Oppo has a new Apple AirPods rival, the Oppo O-Free, fully wireless Bluetooth headphones that it'll be offering alongside its unusual Find X Android smartphone. The new headphones cut the cables completely, with no wires between the lozenge-shaped left and right earbuds.
First the headphone jack disappeared, next the headphone cables altogether: at least, if Qualcomm has its way with a new Bluetooth audio chip. Announced today, the Qualcomm QCC3026 may not have a name that's music to the ears, but it promises to make wireless headphones cheaper and more reliable - to the point where they're likely to supplant the bundled wired headphones most new smartphones include in the box.
One of the cited reasons for the failure of Wear OS by Google (formerly Android Wear) smartwatches is that they are all running on a two-year old chipset. Considering the Snapdragon Wear 2100 is based on the Snapdragon 400, its technology goes way back to 2013. As promised, Qualcomm is delivering a much-needed and long-overdue update to its wearable platform. But funnily enough, it is marketing the Snapdragon Wear 2500 squarely at the kids’ wearable market, practically making a bet on that market instead of the grownups’ wearable industry.
There are a few trends in the smartphone market that are trickling down from the expensive, high-end flagships to the affordable mid-range ones. But while bezel-less screens, notched or not, are more dependent on component suppliers, features like AI and support for dual cameras require support in the mobile processor itself. That’s why Qualcomm is launching the new Snapdragon 632, 439, and 429 “mobile platforms” to help mid-tier devices catch up with their more expensive counterparts in features.
Qualcomm is gradually making its push into the PC processor market, namely with its latest Snapdragon 850, aimed at notebooks. That chip, however, is just a higher-clocked version of the Snapdragon 845, a processor originally designed for smartphones, which means the 850 still doesn't make the cut in keeping up with Intel's CPUs. The much rumored Snapdragon 1000, however, is expected to be a different story.
From Windows S to the new, somewhat disappointing first generation of always-on Windows 10 on ARM PCs, it is clear that Microsoft is worried. Its once unchallenged kingdom in the education and enterprise markets have been chipped away first by Apple and now by Google and its Chromebooks. The Windows maker is fighting back by trying to combine Windows 10 with hardware that makes mobile devices so useful: always-on connectivity and battery life. But even before Redmond can regain its foothold, it seems that Google will be fighting back with a Chromebook codenamed “Cheza”, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.
When you are slapped with a patent lawsuit, one of the best ways to turn the tables is to have those patents invalidated. It is definitely easier and perhaps cheaper than arguing in court that you didn’t infringe on them anyway. Apple is no stranger to that tactic and is now pulling the same strategy on Qualcomm over four of the chip maker’s patents. Those same patents are, of course, the ones that Qualcomm is suing Apple for.
As Apple and Qualcomm's ongoing legal battle over patent licensing fees continues, the two companies now find themselves before the US International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., with the chipmaker arguing that iPhones with rival Intel modems should be banned from the country. Apple's counter position, however, includes arguing that such a move would be a threat to US national security and the development of 5G.
Inside the Microsoft HoloLens 2 augmented/mixed-reality headset is tipped the most major appearance of Qualcomm's own XR1 VR chip. This processor isn't technically as powerful as the Qualcomm Snadpragon 845, but according to all the information we have on the XR1 so far, it's made for and capable of running a device just such as this. The hardware itself is tipped to be coming to the market starting in early 2019.
At Computex 2018, Qualcomm announced what everyone was already expecting: a Snapdragon chip designed solely for Windows 10. Launching from the Snapdragon 845, the Snapdragon 850 aims to address the pain points of the first gen Windows 10 on ARM devices, bringing the latest 10 nm processor, X20 LTE modem, and AI engine into a single system-on-chip. But more than announcing just the Snapdragon 850 itself, Qualcomm also revealed who its first customer would be: its new buddy and part-time rival Samsung.
Qualcomm has revealed its latest chipset, the Snapdragon 850, aiming to bring all-day battery life and always-on connectivity to a new range of Windows 10 notebooks and 2-in-1s. Announced at Computex 2018, the new chipset follows the Snapdragon 845 and its predecessor the Snapdragon 835, themselves already finding their way into Windows 10 on ARM notebooks and convertibles.
It's almost ironic if you think about it. Intel wanted to get into the mobile and wearable market dominated by ARM chip makers like Qualcomm that it rushed head on, only to unceremoniously retreat from those markets after repeated failure. Now it seems that Qualcomm is poised to do the same but coming from the other side. Just days after a rumors surfaced about a Snapdragon 850 or 950 designed for Windows 10 on ARM devices, word arrives of a Snapdragon 1000 for the same. And, to add to the irony, it might be stepping up to Intel's disadvantages as well.