In a press release timed with a Computex Tiawan unveiling today, Qualcomm published information on its next generation of Smartphone chips.
Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor powers some of the best high-end Android smartphones out there, including the HTC Nexus One, EVO and Incredible and upcoming products like the Dell Streak.
Today’s press release suggests that those phones are only the beginning and will be outpaced by much faster phones later this year.
Qualcomm (QCOM) states that devices using a 1.2GHz dual core version of the current single core processor are already being built and another chip running at up to 1.5GHz will also begin to start being designed into devices later this year.
“Qualcomm’s first-generation Snapdragon chipsets set a new standard for advanced smartphones and smartbook devices, and our second-generation solutions are already shipping in volume,” said Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “We are very excited by the innovation our customers are already showing as they begin designing products based on our dual-core MSM8260 and MSM8660 chipsets.”
That means things like 1080P encode/decode will be possible on chips which share silicon with GPS and 3G wireless capabilities.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon family of chipset solutions now includes:
• First-generation products: QSD8x50™ with 1GHz enhanced core
• Second-generation products: MSM8x55™ and QSD8x50A™ with 1GHz enhanced core, including multimedia optimizations and 1.3GHz enhanced core, respectively
• Third-generation products: MSM8260, MSM8660 and QSD8672 with dual-CPU architecture featuring enhanced cores running at up to 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz, respectively
Engadget spoke with Qualcomm representatives who put some specifics on the roadmap:
For one, these new chips have two application cores and a single modem core, whereas existing chips have a single application core alongside a single modem core. We were also told in no uncertain terms that an even quicker version of the Snapdragon would be launched before the year’s end, and as you’d likely surmise, it’ll be aimed at “larger screen” devices — you know, like slates and tablet PCs.
Good, because my Sprint EVO is already starting to feel dated.
