Will appear in 2010

ARM has released details of its Cortex A9 which is an extension of the Cortex family of processor cores. According to News.com the chip combines the multiprocessor support of older ARM cores with the Cortex design, ARM's highest-performance implementation.

Texas Instruments, Samsung, STMicroelectronics, Nvidia and NEC has signed up to use the Cortex A9 in future chips for smart phones and consumer electronics devices. Warren East, ARM's CEO, told a press conference that smart phones aren't nearly as prevalent as PCs, but they are growing fast.

Both Intel and ARM are positioning themselves to be inside future mobile computers. ARM's new design allows mobile chip makers will be able to implement up to four processing cores. While four core designs probably will not end up in phones, embedded devices like in-car processors and networking gear will be wanting them.

Cortex A9 chips should be able to deliver up to 8,000 DMIPS using 250 milliwatts of power.

More here.