Qualcomm MSM7x30 development unit hands-on
By Sean Cooper 
posted March 25th 2010 8:38PM
posted March 25th 2010 8:38PM
While we heard this was floating about at MWC this year, we didn't get a chance to have to get our mitts on it or film it so consider that sorted. The MSM7x30 platform is fast -- running between 800MHz and 1GHz -- and smooth, but the attractive interface demo (aptly named Fluid) is ultimately frustrating to use as the icons are being washed around by the ocean currents. The Qualcomm rep we spoke to did mention that the interface won't make it to retail but is rather meant to demo the animation capabilities of the device. While we didn't look at every corner of the demo platform, we did see an example of its pretty impressive gaming abilities, checked out some sample 720p output both on screen and on an HDTV, and peeped the Scalado demo that lets you browse a thousand photos at once. Top shelf stuff, and we're really looking forward to seeing devices based on this chipset landing in our hands this year. Quick video tour and a few more pictures follow the fold.
No one seems to care much for this phone. . . Almost an hour and no comments. I'm a bit confused myself as to what this is, will be, and the significance of it...
@KangXi The phone itself? Meh. The underlying tech of the dev platform, however, looks phenomenal. Good to see Qualcomm isn't resting on its Snapdragon laurels and continuing to develop hardy stuff.
Sorry...couldn't resist.
@kangXi
it's not a phone, qualcomm doesn't make phones,
it's just a plateforme to support a chipset demo inside. :)
@AttT
One of my first mobile phones was the
Qualcomm Q Phone!
Sleek, small, folding phone and lightweight at under 6 ounces .
Soft key control for ease of use. High-contrast, 5-line display.
Multiple ringer tones plus silent vibration.
Voicemail, pager and data capable.
99-entry customizable phone book .
Lithium Ion Battery ù long life and lightweight .
Up to 2.5 hours talk time/30 hours standby
@Ted S
all phone's from VZW or sprint are equipped with a CDMA qualcomm ship, but it's not a cellphone brand. It's the first time I khnow there is a qualcomm phone!!!!!!!!! Weird
@AttT
You must not be familiar with the early Sprint phone Qualcomm made, branded, and sold under the Qualcomm name.
In its time, the Q Phone was even featured on some TV shows.
You can see the Qualcomm Q phone, along with supporting accessories here:
http://www.1800mobiles.com/qualcommqphone.html
The Q Phone was top-of-the-line in its time....I currently have a HTC Touch Pro 2 and HTC Hero and will be moving on to the HTC Evo as soon as it's available.
@AttT Qualcomm stopped making phone under their name around 1997. The early Sony phone was also a Qualcomm phone. Qualcomm and Sony split ways. Sony partnered with Ericsson and is still floundering.
There were not many Qualcomm Q-Phones because Motorola sued for over their "clamshell" design, saying it infringed on Moto's Flip Phone. The reason why you started seeing a lot more clamshell phones after this lawsuit was because Qualcomm won the lawsuit.
Wow I've seen phone by them before. My question is what size screen is that.
I've seen demo's of that game, looks cute. Thanks for this vid, a really exciting view!
Before the iPhone, there was the Q Phone.
Made, branded, and sold under the Qualcomm name.
@Ted S. Yes. This was some time ago. That division was sold to Kyocera Wireless and continues to make phones. http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/
Qualcomm also used to make cellular base stations. That division was sold to Ericsson (http://www.ericsson.com/us/)
Qualcomm today does not makes phones or base stations. http://www.qualcomm.com/who_we_are/history.html
so uh, if i get this right.. one phone that will run on all 3G GSM networks in the world? wouldn't that be nice !
Guys, Qualcomm's core business is wireless technology. They make the Snapdragon CPU that is running all the new high-end smartphones (Nexus, HTC EVO, etc.). Phones such as the one you are seeing here are only for demonstrating the new chip that is inside. The general public cannot get this phone. Phone developers get this phone and build software on it while they are designing their own phone. For example, HTC and Google would get a phone like this to develop the Nexus One hardware and Android 2.1 OS. Don't rag it's looks, size, and UI, because it is just a demo of the next generation "hardware" capabilities. And no the size of this development phone is not indicative of the size of phones that will be made based on it.
So this chipset is the successor to the Snapdragon?
@Johnny Rockets
It is not. Think of it as a shrink - it has the scorpion CPU (same as the Snap) but much improved GPU, and without all the integration (GPS, AGPS, BT, etc) that comes with the snap and it is much smaller.
This chip will go into low to mid tier smartphones and high end feature phones. High end smartphones and smartbooks will have the snapdragon family.
@Johnny Rockets No, it's a junior version of Snapdragon. It uses the same CPU but runs at a slower clock-rate and also lacks the DSP. This is mainly meant at giving less beefy phones (less costly ones) some of the capabilities of the Nexus One.
@Roark123 The 7x30 does include integrated BT and GPS. About the only thing lacking vs the QSD8250 Snapdragon (one inside N1) is the 600MHz DSP and the fact that its CPU runs at 800MHz.
Wow, this is like moron corner here.If you don't know what your saying you shouldn't comment,you should ask questions. That said, I am extremely excited about this platform, by years end and before this will be released on a few major smartphones.There is already a number of companies producing handsets with this chipset in them, to be released for 3rd and 4th quarter this year so be on the look out for some serious mobile madness.This is the year of true mobile innovation so get ready for slick,sexy,speedy,beast phones running Android goodness.
i don't understand...
I can't believe that this is supposed to be less powerful than the Snapdragon ! Cause the capabilities of this device seem far greater than what I've ever seen on a Snapdragon device. Or maybe the Devs have been too busy coding for insignificant hardware !!
Seriously, the game blows away even the Xbox games on WP7 series ! Love the picture wall and stuff, hope to see similar stuff on Snapdragon-powered devices.
looks cool