Mobile World Congress 2018 kicks off in Barcelona in less than a week, and chipset manufacturer Qualcomm has jumped the gun to announce the new features it will be demonstrating at the show.
With innovations around AI, Bluetooth audio and connected cars, there will be plenty on show, with a particular focus on the capabilities of the company’s new flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 845, set to power the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9.
AI on board
Chief of these new features is the new Artificial Intelligent Engine, which combines a number of hardware and software components to improve on-device AI-enabled user experiences.
It will be available on a variety of chipsets, including the Snapdragon 835, 820 and 660 mobile platforms, but will be at its best on the Snapdragon 845.
The benefits to having AI built into the chipset your device (as is found in the Huawei Mate 10), is a faster, more reliable performance, enhanced privacy and the ability to take advantage of its features both with and without network coverage.
Current usage cases include face unlocking, single camera bokeh effect and automatic camera scene selection, but expect more to come over the next 12 months as more developers get on board.
Broadcasting Bluetooth audio
Another new feature joining the Snapdragon 845 is Qualcomm Broadcast Audio, which will allow a single Bluetooth device to send music to multiple devices at once, with near perfect synchronisation.
This will open up the option for Bluetooth multi-room music setups, as well as multi-user music sharing between one device and multiple Bluetooth headphones, for example.
That’s not the only audio innovation coming from Qualcomm – it’s also working to remove the frustrations found in the burgeoning wireless earbuds sector, by improving battery life and pairing, as well as giving audio quality a boost too.
Once again, the TrueWireless Stereo Technology will work best when paired with a device running the Snapdragon 845 processor, reducing power consumption a further 10% on top of the already impressive 65% power reduction from the previous generation Bluetooth chip.
Car communications
While mobile technology is understandably a huge focus for Qualcomm, it has also announced big steps forward in its C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) communication technology testing, which first started 12 months ago.
Working with French car manufacturer Groupe PSA, Qualcomm has been using its 9150 C-V2X chipset and reference platform to test its ability to support autonomous communication between vehicles. This would allow vehicles to automatically alert one another of obstacles in the road and other potential roadside hazards, with a hope to improve safety and traffic efficiency in automated driving.
While impressive, Qualcomm says this is just the first step in 5G’s capabilities for automotive applications, so it’s very much a case of watch this space.
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