Qualcomm Announces Connectivity and Reference Platform Solutions for Next Generation Home Entertainment Experiences
-- Integrated Wi-Fi / Bluetooth Chip and New Media Box Reference Platform Enable a Complete Home Entertainment Ecosystem, Bringing Seamless Content Streaming and Responsive Gaming to the Living Room --
BERLIN, Sept. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced at IFA 2016 that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., is introducing two solutions for home entertainment, the QCA9379 combo chip with support for dual-stream Wi-Fi® 802.11ac and Bluetooth® 4.2, and a 4K Ultra HD media box reference platform using the flagship Qualcomm® Snapdragon(TM) 820 processor. Both solutions, designed to support interactive and engaging media experiences in upcoming streaming devices, set-top-boxes and smart TV products, extend the Company's portfolio for home entertainment which also includes the CSR102x Bluetooth® Smart System-on-Chip (SoC) used in wireless remote controls and accessories.
The QCA9379 chip with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth extends the Company's portfolio of connectivity solutions for smart TVs and home entertainment devices. The combo chip features Bluetooth 4.2 with data length extensions to wirelessly connect with remote controls and gaming accessories, overcoming the line-of-sight limitations of traditional infrared remotes and enabling advanced functionality such as voice commands. The QCA9379 is designed to interoperate with Qualcomm Technologies' Bluetooth Smart 4.2 SoC for remote controls and accessories, the CSR102x, delivering an end-to-end ecosystem solution that helps manufacturers rapidly develop easy-to-use, responsive home entertainment and gaming products with long battery life in accessories and optional support for voice.
The chip also features the newest Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard with receive support for Multi-User MIMO, allowing fast and seamless access to bandwidth-intensive online content such as 4K Ultra HD video. A new higher transmit power mode improves performance and wireless range versus prior solutions, facilitating robust connectivity across the home even through walls, floors, or in remote areas. The product's dual-stream capabilities improve Wi-Fi performance in scenarios requiring concurrent connectivity, for example, receiving online video in a media box and simultaneously casting it to an external display or projector.
The QCA9379 includes technology to manage operation of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the same radio band, helping prioritize delay-sensitive transmissions, for example voice commands from a speech-enabled remote, or the push of a fire-button in a gaming pad, even under loaded wireless network conditions. Deep sleep modes with extreme low-power consumption, wake-on-wireless and wake-on-Bluetooth features in the QCA9379 provide superior power efficiency. Also, the integration of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, power amplifier and low-noise amplifier in a single chip allows manufacturers to optimize for cost.
QCA9379 joins Qualcomm Technologies' family of solutions for smart TV and home entertainment connectivity, with well over 100 million units from leading brands shipped using the Company's connectivity chips.
Qualcomm Technologies also introduced a 4K Ultra HD media box reference platform featuring its flagship Snapdragon 820 processor. The reference platform helps manufacturers accelerate development of set-top-boxes and streaming devices in 4K Ultra HD resolution, and it is designed to deliver the compute and graphics power required for console-quality gaming, rich UIs and concurrency of applications enabling the next generation of TV user experiences. The platform's flexible and power-efficient design allows for fan-less, small form factors. It also includes Gigabit Ethernet and dual-stream Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity from Qualcomm Technologies for fast downloads and seamless streaming, as well as Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Smart to support connectivity with remotes, game controllers and other user interface devices with optional support for voice.
"Consumers worldwide are eager to experience more immersive, engaging and interactive media experiences within the home," said Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager, IoT, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. "These product and platform introductions for home entertainment result from our continued commitment and efforts in the Internet of Things, helping manufacturers commercialize products faster and more cost-effectively using our scale and expertise in connectivity and compute."
The QCA9379 is sampling now, with commercial devices expected to be available the fourth quarter of 2016. The 4K Ultra HD media box reference platform from Qualcomm Technogies is available now, with commercial devices expected to be available by the end of 2016.
About Qualcomm Incorporated
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm's licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm's engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Qualcomm Snapdragon and QCA chipsets are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. CSR chipsets are products of Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.
Qualcomm Contacts:
Pete Lancia, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com
John Sinnott, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: ir@qualcomm.com