LG, Qualcomm Advance Processor Relationship Through Next-Gen Wearables Platform
Qualcomm announced new Snapdragon processors Thursday for the wearables and smartphone markets. The Snapdragon Wear platform and Wear 2100 SoC, available now, are part of a new product family targeted to wearables in the mobile, fashion and sports spaces, said…
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the company. LG and Qualcomm, which have collaborated on smartwatches based on Android Wear, will continue their relationship via the Wear 2100 processor, said LG Vice President-Wearables David Yoon, saying new LG smartwatches and “other wearable devices” will launch later this year. The Snapdragon Wear platform comprises silicon, software, support tools and reference designs available in tethered (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) and connected (4G/LTE and 3G) versions, said Qualcomm. It said benefits of the platform over previous designs include: a 30 percent smaller size; 25 percent lower power requirement; smarter, more accurate algorithms; and an always-on connected experience. Customers can develop tethered and connected SKUs using the same circuit board design to cut development costs, Qualcomm said. Snapdragon Wear 2100 supports Android Wear, and Android and is targeted for connected and tethered smartwatches, watches for the kid and elderly segments, smart bands, and smart eyewear and smart headsets, Qualcomm said. The company also announced three upcoming Snapdragon processors for mid- and high-end smartphones. The Snapdragon 625, 435 and 425 processors incorporate support for LTE with carrier aggregation; Snapdragon All Mode; 802.11ac with MU-MIMO; dual camera image signal processors; TruSignal technology for improved call reliability; a Hexagon DSP for power-efficient audio with sensor hub to meet Android M sensor requirements; and Quick Charge, said Qualcomm. The processors will deliver “premium-tier” smartphone user experiences using custom-developed camera, video, gaming and connectivity technologies, Qualcomm said. The top-tier 625 octa-core processor is Qualcomm’s first to use 14-nanometer FinFET technology, said to yield up to 35 percent power savings versus the previous processor generation. Other features: 4K HEVC recording and playback in low light, dual high-resolution cameras, 24-megapixel photos and up to 13-megapixel selfies; and advanced post-processing features such as re-focus, advanced editing and special effects, Qualcomm said. Qualcomm expects to sample the processors mid-year for smartphone market arrival in the second half.