Items tagged with (NASDAQ:QCOM)
It would appear that even Qualcomm doesn't know for sure if its Snapdragon 810 System-on-Chip (SoC) will be used in Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy S6 smartphone. According to what's listed in the company's financial report for its first quarter of fiscal 2015 ended December 28, 2014, Qualcomm is expecting Samsung to use its own Exynos processor, though it's a little more complicated than that.Let's back up a moment. Just over a week ago, reports surfaced that Samsung was concerned with an overheating issue it ran into while testing the Snapdragon 810 part in its unreleased Galaxy S6 handset. Given that Galaxy S5 sales fell below expectations, the last thing Samsung needs is for its next flagship...
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It came out last week that Samsung ran into an overheating issue when testing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chip in its forthcoming flagship phone. In turn, Samsung reportedly made the decision not to use the part in its unreleased Galaxy S6 device, though that might not be the case if Qualcomm can supply a revised version in time for the handset's release.According to The Wall Street Journal and a "person familiar with the matter" that it spoke with, Qualcomm is expected to supply Samsung with a revised version of the Snapdragon 810 in March. Presumably the next revision will have a better handle on thermals, enough so that Samsung will feel comfortable using it in place of its own Exynos hardware.Interestingly...
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LG Electronics today said that it didn't run into any overheating issues with Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon System-on-Chip (SoC) and will hold firm to plans to use the company's chip in its forthcoming G Flex 2 handset that's due to launch in South Korea at the end of this month (January 30) and in the U.S. sometime after.The issue of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 processor possibly having an overheating issue was raised when Samsung earlier this week said it had encountered some problems with the part during the testing phase of its Galaxy S6 smartphone. Samsung ultimately decided not to use the chip, and presumably will run with its own Exynos hardware, which is already found in some Galaxy S5 handsets."I...
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Samsung is reportedly pulling a switcheroo with the processor that powers its flagship devices. Or more specifically, Samsung has decided to use its own System-on-Chip (SoC) design on its next top tier Galaxy handset instead of sticking with Qualcomm's Snapdragon line, the latter of which is said to have overheated during testing. Citing "people with direct knowledge of the matter," Bloomberg says that Samsung tested Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 810 chip, and the results of those tests gave the South Korean handset maker cause for concern, or at least that's the story Samsung is running with. Could there be more to it? Samsung finds itself scrambling to turn around its operations after being left...
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Earlier this month, we began receiving tips that Samsung was working on a new variant of the Galaxy Note 4 (check out our review here) with the internal designation SM-N916S. The device showed up in Geekbench sporting an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, and the Android 5.0 “Lollipop” operating system. Samsung made the news official today with the announcement of the Galaxy Note 4 LTE-A. Interestingly, Samsung isn’t playing up the processing performance or 64-bit capabilities of the Snapdragon 810, which features big.LITTLE architecture with four Cortex-A53 cores (1.55GHz) and four Cortex-A57 cores (1.96GHz). Instead, the company is touting the onboard LTE-Advanced modem. Samsung...
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Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf will have plenty of opportunities to practice his Donald Trump impersonation as the company gets ready to hand out approximately 600 pink slips. The layoffs come as Qualcomm faces regulatory investigations into its business practices in three different territories -- China, European Union, and the United States -- though the world's biggest mobile chip player insists the two are not related. Instead, Qualcomm is laying off workers in an attempt to restructure its business. The company also plans to shuffle its teams and projects, as its outlook for 2015 wasn't anything to get too excited about. For a company that specializes in mobile hardware, one of the hottest...
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Qualcomm, a behemoth in the semiconductor business, has reportedly agreed to purchase British chip maker CSR for 1.6 billion pounds (around $2.5 billion in U.S. currency). The offer breaks down to £9 per share in cash, which represents a 56.5 percent premium on the company's share price before the start of the offer period in August, and a 27 percent premium on CSR's closing price on Tuesday. The primary appeal here is CSR's experience in Bluetooth wireless technology. Qualcomm is a major player in the mobile market with chips that power a wide range of smartphones and tablets. As the landscape expands to include the Internet of Things (IoT) category, Qualcomm could set itself up nicely...
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Nearly a decade ago, it was smartphones. A few years ago, it was tablets. These days, it's all about 3D printing and Augmented Reality, as evidenced by the availability of the former in conventional shops such as Staples, and the multi-billion dollar purchase of Oculus by Facebook in the case of the latter. Qualcomm has toyed around with emerging technologies for quite some time while still pumping out silicon that slips inside of many of the world's mobile devices. While its smartwatch didn't ever reach beyond an experiment, we suspect that Vuforia will be something it presses on for a while. As AR takes hold and begins to seep into the mainstream, Qualcomm has announced a new SDK for Digital...
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HTC is billing its Desire 820 as its new flagship mid-range handset, but as one of the first smartphones to rock Qualcomm's 64-bit capable Snapdragon 615 SoC (System-on-Chip), don't be surprised if it gives some competitors' top shelf models a run for their money. This will especially be true when Android L (likely to be called Lemon Meringue Pie) arrives with its 64-bit ART runtime. Until then, the Desire 820 is still an impressive handset in the mid-range space. It has a 5.5-inch HD 720p display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot with support for up to 128GB capacity memory cards, 8MP front-facing camera for high-quality selfies, 13MP rear-facing camera with f/2.2 lens,...
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Qualcomm still lists a biography for Amir Faintuch on its Leadership page, though that will soon change, as the former President of Qualcomm Atheros is headed over to Intel to boost the Santa Clara chipmaker's relevance in the fields of mobile and Internet connected devices (think along the lines of the Internet of Things, or IoT). More specifically, he'll tank rank among Intel's handful to top-level executives as a senior vice president and co-general manager of the Platform Engineering Group with Josh Walden, former head of the group and an experienced leader in the field of chip manufacturing. Image Source: Flickr (Chris Potter) Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy told Reuters that Faintuch is experienced...
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Perhaps the breakup between Apple and Samsung on the manufacturing side won't last all that long, after all. It was recently reported that Apple was reducing its reliance on Samsung by giving coveted chip orders to TSMC for its upcoming iPhone 6 and other mobile devices, but now there are mumblings in the media that TSMC is losing orders. In a note to clients, KGI Securities analyst Michael Liu said it's likely that both Apple and Qualcomm will buy a bigger portion of 14nm smartphone chips from Samsung than TSMC beginning in the second half of 2015, Reuters reports. Liu didn't say where he was getting his information from, or even why both companies would turn their back on TSMC next year. It's...
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ASUS is taking another stab at its PadFone concept, which like the name sounds is a hybrid smartphone and tablet device. There have been several iterations already, and presumably coming soon is the PadFone X, an upgraded model that made an appearance on AT&T's Consumer Blog site. AT&T left out details regarding the device's availability or price, though it did spill the spec sheet. The PadFone portion will measure 143.93 by 72.45 by 9.98 millimeters, weigh 150 grams, and sport a 5-inch display with a 1920x1080 resolution (441 pixels per inch), while the PadFone Station (the tablet portion) will measure 250.4 by 172.25 by 11.63 millimeters, weigh 514 grams, and feature a 9-inch display...
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Hewlett Packard's Palm patents are changing hands. Qualcomm is the new owner, having announced the acquisition of a patent portfolio from HP that not only includes Palm, but also iPaq and Bitfone patents. The patent portfolio is stuffed full with around 2,400 granted patents and pending patent applications from the U.S. and other countries. Qualcomm didn't say how much it paid HP for the patent portfolio, which covers technologies that include fundamental mobile operating system techniques. "The acquisition further enhances the strength and diversity of Qualcomm Incorporated's industry-leading mobile patent portfolio and will enable the company to offer even more value to current and future licensees,"...
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Qualcomm may have some explaining to do. The cellphone chip maker said in November it had been under investigation by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for potential antitrust violations, though the company didn't go into any detail. Now it's being reported that Xu Kunlin, head of NDRC's anti-price fixing bureau, said the agency has "substantial evidence" of price fixing shenanigans on the part of Qualcomm. The claim was first reported in the official English-language China Daily and picked up Reuters. Unfortunately, no other details on the matter have been shared at this time, though we suspect it won't be long before more information is known. Qualcomm's research facility...
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Don't tell Qualcomm that 64-bit computing in the mobile world is a "gimmick" (more on that in a moment). Not only does Qualcomm feel the opposite is true, but the company just introduced its Snapdragon 410 chipset with integrated 4G LTE World Mode. The Snapdragon 410 is built using 28nm process technology and is Qualcomm's first 64-bit part. Qualcomm's former chief marketing officer, Anand Chandrasekher, was moved to a new position in October a month after making disparaging comments about Apple's A7 SoC (System-on-Chip). The tidbit that sticks out most from his critical remarks is calling 64-bit computing a "marketing gimmick." It's hard to argue against that at this early stage, but with Qualcomm...
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One thing we can say about the smartwatch movement is that if this category dies (and we suspect it will eventually fizzle out), it's not going to go down quietly. There are a handful of options on the market, along with persistent rumors that both Apple and Microsoft may be jumping on the smartwatch bandwagon, and in addition to all that, SoC heavyweight Qualcomm is now taking pre-orders for a smartwatch of its own. It's called "Toq" and it runs on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, though Jelly Bean and above is preferred, Qualcomm says. As for the technical specifications, Qualcomm is keeping tight lipped about what exactly makes its smartwatch tick, saying only that it will reveal specs "soon."...
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It almost goes without saying that the Google Nexus 5 is one of the most anticipated Android phones to launch in 2013, save perhaps for Samsung's Galaxy S 4. Previous generation Nexus devices from Google, whether phone or tablet, have proven to offer a lot of bang for the buck, excellent design and build quality and a pure representation of the Android OS. Not to mention Google regularly rolls out the most recent version of Android as well with these devices, sometimes well before it's available on products from other brands. The previous generation Nexus 4, like the Nexus 5, was manufactured by LG, though the Nexus 4 didn't hit the mark like Google hoped it would. With their latest Nexus...
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It almost goes without saying that the Google Nexus 5 is one of the most anticipated Android phones to launch in 2013, save perhaps for Samsung's Galaxy S 4. Previous generation Nexus devices from Google, whether phone or tablet, have proven to offer a lot of bang for the buck, excellent design and build quality and a pure representation of the Android OS. Not to mention Google regularly rolls out the most recent version of Android as well with these devices, sometimes well before it's available on products from other brands. The previous generation Nexus 4, like the Nexus 5, was manufactured by LG, though that smartphone didn't hit the mark like Google hoped it would. With their latest...
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One of the hallmark features of Google's Nexus 5 flagship smartphone by LG isn't its bodaciously big and beautiful 5-inch HD display, its 8MP camera, or its "OK Google" voice command / personal assistant feature. Frankly, that's all been done before. What does stand out about the Nexus 5 is Google's new Android 4.4 Kit Kat operating system and LG's smartphone SoC (System on Chip) processor of choice, namely Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core. Qualcomm is known for licensing ARM core technology and making it their own within their Krait architecture, and Qualcomm's latest Krait 400 with Adreno 330 GPU that comprises the Snapdragon 800, is a powerful beast. Furthermore, Google has taken...
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Nokia's recently announced Lumia 2520 tablet is drawing high praise from Qualcomm, the company who's Snapdragon 800 processor is powering the device. There's nothing unusual about that -- Qualcomm has a vested interest in the Lumia 2520's success -- but what's interesting is that the praise is coming at the expense of Microsoft's Surface 2 slate. Though the Lumia 2520 and Surface 2 look very similar to each other and both are running ARM-based processors, Qualcomm is only powering one of the them. Microsoft opted to go with NVIDIA's Tegra 4 platform for Surface 2, and as far as Qualcomm is concerned, these two tablets aren't even on the same playing field. Raj Talluri, senior vice president of...
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Qualcomm is developing NPUs, or “neural processing units”, which would present a different and powerful way for machines to handle information by more closely mimicking the way that the human brain works. Essentially, Qualcomm and its partners are trying to artificially create neurons, and NPUs are designed for parallel processing and high efficiency. The company has apparently been successful enough in that endeavor that it’s ready to start designing and manufacturing these NPUs commercially. In fact, IT News says that Qualcomm has developed prototypes in conjunction with a powerful ally in the Brain Corporation, which is funded in part by DARPA (U.S. Defence Advanced Research...
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