You may not have heard of Qualcomm, but if you've used any major piece of tech over the last few years, then you've used one of their products. Basically, if one device has something inside it that will let it talk to another device, chances are it's got a Qualcomm processor.
At CES 2016, Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf took the stage to address the future of both the company and wireless communications - both of which center around the Snapdragon 820 processor. As an updated version of the 810, it'd be easy to assume that this latest model would only boast a few minor improvements, but that's really not the case: if Qualcomm's new processor can do everything they promise it can, the Snapdragon 820 could be the new industry benchmark.
So, what exactly does the Snapdragon 820 do? Quite a bit, actually: depending on the device it's installed in, the Snapdragon can help boost wireless communication speed, beef up processing power, or both.
The rest of the conference was dedicated to using the Snapdragon 820 as a means of mass connectivity: not only can the processor be used to keep all of a household's devices connected to one another, but it's entirely possible for entire cities and infrastructures to move to Qualcomm's latest chipset. The Snapdragon is also built with longevity in mind, as Mollenkopf promised the processors could be used for upwards of ten years at a time. Of course, the Snapdragon can also be used on a much smaller scale, including wearables and modern health monitors.
Mollenkopf also briefly mentioned Qualcomm's drone flight system, Snapdragon Flight. While the presentation was short, Mollenkopf confirmed that one of the first drones to use Snapdragon Flight, the Tencent YING, which specializes in 4K video capture and sharing. That's right: not only can you use the drone to capture video, but the Snapdragon processor will allow you to share the clip from the drone itself.
Yes, it may sound like a heaping helping of technical mumbo-jumbo, but the Snapdragon 820 line could be a huge deal - if you're the kind of person who wants each and every single one of your devices to talk to each other, then you'll want to keep an eye on the Snapdragon.
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