Qualcomm's Snapdragon was the first mobile phone CPU to hit the emotionally significant 1 GHz mark and in 2010 it was definitely king of the mobile hill. From its first appearance in the Sony TG 01 WinMo device to the Google NexusOne and its cousin, the HTC Desire, it introduced many to a new level of performance. Many other CPUs followed, probably most significantly the Samsung Hummingbird as used in the Galaxy S and Apple's own A4 SOC (system on a chip) in the iPhone 4 and iPad by PA Semi.
But while it hit the magical 1 GHz mark, one could be forgiven if Qualcomm has lost its momentum lately. Regional boss John Stefanac promised a dual-core Snapdragon in the second half of 2011, but that was all he mentioned in terms of chips.
Meanwhile, the rest of the industry was quickly playing catch-up and by January in the Consumer Electronics Show Nvidia's dual-core Tegra chipset was hogging the limelight with Tegra everywhere. Many tablets such as the Motorola Xoom using a dual-core Tegra or Samsung Galaxy S 2's dual-core Orion at 1.2 GHz, the Snapdragon was suddenly last year's handbag. Chic at the time but suddenly looking so out of date (and way too power hungry in my own NexusOne).
But all of that was forgiven come Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Qualcomm was back with a list of chips and acronyms that spanned multiple pages.
First the Snapdragon. While the competition offered dual-core chips with incremental performance, how does quad-core and up to 2.5 GHz sound? Yummy. Of course, announcing and being able to buy is a bit different and sifting through the fine print the quad-core chips are due in early 2012, a full year from now.
Still, the single core and dual-core chips that are due imminently now come with an integrated 3G/LTE modem (for those lucky to have LTE - Not Thailand) and much better graphics (and 3D) power consumption (yes!) and, to please the movie studios, on-chip DRM facilities for secure streaming. New dual-core tablets and phones from Acer, ASUS, Compal Communications Inc. and Hewlett-Packard were demonstrated at Barcelona.
Beyond Snapdragon Qualcomm had a whole list of acronyms and fancy names to lay down. My own favourites are FlashLinq (which seems to be an alternative to ZigBee, though I may be wrong), and the focus on automotive networking, not just getting cars connected and online, but how insurance companies can use that information. Big brother or just making the reckless pay? Two sides of the same coin.
Interestingly, the only thing not demonstrated at MWC seemed to be the "long range bluetooth-like technology" that Stefanac once mentioned. I wonder what happened to that. The short-range one was formally named FlashLinq.
An excerpt from the press release follows.
Suffice it to say that Qualcom is back to take the thunder away from Nvidia's Tegra. It will be fun to see what country manager Khun Kaneungjit will be telling my former fellow journalists at the press conference this week.
Oh, well.
It is with events like MWC or Computex that I really miss being a journalist. It is one thing to sift through press releases and dig information out of them, quite another to fly somewhere and grill an executive on the finer points of the whys and wherefores and more importantly the relevance of it all in a local context. Enthusiasm is one thing that is so hard to convey through a press release.
But while it hit the magical 1 GHz mark, one could be forgiven if Qualcomm has lost its momentum lately. Regional boss John Stefanac promised a dual-core Snapdragon in the second half of 2011, but that was all he mentioned in terms of chips.
Meanwhile, the rest of the industry was quickly playing catch-up and by January in the Consumer Electronics Show Nvidia's dual-core Tegra chipset was hogging the limelight with Tegra everywhere. Many tablets such as the Motorola Xoom using a dual-core Tegra or Samsung Galaxy S 2's dual-core Orion at 1.2 GHz, the Snapdragon was suddenly last year's handbag. Chic at the time but suddenly looking so out of date (and way too power hungry in my own NexusOne).
But all of that was forgiven come Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Qualcomm was back with a list of chips and acronyms that spanned multiple pages.
First the Snapdragon. While the competition offered dual-core chips with incremental performance, how does quad-core and up to 2.5 GHz sound? Yummy. Of course, announcing and being able to buy is a bit different and sifting through the fine print the quad-core chips are due in early 2012, a full year from now.
Still, the single core and dual-core chips that are due imminently now come with an integrated 3G/LTE modem (for those lucky to have LTE - Not Thailand) and much better graphics (and 3D) power consumption (yes!) and, to please the movie studios, on-chip DRM facilities for secure streaming. New dual-core tablets and phones from Acer, ASUS, Compal Communications Inc. and Hewlett-Packard were demonstrated at Barcelona.
Beyond Snapdragon Qualcomm had a whole list of acronyms and fancy names to lay down. My own favourites are FlashLinq (which seems to be an alternative to ZigBee, though I may be wrong), and the focus on automotive networking, not just getting cars connected and online, but how insurance companies can use that information. Big brother or just making the reckless pay? Two sides of the same coin.
Interestingly, the only thing not demonstrated at MWC seemed to be the "long range bluetooth-like technology" that Stefanac once mentioned. I wonder what happened to that. The short-range one was formally named FlashLinq.
An excerpt from the press release follows.
- HDOn: Latest high-definition wideband technology gives operators an opportunity to offer high-quality voice to mobile users on their circuit switched 2G/3G, and even 4G networks with minimal investment to upgrade
- Xiam: Recommendation technology and new Haystack end user application aimed at recommending mobile apps and content based on user preferences
- 3G femtocells: A highlight of femtocell products and enhancements in interference management techniques
- Augmented reality: Exhibiting a variety of new vision-based augmented reality applications, blending a 3D experience with a view of the real world
- FlashLinq: A new radio interface that enables efficient proximate discovery and communications, allowing continuous awareness of relevant device services
- Demonstrating commercial devices with 3G IEM design
- RaptorQ: A state-of-the-art, software based forward error correction (FEC) technology allowing error-free data transfer over unreliable connections
- Showcasing a variety of Snapdragon-enabled devices
- Gaming and entertainment ecosystem
- WiPower: Exhibit will allow show attendees to wirelessly charge their consumer electronic devices
- Hughes Telematics: Demonstrating a variety of “connected services” for consumers in their vehicles
- Peiker: Showcasing the automotive grade Network Access Device (NAD)
- Demonstrating how the optimised integration of hardware, software and smart data services can be combined for enhanced personalised user experiences
- mirasol® displays: Latest in low-power display technology
- Wireless health: Showcasing a variety of different wireless health solutions integrating wireless and 3G technologies from Telcare, Zephyr, Great Connection, Lifecomm and Independa
- Wireless Reach™: Demonstrating how wireless technology can empower underserved communities around the world
- Skifta™: Exhibiting the first DLNA Certified® software/service for turning Android phones into global remote controls
- Demonstrating Pay-How-You-Drive and driver safety end-to-end solutions and services for the car insurance market and transport and logistics industry
Suffice it to say that Qualcom is back to take the thunder away from Nvidia's Tegra. It will be fun to see what country manager Khun Kaneungjit will be telling my former fellow journalists at the press conference this week.
Oh, well.
It is with events like MWC or Computex that I really miss being a journalist. It is one thing to sift through press releases and dig information out of them, quite another to fly somewhere and grill an executive on the finer points of the whys and wherefores and more importantly the relevance of it all in a local context. Enthusiasm is one thing that is so hard to convey through a press release.
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