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Qualcomm to acquire Israeli auto-chip maker Autotalks

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In an attempt to grow its automotive-related business, Qualcomm Inc announced on Monday that it would be acquiring Israel’s Autotalks Ltd, a manufacturer of chips utilized for crash-prevention technology in automobiles.

The business claimed Autotalk’s technology would be integrated into its aided and automated driving solution, known as Snapdragon Digital Chassis, although declined to disclose the financial details of the agreement.

Qualcomm
Image Source: moneycontrol.com

With more and more automakers outfitting their vehicles with driver-assistance mechanisms, Qualcomm reported in September of last year that the company’s automotive business” pipeline,” or possible future orders, increased by over ten billion dollars to 30 billion USD following its third-quarter earnings were released at the end of July.

Also Read: Nvidia short sellers lose $5 billion as shares rise more than 90%

The firm, which attributes the increase to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product, is competing to gain that market share with Mobileye Global of Intel & Nvidia Corporation.

In the second quarter that concluded on March 26, earnings from the automotive business of Qualcomm increased 20 percent to 447 million USD.

In order to increase safety on the roadways, Autotalks manufactures specialized chips for use in V2X technology for communication for human-driven and autonomous vehicles.

“We have been investing in V2X research, development, and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, a standalone V2X safety architecture will be needed for enhanced road user safety, as well as smart transportation systems,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president & GM, automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Source: qualcomm.com

Licensing company, QTL, as well as the great bulk of the patent portfolio, are both parts of Qualcomm Incorporated. The engineering, R&D, and nearly all of the products and services businesses, which include the QCT semiconductor business, are all run by Qualcomm Technologies which is a Qualcomm Incorporated division, along with its other subsidiaries.

Also Read: IBM to pause hiring in the plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI

Products with the Snapdragon and Qualcomm brands are made by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. or one of its affiliates. It Incorporated grants licenses for Qualcomm’s trademarked technologies.

With the help of Qualcomm, the entire globe may be smartly connected. With the help of their single technological roadmap, they can effectively expand the mobile revolution’s founding technologies, such as improved connectivity, efficiency, low-power computing, on-device ability, and others, to the upcoming next generation of smart devices with connectivity throughout industries.

mixed-reality platform

Samsung, Google & Qualcomm team up on mixed-reality platform

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The newest tech behemoth to embrace augmented and virtual reality is Samsung. The smartphone manufacturer claims that it will collaborate with Qualcomm and Google on a future mixed-reality platform.

The information was released on Wednesday during Samsung’s Unpacked event and comes after rumors that Apple may launch the first ever-virtual reality headset this year. Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Android at Google, and Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, both took the stage to jointly announce the partnership.

mixed-reality platform
Image Source: techweekmag.com

No specific products were mentioned by Samsung as being under development. Additionally, it didn’t offer a release date for any planned mixed-reality services or products.

Technology that combines the traits of augmented and virtual reality is referred to as mixed reality. Similar to Google Glass, augmented reality combines software and the physical world by superimposing graphics on the user’s surroundings.

Also Read: The iPhone may get a microLED display. What does that mean?

In contrast, virtual reality technologies like the Meta Quest 2 immerse the user in a 360-degree virtual environment. Passthrough cameras, a method that enables AR and virtual reality technologies to merge into one product line, are helping a new generation of VR headsets advance mixed reality, nevertheless.

This is possible with the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets from Meta and the future Vive XR Elite. The identical idea should be used in Apple’s anticipated headset.

The development arrives at a time when virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality platform are receiving more attention. According to Bloomberg, Apple is planning to unveil a mixed-reality headgear in 2023 that might cost $3,000 or more.

Google unveiled a new pair of AR glasses at Google I/O last year with a focus on language translation, and Sony’s PlayStation VR 2 and HTC’s Vive XR Elite are both set to debut this month. Before the year is out, Meta’s Quest 3 will be released.

With the exception of the Gear VR device, which it released in multiple incarnations between 2015 and 2017, Samsung has been very quiet regarding virtual reality.

Given that Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm already collaborate to develop smartphones, the alliance makes logical. Samsung creates the physical components of its Galaxy devices, while Qualcomm provides the processor and Google is in charge of the Android operating system’s supporting software.

Also Read: Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Event: What to expect?

Since many of the leading VR and AR headsets use Qualcomm chips, the company has been driving the development of phone-compatible AR and VR headsets for many years. Additionally, Qualcomm is working with Meta on upcoming smartphones and Microsoft on the hardware for its next augmented reality glasses. It’s unclear if this new partnership will work with Qualcomm’s current Snapdragon Spaces technology for phones and headsets.

Samsung unveiled its plans for mixed reality alongside the release of its latest Galaxy Book and Galaxy S23 smartphone range. The new range, which comes in three versions—standard, Plus, and Ultra—offers a number of enhancements and is currently up for preorder.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm to Bring Satellite Connectivity to Android Smartphones

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Qualcomm recently announced plans to provide satellite-based connectivity to next-generation Android smartphones.  Cellular-to-satellite communication for Android handsets will be made possible thanks to a partnership between Qualcomm and Iridium.

The service, known as Snapdragon Satellite, will first be accessible on mobile platforms supported by the Snapdragon 5G modem, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform.

Qualcomm
Image Source: finance.yahoo.com

Iridium’s L-band spectrum will be used for the service’s uplink and downlink to enable two-way messaging. In the second half of the year, the first Snapdragon Satellite-equipped Android handsets are anticipated to go on sale. 

Although Qualcomm claims Snapdragon Satellite will first be used in smartphones, it may also be used in laptops, tablets, cars, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. OEMs and app developers will be able to distinguish and offer distinctive branded services that employ satellite connectivity.

The L-band spectrum used by the Iridium satellite constellation, which Snapdragon Satellite will use, is “more resilient to weather” than frequencies utilized by other networks, according to Iridium. Snapdragon Satellite-enabled Android handsets still require a clear sky to function, but with a strong connection, messages can be transferred in as low as 10 seconds. 

Similar to Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite capability, which is made possible through cooperation with Globalstar, Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon Satellite technology will initially be utilized for emergency communications.

Qualcomm also lists SMS texting and connectivity in isolated, rural, and offshore areas as potential uses for Snapdragon Satellite, indicating that it might have more applications in the future than just responding to emergencies. 

The news from Qualcomm and Iridium comes just after Apple unveiled the iPhone 14, which has an emergency SOS satellite message service that uses the Globalstar satellite network.

Users of Apple iPhones can get this service, named Emergency SOS through Satellite, for free for two years. Apple spent $450 million to make this service available. It’s not a great surprise that Iridium and Qualcomm announced their partnership because there was much anticipation that Iridium would compete in the smartphone-to-satellite market.

Earlier this week, Space News reported that Iridium and Samsung had a cellular-to-satellite agreement after Samsung disclosed in a regulatory filing that it is entitled to royalties, development fees, and network usage fees from an unnamed new technology. 

According to Qualcomm, the manufacturer of GPS-based devices Garmin Ltd will organize emergency response services for users. 

Qualcomm was able to update the Snapdragon platform to connect to the Iridium network without needing to make any hardware upgrades to the baseband or the transceiver, according to Francesco Grilli, VP of product management at Qualcomm.

Grilli claimed that a number of Android smartphone devices are already under development that would support Snapdragon He said that Western Europe and North America would be the first regions to sell smartphones with this feature.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm Sued By ARM For Licensing And Trademark Violations.

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Arm Limited sued Qualcomm limited for the violation of contract and trademark breaches resulting in setting up an official confrontation between SoftBank Group Corporation’s acquired chip company and one of its greatest customers.

The dispute focuses on Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia corporation, a chip startup, last year. The startup produced chip designs by using Arm licenses and it was not in their rights to transfer the designs to Qualcomm without permission, based on the suit filed in US district court, Delaware. According to a report, Arm said that Nuvia’s licenses were terminated after negotiations failed to a proper conclusion in February.

Qualcomm
Image source: storage.googleapis.com

Arm and Qualcomm are two of the most prominent chip companies worldwide and the conflict between them is certain to be closely watched in the tech industry. Qualcomm, based in San Diego, is the largest smartphone-used processor and modem developing firm. It depends on an instruction set from UK-based Arm, a firm that has made the majority of the underlying technology for mobile electronics, just like many other companies in the chip industry. An instruction set is a fundamental code that chips use or follow to operate software such as operating systems.

“Because Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia licenses without Arm’s consent, which is a standard restriction under Arm’s license agreements, Nuvia’s licenses terminated in March 2022,” Arm stated in a statement. “Before and after that date, Arm made multiple good faith efforts to seek a resolution.”

Qualcomm asked Arm for verification of a new processor core in May. “Based on the timing and circumstances surrounding Qualcomm’s request, discovery is likely to show that Qualcomm’s processor core design is based on or in part the processor core design developed under the prior Nuvia licenses,” the suit stated.

Source: indianexpress.com

Qualcomm said something that the complaint ignores, that its licenses cover custom-designed processors with Arm.

Qualcomm purchased Nuvia to strengthen and enhance its technology and enable it to field more powerful and beefy chips. It is a fraction of a larger strategy by Cristian Amon, chief Executive officer of Qualcomm, to reduce the firm’s dependency on the smartphone industry and take a share of the laptop chip market and ultimately, the remunerative server processor trade. But this lawsuit may jeopardize his whole plan and efforts.

Qualcomm, said Arm does not have any rights to interfere with NUVIA’s or Qualcomm’s innovations, which acquired Nuvia for $1.4 billion last year.

“Arm’s complaint ignores the fact that Qualcomm has broad, well-established license rights covering its custom-designed CPUs, and we are confident those rights will be affirmed,” said, Ann Chaplin, General Counsel of Qualcomm in a statement.

“Qualcomm’s opportunity moving forward with the PC (and potentially server) business is utterly dependent on Nuvia designs, and Nuvia is the primary means by which Arm can get into Windows PCs. So, the companies really need to partner well if they want to have a meaningful impact on the PC market,” Bob O’Donnell of Tech-analysis Research, said.

Source: www.reuters.com

Arm behaves as traffic police on the use of technology by authenticating the compatibility of every new processor. That provides it with a unique view into what the firms are doing in the industry. As per Arm’s rules, anything developed under the revoked licenses should be destroyed.

Qualcomm is also fully aware of licensing disputes. The firm gets a large piece of its profit from trading the rights to its technology which is the main part of mobile wireless communications. Many renowned brands are its customers, Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc., the two major smartphone brands, being its important customers.

Qualcomm arose victorious from a wide-ranging legal confrontation with Apple in 2019. Also, it won a court verdict on an appeal in opposition to the US Federal Trade Commission, which claimed that the company was using ravaging licensing activities.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

Qualcomm Introduces Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC Boasting 4x Better AI Performance And Better Graphics Rendering.

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On Wednesday, Qualcomm unveiled Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 as its new 5G mobile platform for next-generation flagship Android phones at the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit. The chip is the first to feature the new Snapdragon branding, which was introduced after Qualcomm’s 17 Snapdragon 800-series system-on-chip (SoC) models were released. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is said to have four times the performance of last year’s Snapdragon 888 SoC in terms of artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the world’s first 5G modem-RF solution capable of 10 Gigabit download speeds on a compatible network.

Specifications And Features

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will come with Qualcomm’s 7th Gen AI Engine, which is said to have two times the shared memory and a two-times faster tensor accelerator than the Snapdragon 888’s 6th Gen AI Engine, resulting in better per-watt performance. The new chip will also be manufactured using a 4nm process. This is an improvement over the Snapdragon 888’s 5nm process technology from last year.
The exact names of the Kryo CPU and Adreno GPU on Qualcomm’s new chip have yet to be revealed. The Kryo CPU, on the other hand, has Arm Cortex-X2 cores that can run at up to 3GHz. The CPU is said to be 20 percent faster and uses 30 percent less power than the Snapdragon 888’s counterpart. In comparison to its predecessor, the new Adreno GPU is expected to deliver a 30% increase in graphics rendering and a 25% reduction in power consumption.
It includes a Qualcomm Hexagon processor as part of the AI Engine for a better artificial intelligence (AI) experience. The chip also has Leica Leitz Look filters built-in for a better bokeh effect. Hugging Face, a machine learning community, has also developed AI-based natural language processing. By analyzing and prioritizing your notifications, it is claimed to enable a unique personal assistance experience.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has over 50 Snapdragon Elite Gaming features to help provide a smooth and responsive gaming experience, as well as color-rich HDR scenes. According to the company, a Variable Rate Shading Pro feature has been integrated to provide a desktop-level volumetric rendering for realistic fog, smoke, and particle effects.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Image source: www.zdnet.com

A dedicated Trust Management Engine is also included in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for enhanced security. This is also said to provide the root of trust for all installed apps and services. In addition, the new Snapdragon chip supports the Android Ready SE standard, which allows users to use digital car keys and driver’s licenses.
The Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit with support for integrated SIM is built into the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to help people connect to cellular networks without using a SIM card (iSIM).
Snapdragon Sight Technology, the first 18-bit image signal processor, is another notable addition to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. (ISP). At speeds of up to 3.2 gigapixels per second, this camera is said to capture over 4,000 times more camera data than its predecessor for high dynamic range, color, and sharpness. The new ISP also supports the premium HDR10+ format for 8K HDR video recording. A dedicated Bokeh Engine is also available for adding soft backgrounds to videos. There’s also an Always-on ISP, which allows for always-on face unlocking without draining the battery.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1’s other specifications and features are largely similar to those of its predecessor. Support for up to 4K and QHD+ displays with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, LPDDR5 RAM with a frequency of up to 3200MHz and a density of up to 16GB, and Quick Charge 5 fast charging are among the features.
Qualcomm announced a partnership with Google Cloud to boost neural network development and build as well as optimize AI models at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021, alongside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK will be able to integrate Google Cloud Vertex AI NAS as a result of the collaboration.
The new experience will debut on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 first, before being rolled out across Qualcomm’s portfolio. As a result of its partnership with Google, Qualcomm said that its Snapdragon mobile, ACPC and XR, Snapdragon Ride Platform, and IoT platforms will be able to use Google Cloud Vertex AI Neural Architecture Search with the Qualcomm AI Engine.

Availability Timeline

Qualcomm reports that many global smartphone vendors will use Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in phones such as Black Shark, Honor, iQoo, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, Realme, Redmi, Sharp, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE. The company estimates that phones based on the new chip will be available by the end of 2021.

Qualcomm Smartphone

Qualcomm and Asus Partner to Launch ‘Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders’

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After months of speculation, Qualcomm finally launched its first smartphone, the “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders,” in collaboration with Asus. This phone is literally for Snapdragon Insiders, a community of Snapdragon fans and enthusiasts who are the first to learn about new developments involving Qualcomm’s mobile processors. This new gaming phone is essentially a token of appreciation for the community. The Qualcomm phone boasts impressive specifications such as the Snapdragon 888 chip, 144Hz AMOLED display, and up to 16GB of RAM, earning it the title of a gaming phone.

The Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders is a completely customized phone for people who know exactly what they want from their phone. This indicates the company’s top-tier processor, but it is surprising that Qualcomm did not opt for the Snapdragon 888 Plus processor, which is recently launched. According to Qualcomm, development on this phone began last year, while the Snapdragon 888 Plus was released earlier this year. The Snapdragon 888 Plus is supposed to be slightly better at handling graphics, but that’s about it. There isn’t much of a distinction between the vanilla and Plus variants. Nonetheless, the company has a processor tier higher than what this phone has.

Specifications of the Qualcomm Smartphone

The Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders is a flagship phone that also happens to be the chipmaker’s first phone. Qualcomm has worked with Asus to make this phone a reality. This is due to the fact that Asus is one of the most well-known manufacturers of gaming phones. It’s ROG Phone series is the best-selling gaming phone on the market. It is powered by a Snapdragon 888 chipset with an Adreno 660 GPU. The phone supports both the mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G bands. The gaming phone has a 6.78-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED display with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz and a peak brightness of 1,200 nits. There is HDR and HDR10+ support, and the display is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. There is 512GB of internal storage and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM.

Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
Image Source: fdn.gsmarena.com

Qualcomm has used a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 sensor on the primary camera, as well as a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera, for photography. The AI Zoom feature on Qualcomm’s Spectra 580 image signal processor promises better photos and up to 8K-resolution videos. The phone has a 24-megapixel camera on the front for selfies and video calls. The phone has dual stereo speakers powered by Snapdragon Sound technology, as well as four microphones. The Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders has a 4000mAh battery that can be charged in 52 minutes thanks to Quick Charge 5.0 technology.

Pricing of the Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Insiders Smartphone costs $1,499 (approximately Rs 1,12,200). There is only one model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The phone will first be available in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom in August. The first wave will be followed by an India release. The India price is currently unavailable. Despite the fact that the phone appears to be exclusive to the Snapdragon Insiders community, it will be available for purchase to the general public. The gaming phone will be available in a single color: Midnight Blue.

Other Features

Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
Image Source: qualcomm.com

Qualcomm’s Smartphone comes with a pair of truly wireless earphones with active noise cancellation, dubbed Master & Dynamic Earphones. Master & Dynamic is an audio brand based in New York. A custom rubber bumper, which is essentially a rubber frame for the phone, is also included in the box. In the box, you’ll find a Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 power adapter as well as two USB-C to USB-C braided cables.