Qualcomm is stepping into the era of the Internet of Things with two new processors, introducing the Snapdragon 410E and Snapdragon 600E for "embedded devices."
These embedded devices that will get the new chips are nothing other than IoT gadgets, from smart washing machines to robots and everything in between. The two new chips also mark the beginning of a new era, as they are the first ones Qualcomm will open to third-party distributors.
Back in 2013, Qualcomm launched its Snapdragon 410 processor as its first 64-bit mobile computing chip. The new Snapdragon 410E is miles ahead and is now targeting the IoT crowd, so maybe we'll see a 64-bit smart dishwasher soon enough.
The Snapdragon 600E, meanwhile, is an amped up model with slightly more horsepower, similarly destined for IoT greatness.
As previously mentioned, this is the first time that Qualcomm will give standalone Snapdragon chips to third-party distributors, and the first one to get the new Snapdragon 410E and 600E processors is Arrow Electronics. A 10-year support and availability clause is in the mix, so the 410E and 600E are in for the long run.
With third-party distributors now part of the game, small and big manufacturers will be able to purchase the number of Snapdragon 410E and 600E units they need and pack them in their devices, with the promise that Qualcomm will support them for at least a decade.
Smart, connected and reliable is a good selling point for any IoT device — so it sounds like a win-win for all parties involved.
When it comes to technical specifications, the new Snapdragon 410E and 600E are not that different from the mobile versions of the processors for smartphones. The IoT versions, however, do have slightly lower clock speeds and Bluetooth 4.1 rather than 4.0.
Both the 410E and 600E are quad-core and can handle 1080p video recording and playback. The 410E is clocked at 1.2 GHz and can support 1080p displays and up to 13-megapixel cameras, while the 600E model has a higher clock speed of 1.5 GHz and supports 2K panels and up to 21-megapixel cameras.
"Snapdragon is a powerful and versatile processor with many potential applications in a wide variety of IoT applications and we can now offer this technology to a much wider range of customers with the additional benefit of long-term support and availability," says Raj Talluri, Qualcomm's SVP of product management.
"The Snapdragon 600E and 410E bring together some of our best connectivity and compute technologies to meet the needs for a large range of embedded and IoT applications."
For additional details, head over to Qualcomm to learn more about embedded computing.
