Qualcomm teases 28nm Snapdragon: 5X faster for less power
updated 01:30 pm EST, Thu November 18, 2010
Qualcomm previews 28nm Snapdragon MSM8960
Qualcomm at an analyst meeting late Wednesday previewed the generation of Snapdragon chips beyond the dual-core models shipping soon. The MSM8960 will be built on a much smaller 28 nanometer process and, along with a new architecture, should be at once much more powerful and more efficient. Qualcomm estimated it would be as much as five times faster than the original Snapdragon from the start of this year but consume as little as a quarter of the power.
The ARM chip's graphics should be about four times faster than those in the original and could make possible 1080p video recording and more advanced 3D games. Qualcomm also promises a built-in modem that will provide both 3G and LTE-based 4G along with Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and Wi-Fi.
Due mostly to the manufacturing process, production samples of the MSM8960 will be available sometime in 2011. No details were given as to when the new Snapdragon would ship, though this will depend on the companies involved. HTC has usually been the most aggressive adopter of Snapdragons and could be the first with a finished phone.
