After many delays, which Qualcomm didn’t even mention until yesterday, the Snapdragon QSD8672 is officially going to start shipping next quarter and is expected to be in devices starting as early as Christmas, but more realistically Q1 2011, according to Computer World. The QSD8672 is made on a 45 nanometer process and features 2 cores, each can operate at up to 1.5 GHz, and both can be clocked at different frequencies to conserve battery life. Features included in the QSD8672: 1080p video playback and recording, support for a display with a resolution of up to 1440 x 900, support for HSPA+ networks up to 28 megabits per second down and 11 megabits per second up, and improved graphics performance providing up to 80 million triangles per second.
Compared to the first generation Snapdragon, the QSD8250 found in devices such as Google’s Nexus One, this thing is going to be so fast that your face is going to melt off. The QSD8672 is a third generation Snapdragon however, so with all probability you’ll see devices based around the QSD8x50A, a shrunk down 45 nanometer 1.3 GHz version of the first generation Snapdragon, hit the market first. T-Mobile’s yet to be announced HSPA+ phone is most likely based around this second generation chip.
Each year I look forward to Mobile World Congress, but not for the technology. I love Spain, my colleagues, and the people in the mobile industry, but come next February I’m going to be roaming the halls, foaming from the mouth, on the hunt for these … “super phones” for lack of a better term. All this horsepower, combined with the rumored newly revamped Android 3.0, and you’ve got to wonder what Apple can do to top all of this next summer with iPhone 5.
Let’s also not forget MeeGo, even though historically Nokia has stayed far away from Qualcomm chips. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs did say that there would be a Snapdragon based Nokia out by the end of the year, but that was back in February, and he said it would run Symbian of all mobile operating systems.