Items tagged with (NASDAQ:QCOM)
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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Qualcomm, a behemoth in the mobile chip market (namely due to its Snapdragon silicon), announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NUVIA for about $1.4 billion, before factoring in working capital and other adjustments. The purchase, if it clears regulatory hurdles, provides an inroad for Qualcomm to make another spirited run at the server market (if it chooses to go that route). But that's not all. In announcing the deal, Qualcomm kept any plans in the server space close to the vest, and instead focused on what this transaction means for its efforts in 5G communications and mobile SoCs in the consumer space. "5G, the convergence of computing and mobile architectures,...
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Qualcomm's New Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor Improves Accuracy And Is 50% Faster For Next Gen Phones
Qualcomm made waves last month when it announced its new Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform, which will power 2021's best flagship smartphones. However, this week at CES 2021, the company made a more low-key announcement related to biometric authentication. The company says that its 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 is now readily available for customers to incorporate into their smartphone designs. For those not in the know, the company's first-generation 3D Sonic Sensor, which is an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader, has been found in all of Samsung's flagships smartphones since it debuted with the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. These in-display fingerprint readers have quickly displaced the front-...
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There are some major personnel changes underway at Qualcomm. Qualcomm recently announced that their Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf plans to retire this year and will be succeeded by Cristiano Amon. The change will go into effect on June 30th, 2021 and Mollenkopf will continue to work as a strategic advisor to Qualcomm. Mollenkopf initially joined Qualcomm in 1995 and has been the corporation’s CEO since March 2014. Mark McLaughlin, Chair of Qualcomm’s Board of Directors, noted that Mollenkopf led the company through “unprecedented circumstances” during his tenure. These circumstances included Mollenkopf helping to settle a legal battle with Apple and winning...
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Over the past year, Qualcomm has done much to expand its footprint in the 5G realm with a whole slate of new Snapdragon chipsets. In 2020, the first smartphones with the Snapdragon 865, 765, 750G, and 690 Mobile Platforms were launched. Starting later this month, we'll see the first smartphones with Qualcomm's new flagship Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform. But Qualcomm is also looking to provide a little bit of 5G goodness as the bottom of its stack with the introduction of the Snapdragon 480 5G Mobile Platform. As you might expect, Qualcomm is billing the Snapdragon 480 as its most advanced 4-Series SoC to-date, and it is built on an 8nm process node. Running the show is a Kryo 460 CPU that...
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With Samsung having fast-tracked its upcoming Galaxy S21 family, we assumed that it would be among the first (if not the first) to feature Qualcomm's burly new Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform when it arrives in mid-January. Well, Xiaomi is here to steal the show with the announcement of the Mi 11, which takes claims the "first" crown when it comes to the Snapdragon 888. Besides the inclusion of Qualcomm's latest flagship SoC, which just so happens to feature an integrated next-gen Snapdragon X60 5G modem, the Mi 11 has all the trappings of a modern flagship Android smartphone. That means that it comes with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and either 128GB or 256GB of speedy UFS 3.1 internal...
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Just over two weeks ago, Qualcomm introduced us to the latest member of its extensive mobile platform SoC family: the Snapdragon 888. This high-end Snapdragon Mobile Platform is the successor to the Snapdragon 865/865+, and will be featured in next year's top tier flagship Android smartphones from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus, LG, and countless others. At the time of its announcement, Qualcomm gave us some high level specs on the Snapdragon 888, including the fact that it has a single prime core based on the new Arm Cortex-X1 microarchitecture clocked at 2.84GHz, three performance cores cocked at 2.42GHz, and four efficiency cores clocked at 1.8GHz. Qualcomm claims its new Kryo 680 CPU...
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It seems Qualcomm is having a devil of a time fixing a security flaw related to its Adreno GPU driver code. It was brought to Qualcomm's attention by Google's Project Zero team, which sniffs out vulnerabilities and compels companies to fast-track security fixes by going public with the details after 90 days have passed (barring a grace period, which the team sometimes grants). The general idea behind the 90-day deadline is that it provides incentive for companies not to drag their feet in fixing security flaws. This sometimes comes at the consternation of companies, especially if they request a bit of additional time and are denied for whatever reason. In that sense, there is a controversial...
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In what will come as an absolute shock to no one, Apple has confirmed that it is working on its own homegrown 5G modems that will be featured in next-generation mobile devices. Currently, Apple only includes cellular connectivity in its iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch product families. But there's a distinct possibility that as it looks to bring more chip development in-house, cellular connectivity could spread to additional products. In a recent town hall meeting with Apple employees, Johny Srouji, who serves as Apple's SVP of Hardware Technologies, proclaimed: This year, we kicked off the development of our first internal cellular modem which will enable another key strategic transition....
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Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced its latest flagship SoC that will soon power an array of premium smartphones, branded the Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform. The Snapdragon 888 features a faster 8-core CPU complex that incorporates Arm's Cortex-X1 architecture and, for the first time in a Qualcomm flagship SoC, also includes an integrated Snapdragon X60 5G modem. One thing that the company didn't announce, however, was a new laptop-class successor to its potent Snapdragon 8cx platform that is most notably employed in the Microsoft Surface Pro X and Samsung Galaxy Book S. Regardless, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx and Windows 10 on Arm has already shown promise with excellent battery...
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Qualcomm officially announced its Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform yesterday, which will be featured in a wide array of next year's flagship Android devices. Unfortunately, Qualcomm didn't provide many details on its new SoC at the time, other than to say that it would feature the next-generation Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF system. Today, however, Qualcomm is ready to spill the beans on the underlying architecture of the Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform and how it will advance next-generation devices. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's kick things off with the Kryo 680 CPU and Adreno 660 GPU. Boosting Performance With Kryo 680 and Adreno 660 At the heart of Snapdragon 880 is the...
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