TimMcDonough
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Qualcomm betting on octa-core tech and better LTE radio in China
Despite Qualcomm's odd stance on octa-core and 64-bit in the past, the company has clearly changed its mind since last week's launch of its Snapdragon 615, which includes both features. Qualcomm's marketing VP Tim McDonough, who briefly spoke to us after his meeting with Oppo at MWC, admitted that this new chip is partly aimed at the ever-demanding Chinese market. "It's very interesting. Consumers in China want octa-core. It's very high on their list; while in the US and Western Europe, it's totally other things that consumers want," the exec said. "So we've really recognized that if that's what Chinese consumers want, that is what our Chinese customers, our OEMs want, and Qualcomm has to care for that need; so that's what we're doing."
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 802 processor is a 4K powerhouse for your TV
With 4K TVs (and content, hopefully) promising to be one of CES 2014's biggest trends, it makes sense that Qualcomm would introduce a processor tailored to handle heavy-duty streaming. The new Snapdragon 802 is just that: a TV-specific quad-core SoC that shares many features with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and its "Ultra HD" 805 for mobile video. According to Qualcomm's VP of Marketing Tim McDonough, the Snapdragon 802 brings the best of smartphones to your smart TV. So, in addition to powering 4K content on your living-room set, the processor will enable a much-improved app experience (read: programs that run at an actually usable pace) on your big screen. Of course, it can also handle multitasking, from browsing online while streaming a movie to simultaneously playing up to four HD videos on one TV. And thanks to Hollywood Quality Video, a video-processing engine, 1080p content can be upconverted to a level "approaching Ultra HD." As for where the processor itself will live, that's up to the OEMs. The Snapdragon 802 can be built into both TVs and set-top boxes. The processor won't turn up in devices until late 2014, but we could have a few demoes in store for us at CES this week. If you're looking for more nitty-gritty details, head past the break for some additional specs.
