Items tagged with (NASDAQ:QCOM)
It is finally here, the first Snapdragon-branded smartphone, designed by ASUS with premium features from head to toe. Called the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders, the handset falls decidedly into flagship territory, with a price to match (more on that in a moment). Interestingly, however, it rocks Qualcomm's regular Snapdragon 888 system-on-chip (SoC), rather than the recently announced Snapdragon 888+. In all reality, the upgraded Snapdragon 888+ is not all that drastically faster than the base model—it increases the clock speed from 2.84GHz to 2.99GHz, for a little over a 5 percent boost in raw speed. Qualcomm also goosed its 6th generation AI engine (Hexagon 780) from 26 TOPS to 32...
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Windows 11 is finally out in the wild, and though there are some early caveats, it appears to be a nice update to the Windows ecosystem. However, now that Microsoft has made it publicly available, it also means people get to tinker with it to the extreme. Some developers have done just that as well, with reports of Windows 11 now running on Android phones with just a little software help. Xilin Wu is a developer behind the GitHub project “Renegade,” where “people try to port edk2 to different phones.” EDK2 is an open-source UEFI implementation that would allow ARM-based operating systems to be loaded on phones once ported. In this case, the goal was to get Windows 11 working...
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Late last year, newly formed NUVIA Inc. aimed to take on Intel and AMD in the data center with a massive $240 million funding round. Now, the company recently acquired by Qualcomm, is retargeting its sights on the mobile space and could take a shot at Apple in hopes of gaining better penetration in the laptop market as soon as next year. As it stands, Apple’s M1 chip is an incredibly power-efficient and performant mobile processor architecture that is tough to beat. However, on Thursday, Qualcomm Inc’s newly appointed CEO, Cristiano Amon spoke with Reuters explaining that, with the acquisition of Nuvia and the expertise acquired therein, Qualcomm could end up with the...
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We all knew it was coming, and Qualcomm today announced the more powerful version of its Snapdragon 888, aptly named the Snapdragon 888+. Like the Snapdragon 865+ and Snapdragon 855+ that came before it, the Snapdragon 888+ has the same basic blueprint as its namesake, with higher clocks for increased performance. This time around, the prime Kryo CPU core is clocked at up to 3GHz (2.995GHz to be exact), compared to 2.84GHz (just over a 5 percent boost). This should be enough to eke slightly better overall performance than the standard-issue Snapdragon 888. The other performance increase comes from Qualcomm's 6th generation AI Engine (Hexagon 780), which gets a 20 percent performance boost from...
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NVIDIA announced its intention to purchase Arm last year for a record $40 billion. With Arm under its helm, the company would play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the chip architecture that powers billions of devices (and growing) around the globe. Given the many players that leverage Arm chip designs – including heavy hitters like Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, MediaTek, and countless others – the deal has faced heavy regulatory scrutiny. With this in mind, incoming Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon is offering an alternative to an NVIDIA-only agreement. Incoming Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon Amon suggested to The Telegraph that Qualcomm could join a consortium of key industry players...
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In due time, Qualcomm is expected to release a Snapdragon 888 Plus system-on-chip, just as there were Plus versions of the Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 855 SoCs. What comes after that, however, is shaping up to be a pretty big upgrade according to the latest leak, which claims Qualcomm's next premium SoC will be built on a 4-nanometer manufacturing process. That makes sense, given that the Snapdragon 888 is built on a 5nm node. Let's quickly recap that part before moving onto the latest rumor. Qualcomm's existing flagship mobile chip features around 10 billion transistors, an eight-core CPU (four Kryo 680 Silver cores clocked at up to 1.8GHz, three Kryo 680 Gold cores clocked at up to 2.42GHz,...
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Back in September 2020, Qualcomm debuted the flagship Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G Compute Platform for Windows 10 on Arm devices. This was a slight refresh of its predecessor, with the major update being the addition of a standalone Snapdragon X55 5G modem. Today, however, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 to steps into the limelight, and it features new optimizations compared to its low power predecessor as well. The Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 has been tweaked for increased performance and efficiency over the first-generation chip, although the differences are more subtle. While Kryo 468 CPU in the original Snapdragon 7c is clocked at up to 2.4GHz, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 boosts the maximum clock to 2.55GHz....
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Qualcomm is putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to 5G SoCs for mobile devices. The company struck it big last year with dozens of design wins for the Snapdragon 765G, a mid-range SoC with an integrated 5G modem. The company looked to expand upon that success earlier this year with the launch of the Snapdragon 780G, and today we're witnessing the arrival of the Snapdragon 778G. Whereas Snapdragon 780G availability is limited to a few OEMs, the Snapdragon 778G is available to a broader base of Qualcomm customers. Qualcomm says that it currently has Motorola, Honor, OPPO, Realme, and Xiaomi signed on to release the chip in "high tier" smartphones. Like the Snapdragon 780G, the Snapdragon...
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While Qualcomm and Apple buried the [legal] hatchet in 2019 concerning lawsuits regarding licensing and copyright infringement over 4G LTE modems, the latter is still far along with the development of its own next-generation hardware. In years past, Apple used a mixture of Intel and Qualcomm modems (its current iPhones and iPads exclusively use Qualcomm hardware). But we all know that Apple is quickly bringing major component design in-house, and the modem is a pricey piece of the smartphone puzzle. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's first in-house 5G modems will debut in 2023 iPhones. That means that Qualcomm will have just two more years of exclusivity before Apple charts its...
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Our smartphones, over the years, have from a tool used primarily by tech enthusiasts to something that almost everyone walks around with today. As such, our smartphones are used for everything from making phone calls, to texting, to gaming, to taking photos, to banking. And when it comes to smartphones, Android devices have the most market share, and the majority of them are using Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs. Besides featuring a powerful CPU and GPU, modern Snapdragon SoCs also feature an integrated modem that gives you 4G LTE and 5G connectivity. Unfortunately, the folks from Check Point Research have discovered a vulnerability in Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modems (MSM). Google's Android operating...
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Last year, Qualcomm launched several 700G series mid-range SoCs with integrated 5G connectivity for the mid-range and “premium” mid-range smartphone markets. One of its most popular SKUs was the Snapdragon 765G which landed in everything from the Google Pixel 5 to the LG Wing. Today, Qualcomm is following up with Snapdragon 780G 5G Mobile Platform. Whereas the Snapdragon 765G was built on Samsung’s 7nm process node, the Snapdragon 780G uses Samsung’s bleeding-edge 5nm process node. This should hopefully lead to further power efficiency gains for the incoming wave of mid-range smartphones. The Snapdragon 765G used two Cortex-A76 high-performance cores in conjunction with...
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There is little doubt that Qualcomm will launch an updated version of its Snapdragon 8cx system-on-chip (SoC) for laptops, and when it arrives, the spunky piece of hardware figures to deliver a big leap in performance over the current version. That's what a leaked benchmark run over at Geekbench seemingly indicates. The listing shows a benchmark run obtained from a Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) chip, identified as a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 part. Assuming the listing is accurate, what we are looking at is basically an engineering sample for Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon 8cx. As currently configured, it is an 8-core/16-thread processor with a 2.7GHz clock speed. Here's the benchmark listing......
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There are no two ways about it, the Nintendo Switch is a smashing success—Switch sales soared last year, with more units sold to date than the 3DS. Can the success of the Switch be replicated on other platforms? Hardware makers aim to find out. That includes Qualcomm, which is developing a handheld console that is similar in appearance to the Switch. It won't run Nintendo Switch games, though, at least not natively. Not the least bit surprising, Qualcomm is building its custom console around Android, and apparently even has ambitions of offering its own app storefront. In other words, Qualcomm is really going for it, on both the hardware and software side of the equation. The folks at Android...
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The past six months have been an exercise in frustration for enthusiasts attempting to get their hands on AMD/NVIDIA graphics cards, Ryzen processors, and even new game consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The overwhelming demand for chips now seems to be affecting the largest single supplier of SoCs for smartphones: Qualcomm. According to a new report, Qualcomm is finding it challenging to meet the demand for its Snapdragon processors, which are used not only in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets but also in automobiles. According to unnamed sources, Qualcomm has been inundated with orders for its flagship Snapdragon 888 SoC. While strong demand for premium-priced and...
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Over the past year, the importance of crystal-clear audio has become readily apparent on our computing devices. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many institutions implementing work/learn from home policies, and many people have relied on videoconferencing to keep in contact with team members. Videoconferencing thrives on quality video and audio experiences, and Qualcomm is tackling one of those aspects on mobile devices today. Enter Snapdragon Sound, a suite of hardware and software technologies that aims to bring more immersive audio experiences to mobile users. Snapdragon Sound will apply to mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, Snapdragon-powered laptops,...
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A consumer rights group in the United Kingdom is suing Qualcomm, a major chipmaker in the United States, for allegedly abusing its position to overcharge for chip and patent licensing. According to the lawsuit, Qualcomm's actions led to consumers paying too much for smartphones produced by Apple and Samsung, and is seeking £482.5 million (around $680 million in US currency) in damages. "We believe Qualcomm’s practices are anticompetitive and have so far taken around £480 million from UK consumers’ pockets—this needs to stop. We are sending a clear warning that if companies like Qualcomm indulge in manipulative practices which harm consumers, Which? is prepared to...
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Rather than spending money on multiple monitors or even a whole PC, enterprise and private consumers could invest in mobile or PC-powered augmented reality (AR). This would allow for more data to be viewed and utilized while working wherever someone finds themselves. While Lenovo unveiled the ThinkReality A3 glasses, it sadly seems the overall mass market growth and adoption of AR has been slow. Thankfully, Qualcomm is stepping in to give the market a boost with a new AR viewer reference design. The new Qualcomm XR1 AR Smart Viewer reference design is Qualcomm’s way to “deliver high-performance, immersive experiences, and lower power consumption” in an AR platform. The...
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We're still early in the lifecycle of 5G wireless technology, but chipmakers are quickly iterating, delivering more potent modems with each new generation. Qualcomm kicked off its flagship 5G modem efforts with the Snapdragon X50, its second-generation Snapdragon X55 is currently found inside the iPhone 12 family, and the new Snapdragon 888 SoC has an integrated third-generation Snapdragon X60. Now, Qualcomm is ready to unleash its fourth-generation Snapdragon X65. The Snapdragon X65 represents a complete modem-to-antenna solution that supports the impending 3GPP Release 16 specification. Qualcomm also explains that its new solution is software updatable, which will allow it to take advantage...
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As technology takes over the automotive space for more intelligent driving experiences, there are increasingly more powerful processing platforms to control various powertrain, infotainment, and safety subsystems. Such is the case with Qualcomm's new 4th generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform. This new connected compute platform combines multiple sensors with computer vision, artificial intelligence, in a high-performance SoC. Qualcomm apparently is going all out, as the new Snapdragon Automotive Compute Platform is based on the 5nm process node, which is shared with the company's recently introduced Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform. The platform will tie together various functions...
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Qualcomm has given birth to a new Snapdragon SKU this morning. Meet the Snapdragon 870 5G, essentially a juiced up version of the Snapdragon 865 Plus, which will find its way into select premium Android smartphones. The newer SKU offers the same features and hardware as its sibling, but offers a higher top CPU clockspeed. Like the Snapdragon 865 Plus, the newly unveiled Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform (full name) is comprised of Qualcomm's Kryo 585 CPU, paired with an Adreno 650 GPU and Snapdragon X55 5G modem-RF system. However, OEMs will be able to squeeze a bit of extra performance out of the newer part—the performance cores in the CPU can hit 3.2GHz, up from 3.1GHz. Granted, a 100MHz...
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It seems like just yesterday that ASUS launched its beastly ROG Phone 3, which came packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ SoC that was on a mission to top the benchmark charts. Well, Qualcomm has a new flagship Android SoC that has recently launched -- the Snapdragon 888 -- and ASUS was bound to introduce a new device to take advantage of this added firepower. That brings us to the ASUS ROG Phone 4, which recently gained China's 3C certification according to a new report. The smartphone carries the designation ASUS_I005DA and is said to support wired charging at up to 65 watts. Interestingly, a device with the very same ID showed up in the Geekbench 5 database in early December 2020...
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Windows 10 on Arm is off to a relatively slow start, but the hope is that PCs using Qualcomm's Snapdragon-based SoCs will eventually grow to account for a healthy portion of the market that is now dominated by Intel and AMD processors. Currently, most Windows 10 on Arm devices are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx or 8cx Gen 2 SoC. However, Qualcomm is of course working on a successor, which is reportedly being developed under the internal name SC8280. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 didn't offer much in terms of improved performance over its predecessor, but did include optional 5G connectivity. The Snapdragon SC8280, on the other hand, is expected to offer a substantial uplift...
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