LAS VEGAS — Qualcomm has done it again. "It" being launch a major mobile processor at the International CES.
This time it's the Snapdragon 802, the follow-up to last year's 800 model, and the new 'dragon is taking the processor beyond smartphones and tablets: It has features designed specifically for smart TVs, set-top boxes and media streamers like the Apple TV.
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Powered by the Snapdragon 802, a smart TV could theoretically allow a user to play an online game, join a video conference, use a web browser and stream a little Netflix all at the same time, Qualcomm says. Put another way: the chip has enough power to process four different 4K videos on the same TV.
While that's way too many pixels for one set, the idea is to share those streams with other devices, particularly phones and tablets. The chip also features Qualcomm's StudioAccess content-protection engine, so it'll be able to relay some forms of premium content.
The chip has something special for regular ol' 1080p video, too; its Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) engine will upconvert full HD to "a level approaching" 4K, Qualcomm says. And a piece of software called AllJoyn enables interoperability with other kinds of products, bringing whatever device includes the 802 into the so-called Internet of Things.
The Snapdragon 802 is a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design, incorporating a quad-core 1.8GHz Krait CPU and an Adreno 330 GPU. There's a dedicated low-power core for digital signal processing (DSP) as well as support for the latest dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi networks, so those 4K streams will have the bandwidth they need.
Manufacturers will be able to use the Snapdragon 802 early this year. Expect the first products sometime in the summer or later.
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Image: Flickr, popculturegeek
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