Qualcomm today announced at MWC Shanghai the launch of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1200 platform and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform for mid-range smartphones and tablets. The company also announced the Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors, ultrasonic fingerprint solutions.

Snapdragon Wear 1200

Qualcomm is bringing LTE categories M1 (eMTC) and NB1 (NB-IoT) connectivity to the wearables industry with the launch of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1200 platform.

Snapdragon Wear 1200 is a multimode platform for targeted purpose wearable spaces where consumers are demanding a smaller size, longer battery life, smarter sensing, constant location, security, and an always connected experience. This platform has a compact 79 mm2 size including LTE system-on-chip (SoC), power management integrated circuit and wireless transceiver, ultra-low power management operation, flexibility to add a range of external sensor hubs, and a global multimode M1/NB1/E-GPRS modem with support for 15 global RF bands, pre-certified for major global operators. Location features include support for GPS, GLONASS, Gallileo and BeiDou constellations, low power geofencing, and Qualcomm Technologies' cloud based location services with global terrestrial positioning using Wi-Fi and cellular service.

The Snapdragon Wear 1200 also features an integrated applications processor for Linux and ThreadX based applications and is scalable to support voice over LTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. For privacy and security protection, the Snapdragon Wear 1200 has integrated hardware-based security features including the Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment, a hardware cryptographic engine, hardware random number generator and TrustZone.

Snapdragon Wear 1200 is commercially available and shipping today.

Qualcomm Technologies also announced collaborations with original design manufacturers (ODMs), Borqs and Quanta, who have developed reference platforms based on Snapdragon Wear 1200. These reference designs target the kid, elderly, and pet tracking segments and will enable device manufacturers to commercialize new products in an accelerated fashion while leveraging the features and functionality of Snapdragon Wear 1200.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform

Qualcomm also introduced the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform, a new entry to the Snapdragon 400 Mobile Platform tier. Catered to mid-range smartphones and tablets, the Snapdragon 450 is the first in its tier to use 14nm FinFET process and is designed to deliver improvements in battery life, graphics and compute performance, imaging and LTE connectivity over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 435 Mobile Platform.

The Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform focuses on improvements compared to its predecessor in four categories of features:

• Improved CPU and GPU: Higher performing octa-core ARM Cortex A53 CPU results in 25 percent increase in compute performance compared to its predecessor. Additionally, the integrated Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU delivers a 25 percent increase in graphics performance over the Snapdragon 435.
• Battery life: Power management improvements result in up to four additional hours of usage time compared to the Snapdragon 435, as well as up to a 30 percent reduction in power when gaming. The Snapdragon 450 also comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support, which can charge a typical smartphone from zero to 80 percent in about 35 minutes.
• Camera and multimedia: The Snapdragon 450 is the first in the 400-tier to support real-time Bokeh (Live Bokeh) effects. It is also designed to improve on previous generations by including support for enhanced dual camera at 13+13MP, or single camera support up to 21MP; hybrid autofocus; and 1080p video capture and playback at up to 60fps, enabling slow motion capture. The Snapdragon 450 also includes support for 1920x1200 full HD displays, as well as the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, which enables multimedia, camera and sensor processing at greater performance and lower power than the previous generation.
• Connectivity and USB: Users will enjoy fast LTE connectivity with the Snapdragon X9 LTE modem, which utilizes 2x20MHz carrier aggregation in both downlink and uplink for peak speeds of 300 Mbps and 150 Mbps respectively, support for a large number of mobile networks with Snapdragon All Mode, and 802.11ac with MU-MIMO support. The Snapdragon 450 also supports USB 3.0 which is first in its tier to support fast USB data transfer.

The Snapdragon 450 is expected to begin commercial sampling in Q3 2017, and is expected to be available in consumer devices by the end of 2017.

Advanced Fingerprint Scanning and Authentication Technology

Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors are next-generation ultrasonic fingerprint solutions which bring enhanced features to the previous generation Qualcomm Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology. The suite of features consists of sensors for Display, Glass and Metal, detection of directional gestures, and underwater fingerprint match and device wake-up. It is also the first commercially announced integrated ultrasonic-based mobile solution to detect heart beat and blood flow for improved mobile authentication experiences.

Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensor for Display is the first commercially announced multi-functional ultrasonic solution capable of scanning through OLED display stacks of up to 1200um, along with enrolling and matching, and Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal are the first commercially announced to scan through up to 800 µm of cover glass and up to 650 µm of aluminum, an improvement over the previous generation's 400 µm capability for glass or metal.

Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors are designed as both an integrated solution with Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platforms, and as standalone sensors that can be used with other non-Snapdragon Platforms. Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal are designed to be compatible with the recently announced Snapdragon 660 and 630 Mobile Platforms, and Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Display, Glass and Metal are designed to be compatible with future Snapdragon Mobile Platforms and non-Snapdragon platforms.

Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal are expected to be available to OEMs this month, and are expected to arrive in commercial devices in the first half of 2018. Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensor for Display is expected to be available for OEMs to evaluate in the fourth quarter of 2017.