qualcomm

Is Apple moving to a new wireless chipset supplier for the next iPad and iPhone?

An unnamed but "reliable" source is quoted by Engadget today saying that Apple is going to ditch the current Infineon chipsets used in both devices and move to Qualcomm instead. The report seems entirely plausible.

Verizon already let it slip that it's going to have an iPad that runs on its network. It's very likely that will be for its CDMA network, and not LTE. The current iPad model only works on GSM networks. Apple probably doesn't want to have … Read more

Mobile phone chipmaker Qualcomm has inked a partnership to explore wireless charging technology with Powermat, a specialist in the area.

Wireless charging holds the promise of ridding people of a lot of wires but poses risks that different devices will use incompatible charging methods, so it's no surprise that part of the partnership involves building an industry alliance around the technology.

Qualcomm's current wireless approach, called WiPower and using a method called near-field magnetic resonance technology, is on display at CES this week.

In their deal, the companies agreed to a broad partnership designed to explore the technology … Read more

In a move to round out its wireless and networking product portfolio, Qualcomm today announced plans to acquire Atheros for $3.1 billion, or $45 a share.

For Qualcomm, the acquisition highlights a strategy to move beyond its traditional cellular market into more mainstream computing. With Atheros, Qualcomm gains access to wireless LAN, Ethernet, Bluetooth, GPS, passive optical networking, and powerline technologies. Qualcomm plans to take those products and ultimately integrate them with its smartphone and tablet chips.

Analysts were generally upbeat about Qualcomm's plans. Piper Jaffray analyst Auguste Gus Richard said in a research note that Qualcomm will … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Underscoring two smartphones trends at CES 2011, Qualcomm is getting behind ooVoo to show the latter's video chat app on an Android phone.

More specifically, the two companies are demonstrating ooVoo's multi-party video chat app on a yet-to-be-released, dual-core Android phone running Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset.

This exercise is important for a few reasons. First, as with any hardware change, performance specs only sink in when you can see how much faster or smoother they can execute tasks compared with the previous version. Take dual- and quad-core desktops and laptops, for example. At first glance, they look … Read more

AT&T took another step toward filling out its 4G wireless broadband strategy with the announcement yesterday that it plans to spend $1.9 billion to buy wireless spectrum from chipmaker Qualcomm.

The new spectrum will be used to help build the carrier's next generation LTE network. This is the same technology that Verizon Wireless is using to build its 4G network.

In some ways, AT&T may seem a little late to the 4G wireless party. Competitors Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA have already been touting their fourth generation networks.

Verizon just launched its service earlier this month. … Read more

On today's show, we get a brief appearance of Brian After Dentist, but it's not as fun as we hoped, because the poor guy was actually in pain. So, Donald and I soldier on, discussing how Google TV is probably just plain done for, Net neutrality is under attack from all sides, and how college may be useless for entrepreneurs but it's a crucial nerd breeding ground. Plus, in the future, we'll pay for everything in Jobses. Depressing. --Molly

Getting geared up for the 4G era, AT&T announced today that it has agreed to acquire 700MHz spectrum licenses from Qualcomm for $1.925 billion.

Qualcomm has been using the lower 700MHz frequency band for its Flo TV service, which provides broadcast programming to mobile handsets. The service is scheduled to be shut down in March.

According to the companies, Qualcomm owns 12MHz of the lower 700MHz D and E block spectrum, covering over 70 million people in several cities around the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. AT&T has also acquired Qualcomm'… Read more

Qualcomm's Snapdragon silicon made a sweep of all of the Windows Phone 7 smartphones announced today, rendering the hardware from various manufacturers relatively homogeneous inside.

Against a backdrop of phone announcements from companies such as Samsung, HTC, and Dell, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer posted a video today discussing the relationship between the two companies.

"Qualcomm and Microsoft have a long history of working together to optimize the mobile operating system for Qualcomm chips and platforms...We're excited to bring a new generation of Windows phones exclusively featuring Snapdragon mobile processors," Ballmer said.

"This really shows...what can happen when people bring together great software and great hardware," said Jacobs in the video.

But this collaboration also brings Windows PC-like hardware uniformity. Just as the PC world has the Windows operating system and Intel processors, this first crop of Windows Phone 7 smartphones feature a Microsoft OS and Qualcomm silicon.

"If all of them feature the same hardware (internal) and same operating system, what happens to the differentiation?" asked Ashok Kumar, managing director and analyst at Rodman & Renshaw. Other smartphone processor suppliers include Texas Instruments, Marvell Technology, and Samsung, who provide chips for Android and BlackBerry phones, among others.

And it remains to be seen if Windows Phone 7 devices can find a place in a very crowded market. "I think one of the biggest questions is what are the prospects of Windows Phone 7," said Kumar. "Most of the resources are targeted toward Apple and Android and then you have RIM and the QNX (operating system). There are many questions here, not least of which is what will the receptivity of the consumer be?" Kumar said.

Windows Phone 7 smartphones include the Dell Venue, HTC 7 Mozart, HTC 7 Trophy, HTC HD7, HTC Surround, HTC 7 Pro, LG Quantum, LG Optimus 7, Samsung Focus, and Samsung Omnia 7. Inside these products is Qualcomm's 1GHz application processor, a 3D graphics function, support for high-megapixel cameras, and the requisite 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, among other functions..… Read more

At one time in the not-too-distant past, cell phone chips were an unknown quantity or, at best, given short shrift by cell phone providers and manufacturers. Not anymore.

The Apple iPhone and HTC Evo 4G from Sprint are two of the hottest phones on the market. And both companies advertise the processor prominently. Is this a coincidence? Intel, the largest chipmaker in the world, doesn't think so.

"As late as a year ago, consumers didn't care about the processing power in their smartphones. Today almost every store is advertising the CPU speed that's inside the smartphone,&… Read more