Ambarella Launches iOne Camera Applications Processor for Android

Ambarella, Inc., a provider of low-power, high-definition video compression and image processing semiconductor solutions, has introduced the iOne System-on-Chip (SoC) solution, which adds enhanced HD camera and multimedia capabilities to the Android (News - Alert) platform. The new solution benefits from the Android ecosystem and cloud-based video services to pave the way for development of advanced smart camera devices that will offer enhancements in digital still photography and advanced HD video recording.

Offering support to multi-stream encoding capability along with live video streaming, the new iOne SoC allows smooth WiFi upload of video clips to well-known video sharing websites, such as YouTube (News - Alert), and also enables full HD telepresence applications. It is equipped with multi-format video decoding technology that makes it possible to playback Internet and broadcast video content of resolution up to 1080p as well as 3D HDTV.

Deploying five generations of Ambarella DSP architectures and algorithms, the company has developed the iOne SoC that offers high-resolution still images and advanced HD video quality equivalent to some of the best digital still cameras and camcorders.

The solution allows the users to enjoy still photography and HD video recording simultaneously, with a still image processing up to 32 Megapixel and a high speed capture of 5 Megapixel images at 30 frames per second in video mode.

“Coupling our proven video and imaging processing expertise with the Android platform enables next generation cameras to take a significant leap forward in user experiences and capabilities,” commented Fermi Wang, chief executive officer at Ambarella. “The iOne will fundamentally change the way consumers capture, create and share visual content. We are very excited about the possibilities.”

Powered by a triple ARM (News - Alert) CPU architecture that has been especially designed to meet the requirements of low-power mobile media applications, the iOne leverages Dual-core 1-GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPUs that enable the users to run Android applications smoothly, and a yet another 533-MHz ARM-11 simultaneously executes the real-time camera tasks. The SoC needs a single x32 DRAM to enable low power operation and reduces the total system cost as well. The HD GUI and OpenGL ES 2.0 incorporated within the iOne SoC are supported by an in-built robust 3D graphics engine.

In November, Ambarella launched a complete 3D camera solution that includes the new S3D and a 3D video pre-processor. The S3D incorporated in Ambarella’s new 3D camera solution is compatible with company’s A5s and A7 camera SoC to enable full HD 1080p 3D video recording and high-resolution 3D photography.