Qualcomm promises 1.5GHz Snapdragon this year
Published: 14 January, 2010
READ MORE: Qualcomm | Semiconductor
The past week has seen Marvell and Nvidia showing off multicore processors for mobile devices, not to mention Intel pushing Atom into its first smartphone. But the leader of the silicon pack for supercharged phones, Qualcomm, is not sitting still and its Snapdragon flagship will be upgraded to 1.5GHz by the end of the year.
The faster clock speed, plus a likely multicore implementation, were revealed in an interview with Hexus by Luis Pineda, SVP of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. Two new Snapdragons could be released this year for high end smartphones and other mobile web devices, including the new breed of tablets.
The first will be the Snapdragon 8X50A, a more compact version of the current model, to reduce power consumption, but faster at 1.3GHz. The second will be a multicore product, the 8X72, running on two of the ARM-based Scorpion cores that lie at the heart of Snapdragon. This will have the 1.5GHz clock speed.
The 8X72 should be released by the end of the year and will target the rising tide of HD video applications in small devices, powering 1080p video in phones, netbooks and emerging video-specific products, such as tablet viewers or HD moviephones (LG has plowed this furrow with its widescreen handsets).
The current Snapdragon is winning some high profile designs, including several Windows Mobile smartphones like the HTC HD2, Acer Liquid and Toshiba TG01; plus Android products like the Nexus One and HTC Bravo, plus tablets from HP and Lenovo. Few smartphones require a gigahertz processor - and few consumers can afford them - but rising use of mobile video, and the shift to hybrid phone/PC formats, should push superclocked mobile chips into the mainstream.
More QUALCOMM News
More SEMICONDUCTOR News
More HANDSET News
COMMENTS
Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East
Carriers are using mobile broadband as their weapon of choice in the fight against the commoditization of voice and falling ARPU. This...
Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts
VoLTE offer unique advantages in lowering a carrier's voice infrastructure economics and promises to improve voice quality, device...
Satellite Phones: Will Dual Mode Help the Phoenix Rise from the Ashes?
Satellite phones have followed an arduous path since their much-hyped launch more than a decade ago. The hype was followed by an e...
