CES 2016 – Qualcomm Launches Into Smart Cars, Connected Homes

Qualcomm has unveiled a range of new hardware that it hopes will power the next generation of smart homes and smart vehicles.

The chipmaker revealed a number of new Snapdragon products at CES 2016 which offer increased power, greater efficiency and more versatility than ever before.

Drive on

First up, Qualcomm has thrown its hat into the smart car ring with the announcement of its latest automotive processors.

Based on its upcoming flagship Snapdragon 820 mobile processor, the Snapdragon 820A family will provide a next-generation in-car infotainment and multimedia platform

It will also bring machine intelligence capabilities, 4K displays and a high-speed integrated LTE-Advanced connectivity into vehicles within the next few years.

Qualcomm has already signed up one of the automotive industry’s biggest names to use the previous generation, revealing at the show that Audi’s 2017 vehicles will feature integrated Snapdragon 602A chipsets (pictured right).

First revealed at last year’s CES, Qualcomm says that the 602A family provides advanced smartphone-quality connectivity, infotainment, navigation, voice quality and control features in cars.

The launch continues the long-running relationship between Qualcomm and Audi, which began back in 2013 when an Audi A3 was equipped with 4G LTE wireless connectivity powered by a Qualcomm multi-mode 3G/4G LTE chipset.

“This announcement builds on our longstanding relationship with Audi, with whom we’ve been advancing the automotive industry for many years,” said Patrick Little, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manager, automotive.

“Audi is committed to delivering high-quality connectivity and infotainment experiences to their discerning customers and we are pleased to work with them to integrate the Snapdragon 602A to do just that.”

Snappy

Qualcomm also revealed a new Smart Home Reference Platform to power the increasing number of smart homes.

Based upon its Snapdragon 212 processor, the new platform will be able to support functions such as voice recognition, audio, display, camera, connectivity, and control capabilities for home control hubs and smart speakers.

The hardware is available to developers and manufacturers from today, with Qualcomm hoping that it will greatly decrease development times for getting smart products to market.

The platform packs some impressive specs, being powered by a quad-core 1.3 GHz ARM7 CPU and Qualcomm’s Adreno 304 GPU. This means it can support Hi-Fi smart audio for streaming music, and comprehensive and fast connectivity to functions such as Bluetooth 4.1, Bluetooth Low Energy, and NFC.

The new platform will also be able to support high-quality display interfaces of up to 1280×800 resolution, 8MP camera with up to 1080p video playback and support for leading high level operating systems (HLOS).

“This Snapdragon 212 Smart Home Reference Platform gives our customers powerful capabilities that can help accelerate the use of high-end computing, voice recognition, audio, display and camera throughout the smart home ecosystem,” said Raj Talluri, Qualcomm senior vice president, product management.

“This Platform is another excellent example of how we tap into our rich portfolio to build flexible, integrated platforms that support the way people are interacting with their increasingly connected smart homes – both today and in the future.”

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