HUAWEI Launches Kirin 980 – The World’s First 7nm SOC – and Announces Arrival of the Brilliantly Iridescent Variant Twilight P20 Pro To The Canadian Market
BERLIN, Germany, Aug. 31, 2018 /CNW/ – In his IFA 2018 keynote titled “The Ultimate Power of Mobile AI”(Artificial Intelligence), HUAWEI Consumer Business Group CEO Mr. Richard Yu introduced the Kirin 980, the system on a chip (SoC) that will bring about the next evolution of mobile AI. As the world’s first commercial SoC manufactured with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturer Company’s (TSMC) 7nm process, Kirin 980 combines best-in-class performance, efficiency, connectivity features, and Dual NPU AI processing power. The Kirin 980 chipset will be featured in the next highly anticipated high-end device coming to Canada later this year.
“Last year, we showed the world the potential of On-Device AI with the Kirin 970, and this year, we’ve designed an all-round powerhouse that not only features outstanding AI capabilities, but also brings cutting-edge raw performance to consumers,” said Mr. Yu. “Equipped with all-new CPU, GPU and Dual NPU, the Kirin 980 is the ultimate engine to power next-generation productivity and entertainment applications.”
Starting September 6th, HUAWEI’s Twilight P20 Pro will be available to Canadians at Bell, Rogers, TELUS and SaskTel. The Twilight is an iridescent and gradient colour created by applying eight alternating layers of oxides and nitrates on the glass – five layers of colour coating, one diamond-like carbon layer and two layers of anti-fingerprint coating. Making its Canadian debut at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the HUAWEI Twilight P20 Pro is the Official Smartphone of TIFF 2018. The HUAWEI P20 Pro was recently named Best Smartphone of 2018 by EISA (European Image and Sound Association), and will be capturing all of the excitement from the red carpets to the TIFF x HUAWEI Portrait Studio.
Absolute Superiority
The cutting edge TSMC 7nm process technology enables Kirin 980 to pack 6.9 billion transistors within a 1cm2 die size, up 1.6 times from the previous generation. Compared to the 10nm process, the 7nm process delivers 20 per cent improved SoC performance and 40 per cent improved SoC efficiency.
The Kirin 980 is also the first SoC to embed Cortex-A76 cores, which are 75 per cent more powerful and 58 per cent more efficient compared to their previous generation. In an octa-core configuration, the CPU in Kirin 980 is comprised of two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores; two high-efficiency Cortex-A76 cores; and two extreme efficiency Cortex-A55 cores. To take full advantage of this unique configuration, HUAWEI developed an innovative Kirin CPU subsystem with Flex-Scheduling technology that flexibly allocates the right cores to the right tasks. This solution designates the large high-performance cores to handle immediate, intensive workloads; the large, high-efficiency cores to provide sustained performance; and ultra-efficiency cores to tackle everyday, light activities with extreme power efficiency. Running at higher clock speeds compared to the prior generation, Kirin 980 enables quicker app launch times, better multi-tasking and a generally smoother user experience.
As graphics in mobile games have become more and more sophisticated in recent years, HUAWEI has integrated the Mali-G76 GPU into the Kirin 980 to deliver unparalleled gaming experiences. Debuting with the Kirin 980, Mali-G76 offers 46 percent greater graphics processing power at 178 percent improved power efficiency over the previous generation. Mali-G76 also features an innovative clock boosting technology that utilizes AI to intelligently identify gaming workloads and adjust resource allocation for optimal gaming performance.
Industry’s First “Dual-Brain” Power
The latest Kirin SoC represents a new era of On-Device AI. The Dual NPU Kirin 980 elevates the On-Device AI experience with greater processing power and intelligence. The synergy between the Dual NPU results in an image recognition capability that is greater than the sum of two—the Kirin 980 can recognize up to 4,600 images per minute, up 120 percent compared to Kirin 970, further demonstrating Huawei’s industry leadership in the On-Device AI space. Additionally, Kirin 980 supports common AI frameworks such as Caffee, Tensorflow and Tensorflow Lite, and provides a suite of tools that simplifies the difficulty of engineering On-Device AI, allowing developers to easily tap into the leading processing power of the Dual NPU.
Full-Featured ISP
In pursuit of the best smartphone photography experience, HUAWEI integrated its proprietary fourth-generation ISP into the SoC. In addition to a 46 per cent increase in data throughout compared to its predecessor, the new ISP also provides better support for multi-camera configurations, as well as an all-new HDR color reproduction technology that can manipulate picture contrast to highlight objects on various parts of an image. In addition, Kirin 980 utilizes the Multi-pass noise reduction solution that accurately removes artifacts without scrubbing away image details, resulting in better quality on images taken in low-light scenarios. Another new feature of the ISP is improved motion tracking. When a user attempts to snap a photo of a moving person, the ISP can still recognize the subject with 97.4 percent accuracy, so any user can capture fleeting moments with ease.
The rise of video-centric social media platforms brought together with it a surge of demand for video capture features. Kirin 980 adopts a new pipeline dedicated to processing video captures, allowing the camera module to shoot videos with 33 per cent shorter delay.
World-Class Connectivity
To deliver the best connectivity to users of Kirin 980-powered devices, Huawei integrated the world’s first modem supporting LTE Cat.21 with a peak download speed of 1.4Gbps. Additionally, the Kirin 980 supports carrier aggregation, even across frequency bands, so users are free to choose their mobile operators and still enjoy the same premium connectivity experience, regardless of where they are.
Inspired by Nature
At IFA 2018, HUAWEI also announced the launch of two new gradient variants for the HUAWEI P20 Series: Morpho Aurora and Pearl White, expanding its range of gradient colours to four. When creating these two unique hues, Huawei once again turned to nature for inspiration. The Morpho Aurora was inspired by the Morpho butterfly, while the Pearl White exudes the same elegance as the iridescent mother-of-pearl. The new gradient variants are now available at HUAWEI Authorized Retailers. For more details, please visit HuaweiCanada.ca.
The next-generation AI experience is around the corner. Stay tuned for the launch of the first Kirin 980-powered Mate Series device, which is scheduled to arrive in October*.
About HUAWEI Consumer BG and HUAWEI Canada
HUAWEI is the 2rd largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, with operations in over 170 countries. In addition to smartphones, HUAWEI’s Consumer offerings include PCs, tablets, wearables and other services. HUAWEI has been operating in Canada since 2008, and currently employs over 800 people. HUAWEI’s Canada Research Centre employs over 500 engineers and researchers, and is ranked 25th in Canada for R&D investment. HUAWEI is committed to providing leading-edge technology to Canadian operators, customers and consumers.
For more information please visit: HuaweiCanada.ca.
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*The specifications of Kirin 980 does not represent the specifications of the phone using this chip.
All data and benchmark results are based on internal testing. Results may vary in different environments.
SOURCE Huawei Canada
