ARM announces new Cortex-A72 processor, promises more power and better battery life

British chipset design company ARM Holdings announced its new Cortex-A72 processor, which the company said is more than three times more powerful than its current designs while using 75 percent less power. The product is noteworthy since ARM's designs power the chips inside the vast majority of the world's smartphones, including the Apple iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy phones.

ARM said the new processor is based on its ARMv8-architecture and delivers "energy-efficient" 64-bit processing and full backward compatibility to existing 32-bit software. The company said that devices with its new technology suite are expected to enter the market in 2016.

Chipset suppliers like Qualcomm and others use ARM technology in the core of their chips, which they then sell to smartphone makers like Apple and others. ARM's new processor product could result in thinner, faster and more powerful smartphones that have a longer battery life. Release