CES 2018: Qualcomm claims its newest SoC fixes issues plaguing wireless earbuds

Wireless earbuds makes things easier for users but it isn’t without fault. Qualcomm hopes to fix the issues plaguing these tiny wearables have. The new QCC5100 chipset claims to offer three times the battery life of previous devices and it comes with more wireless transmitting power, meaning it’ll most likely not cut out as much even when it encounters interference.

When compared to its predecessor, it’s said to have twice the processing power. This means, manufacturers can introduce better noise cancelling as well as integrate smart assistants and other smart features. The possibility of getting zero-delay fast translation like those in the Pixel Bud might head your way. We can’t say yet though when we might see manufacturers integrate this chip into their audio accessories.

Source: Engadget

Chromebooks to get Snapdragon 845?

While we expect the next batch of premium smartphones to carry the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, the company has also been talking up the “Always Connected PCs” idea of having Windows 10 run on the ARM architecture. And it looks like Microsoft’s operating system won’t be the only one possibly running on the Snapdragon 845. According to the Chromium commits spotted by XDA Developers, there is a possibility of Chromebooks being able to run these. The first of these commits reference a new board called “chezea,” while the following one defines “chezea” as a new board overlay for a reference device that runs the Snapdragon 845. We won’t be surprised if this is the case, though, as Chrome OS is considered a lighter operating system than Windows 10.

Source: GSMArena

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 845

Qualcomm’s newest chipset makes its appearance at the company’s second annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii. Qualcomm’s Executive VP Cristiano Amon announced the Snapdragon 845 with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. Xiaomi’s boss was on hand to announce that the company’s next flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 7, will be one of the first smartphones to carry the new SoC. The Snapdragon 845 is built on the same 10nm processor technology of the Snapdragon 835 and it supports Gigabit LTE speeds with the X20 modem.

While detailed specs weren’t released just yet, the new chipset is expected to have a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) similar to what Apple and Huawei have done with their A11 Bionic and Kirin 970 processors. The NPU allows for native artificial intelligence acceleration. Some of the other rumours surrounding the chipset suggest there will be four Cortex A-75 cores and four more Cortex-A53 for better efficiency. Rumours suggest this will be accompanied by a new Adreno 630 GPU as well.

Source: GSMArena

Qualcomm reportedly asking for more money before accepting Broadcom’s takeover bid

Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia

Looks like Qualcomm wants to resist a bit more before considering accepting a takeover deal from Broadcom, at least according to a Reuters report. Supposedly Broadcom’s US$70 per share offer, while setting a record, “undervalues” Qualcomm and doesn’t take into account any regulatory hurdles that they might need to overcome once the deal is done. According to Reuters sources, Qualcomm might object to the sale as early as November 13 but will probably take a few days before issuing a fuller response.

On Broadcom’s side, it seems they’re ready to raise its bid, according to the report. And it hopes to submit its own selection of directors for Qualcomm’s board. And if the shareholders want a deal, they could possibly vote for new board members and force Qualcomm to negotiate. Neither company is commenting on the report at the moment.

Source: Engadget