip at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona from Feb. 25 to Feb. 28.