Qualcomm makes a play for the sub-$150 smartphone market with new chipset
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted February 14th 2009 9:03PM
posted February 14th 2009 9:03PM
In a press release recently issued by Qualcomm, the company states that it's taking direct aim at the sub-$150 smartphone market with a new chipset on offer. The platform -- known as the MSM7227 -- is apparently designed with higher-power, lower-cost handsets in mind, offering HSDPA / HSUPA radios, a 600MHz CPU, 320MHz application DSP, 400MHz modem processor, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, Bluetooth 2.1, and GPS support integrated in a 12mm x 12mm chipset. The MSM7227 can also supposedly handle 8 megapixel camera and 30 FPS WVGA encoding / decoding with ease, and is capable of supporting Android, S60, Windows Mobile, and BREW platforms. Given the company's recent foray into Snapdragon and other pricier options, it's interesting to see them taking a shine to the low end of the market. We know that ASUS are planning on launching a cheaper Eee phone sometime soon, and they're currently snuggling up to Qualcomm for chip duty on an Android device. Is this the year we'll see the rise of the smartphone version of the netbook (cheap, plentiful, almost disposable)? Only MWC knows for sure.[Via The Inquirer]
Excellent.
Seems like a smart move, I've always wondered why smart phones cost more than new computers. Are the radios bands that expensive?
Who would pay 600 dollars for an unlocked blackberry bold?
http://www.mobilecityonline.com/wireless/store/productdetail.asp?productid=23317
Or $800 for a SE Xperia?? Well I would, if we wasnt in a recession =/
Qualcomm doesn't make GSM phones, right?
Qualcomm makes chips and Nokia, Samsung and others build platforms around chips for mobile device platforms like phones and stuff.
*for mobile devices
Yeah, I meant to ask whether Qualcomm deals in GSM radios. I just worded that wrong; I know they aren't a phone manufacturer.
What I'm saying is, would this chipset be found on a GSM handset ever?
Yes. They provide chipsets to HTC which is arguably the biggest maker of WinMo powered GSM phones... And now that ATI has sold their cellphone 3d tech to them, I hope that now we will have a decent 3d performance on HTC devices.
Nokia and Samsung don't use Qualcomm, Samsung build their own chip. And Nokia use the TI OMAP.
wow! sounds like another feature rich cell trying to become the next iphonekiller. This has failed on all 17 iphone murder attempts. Just make the best touchscreen n best user interface. U might have a chance.
well i think i made everyone else happy by low ranking the both of you! =]
Man, the only thing I love about reading Gizmodo compared to Engadget is that they'd have long dropped the banhammer on these two useless trolls.
not coming from an Apple Fanboy, but this could very well end up in an upcoming iPhone Nano
these 2 dumdums just went a little too far
Why do you even type? If ignorance were money, you'd solve the nation's debt 5 times over sir/madame...
WARNING:
COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC
Engadget, i need you to do a favor form me.
Tee commenting system is messed up, it doesn't show whether it is highest ranked, or lowest ranked. I started noticing this since christmas, 2008. The only way it works is if you click on the date posted link.
Thank your for reading this,
A concerned Engadget reader
LOL
Can you imagine a smartphone with 8mp onboard, WVGA video recording @ 30 fps and 3D graphics, together with GPS, in a smartphone that costs $150? I can't. Its more like $400.
Same old story - "We'll make $100 laptops! But you'll have to pay $400 to get one......." and "$10 laptop!!!" "wait, $30 actually" "and it ain't a laptop, its a media storage device".
Does it sound familiar?
On the other hand, there ARE $100 smartphones already, but they aren't equipped with 8mp cameras, GPS and such.
They could only mean sub-150 manufacturing cost phones.
Yea, i dont believe we will see sub-150 contract free smartphones anytime soon.
600MHz is now low-end? Very nice.
I can't wait till we see the Tegra vs Snapdragon, and Pre vs All-the-others showdown at the MWC... as well as all the Androids. Hopefully, at least ONE of them won't be fugly and will have a hi-res capacitive screen. HOPEFULLY.
What is the deal with capacitive? I'm not jumping on anyone...but I never could grasp why anyone would actually PREFER a touchscreen where you only have one form of input on it. I personally prefer being able to use my fingers, stylus, nail, toothpick, toes, and glove-covered hands if need be. Capacitive to me just makes it more a hassle to use a phone. (I'm an outdoor worker...so during the winter months my fingers are covered very often =/)
The only advantage of Capacitive is being able to recognize several fingers in different spots. Resistive allows usage of stylus. So personally I prefer resistive screens and stylus. But I'm an old-school user, been using a PDA (with a stylus) since 2004.
Nvidia Tegra devices are supposed to appear this year but I doubt we'll see (m)any on MWC. Would be great though.
OK
I've seen other people spam and said there sites are shit but this one is the worst by far.
S-T-O-P S-P-A-M-M- I-N-G
"Is this the year we'll see the rise of the smartphone version of the netbook (cheap, plentiful, almost disposable)?"
What do you call the Centro?
The best cell-phone on the market. Many companies have tried to kill the Centro, but they all EPIC FAIL. Blackberry? Ahahahahaha. WinMo? Please. The only decent WinMo devices are the Treos. Nokia/Sony Ericsson? They can't even get a SINGLE carrier to sell their smartphones, Palm has ALL THE MAJOR CARRIERS IN THE USA (T-Mobile isn't major, because they don't even have the Centro- EPIC FAIL). Apple? Hey, you know, I have this device that looks a lot like the iPhone, it's called the Palm TX and it came out in 2005. TWO THOUSAND FIVE!! 15,000 apps? Palm OS has like 3092509632760942367! And the Pre will have even more, because it's based on STANDARDS that developers ALREADY KNOW HOW TO USE instead of proprietary OS X. Palm INVENTED THE SMARTPHONE, everyone else is FAIL!
I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what the Apple fanboys felt like when they posted long meaningless and fact-free rants... it really doesn't feel as good as I expected, I won't do it again.
Palm fanboy spotted!
As much as hate seeing a fan-boy mindlessly spewing drivel onto engadget, its almost a refreshing change to see a Palm fan-boy. I thought they went the way of the dinosaurs.
Almost.
Exactly...I havent seen a Palm fanboy since...well...ever. iLOL. But its way better than seeing the mindless hive of Apple fanboys creeping out the corners!
But Palm...as good as it is, because I love the Centro, never owned one...but like it, is still behind the major players. Talking about smartphones...it still will have to be handed to HTC/WinMo for manufacturer/OS respectively. You have HTC on EVERY phone carrier...around the world even. And WinMo...even with it shortcomings...still is out there in every smartphone imaginable. The WebOS is looking beautiful. I hope this impending lawsuit with Apple doesnt hurt them too much, because with everything intact...this OS could move some major units...something both Palm and Sprint really need at this point.
Palm fanboy? Punks not dead!!
Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD2850 will be the CPU of the Toshiba TG01
site: [http://handheld.softpedia.com/devices/Toshiba/Toshiba-TG01-466.shtml]
Feature rich but lacking the Apple soul. Nice try. Every handset in the world can use this chipset, so basically there won't be much differentiation between handsets. Apple will be off to something else that no other company can duplicate. There have already been chipsets that had capabilities similar to this Qualcomm chipset but I guess they were more expensive.
Still, they're going to have to improve batteries or power management in order to get extended use out of a handset running at high processor speeds and they're going to need plenty of storage for those 8 MP photos and recordings. Good luck with that.
You are comparing a chipset to a phone now?
Mmm-hmmm, you keep on ranting. I like my iPhone, but without jailbreaking I wouldn't even have given it a second thought. WinMo phones, on the other hand, can use non-Apple-approved appli out of the box.
(and I'd rather have an 8MP CCD than the crap 2MP CMOS sensor the iPhone currently comes with- if only Sharp/Panasonic/some more JP manufacturers would come and give Apple a run for its money)
And they already have overseas. It pisses me off that the greatest phones will never see market time over here. =(
Have a nice time explaining your Spamming, Scamming site to your service provider.
Oh Freewebs? REAL professional.
I assume most of those features will be optional.
I mean, 3D acceleration is advertised on the pro/diamond and it was not included. I would assume that they would just continue the same bullshit.
Huh? The pro/diamond have it, it was the old Kaiser/Polaris generation that didn't/
Chips are nothing without fish... a burger will do in a pinch as well.