Catching up on the Paul Jacobs Qualcomm CES keynote

I’ve just been catching up on the big keynote from CES last night and I think it’s fair to say, Qualcomm pulled out all the stops.

You can catch the full keynote right here.

It’s definitely worth a look, particularly to keep updated on what they’re doing with their SnapDragon 800 and 600 chips. Some of the demonstrations were very impressive. We’re now getting to the point whereby the chip in your smartphone is becoming way more powerful than the average laptop.

In case you’d like to do a quick scan of the announcements, here’s a summary from the Qualcomm team.

Born Mobile

• Qualcomm is the first ever mobile company to open CES – a testament to the fact that mobile is transforming the world
• We’re all part of the born mobile generation – we’ve come to expect powerful devices with always-on access to the world’s information, in the palm of our hand
• Qualcomm is the world’s number one supplier of wireless chips and the leading inventor of wireless technologies, our heritage has always been in mobile and we’ve shipped over 11 billion chips in our history

Announcing Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors

• Snapdragon 800 processors are the most advanced wireless processors ever built and the first to fully deliver on the promise of 4G
• The first super-premium processors for smartphones, tablets and computers, offering a leap ahead in performance and power efficiency that will be a class of its own
• It will deliver up to 75 percent better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and the move to 28nm High Performance for mobile (HPm) technology node ensures exceptionally low power
• Features our latest Wi-Fi technology called VIVE, it’s 802.11ac to provide improved connectivity in your home, office and at hot spots
• It features a quad-core CPU which supports peak speeds of up to 2.3 GHz per core – faster than many laptops
• The GPU is up to 50% more powerful than its predecessor, enables amazing multimedia experiences including the new standard for video quality, Ultra HD (4 times the number of pixels of 1080p)
• Leverages LTE Advanced to support download speeds of up to 150 Mbps, fast enough to stream seamless high-def video

Announcing Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processors

• Snapdragon 600 processors are designed to deliver exceptional performance, rich graphics and an enhanced user experience
• It will deliver up to 40 percent better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor at lower power
• It features a new Krait 300 quad-core CPU with speeds up to 1.9GHz, a new speed enhanced Adreno 320 GPU and support for LPDDR3 memory
• Already more than 50 devices being designed with Snapdragon 800 and 600 processors, with smartphones and tablets launching in the second half of this year

Qualcomm and Microsoft’s Strong Partnership

• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer joined Jacobs on stage, passing the CES keynote torch has Microsoft held for 15 years
• They showcased the fruits of the companies’ Windows Phone and Windows RT partnerships – such as the HTC 8X, Samsung ATIV and Nokia Lumia 920 – all of which run on Microsoft software and Snapdragon processors

Guests Show How Qualcomm Enables Great Mobile Entertainment

• Guillermo Del Toro showed a Pacific Rim trailer, as well as a clip of Blade II showcasing Ultra HD and DTS 7.1 on a Snapdragon 800 tablet
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski showed a NASCAR app enhancing multi-screen viewing experience between smartphones/tablets and Snapdragon enabled TVs with AllJoyn. It allows fans at home to customize the way they view the race so they can get even closer to the drivers and enjoy the race as much as those in the stands
• Actress Alice Eve discussed using Qualcomm Gimbal to make new connections and interactions with fans of Star Trek: Into Darkness in association with Paramount
• Sesame Street’s Big Bird helped show how Qualcomm’s Vuforia enables innovative app experiences such as the text recognition technology in Big Bird’s Words

Technology Drives Positive Social Change

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu delivered a video message about the critical role of mobile technology for helping the poor and disenfranchised – the mobile phone is the technology of choice as a vehicle for reaching the underserved with interventions from health and other sectors of the economy. It is going to have a transformative impact on the public health in Africa and all around the world
• One of the keys to a vision of mobile health is to create new tools – at last year’s CES the Qualcomm Foundation announced the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE together with the X PRIZE Foundation. The goal is to inspire teams to create a diagnostic device that puts personalized health information in the palm of your hand
• More than 250 teams from 34 countries pre-registered for the X PRIZE competition. (Go to QualcommTricorderXPRIZE.org for more info.)

Advancing Automotive Connectivity

• Qualcomm is working with some of the world’s greatest automakers, including Audi and BMW, to bring mobile technology to the car
• Technology such as in-car Wi-Fi hotspots, web radio, video conferencing, even online gaming are made possible by Qualcomm’s Gobi 4G LTE chipset
• We’re working on a unique wireless charging technology called Qualcomm HALO, to allow your electric vehicle to automatically begin to charge when you pull into your garage, or an activated parking space – no cables, it just works
• Rolls Royce brought out on stage – the car has had the V12 gasoline engine pulled and replaced with an electric motor powered by batteries, storing 85 kilowatt-hours of energy (equivalent energy to charge over 12,000 smartphones per day). The car went out on a world tour and the wireless system proved more reliable than the cable so for the last three months they used the Qualcomm Halo system exclusively.