Samsung to start making new Exynos processors next month

New Exynos name replaces Hummingbird, made famous by its association with Apple A4 chips

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Samsung Electronics announced a new brand name for a processors used in mobile phones, tablets and other mobile devices on Friday, Exynos.

The first Exynos 4210 chip, formerly codenamed Orion, will be in production next month, the company said in a statement. Exynos 4210 is a 1GHz dual-core application processor designed for powerful HD multimedia and long battery life in mobile devices.

The new name, which Samsung says originates from the Greek words smart (expynos) and green (prasinos), replaces the Hummingbird name Samsung had for its popular processor.

"Smart refers to high-performance aspect and Green represents low power features of Samsung’s application processors," Samsung said.

Samsung created Hummingbird in tandem with chip designer Intrinsity, which was subsequently bought by Apple. Some aspects of the Hummingbird chip are believed to have been incorporated into Apple's A4, the processor inside the iPad and iPhone 4.

Samsung manufactures the A4 for Apple.

Hummingbird and its successor, Exynos, are based on ARM processor technology, which is designed for mobile devices. The main rival to ARM in the processing world is the x86-based processors made by Intel, Advanced Micro Electronics (AMD) and Via Technologies.

Intel continues to reduce power consumption in its Atom line of x86 processors, taking aim at the mobile market with an eye to ensure mobile devices can make use of all the software made for x86-based PCs. Software is written specifically for a chip technology as well as an operating system.