Qualcomm adds NFC to Snapdragon chipsets

Mobile chipset giant Qualcomm has announced that the next generation of its Snapdragon mobile chipset family will include support for near field communication.

The new generation of Snapdragon devices use a new processor micro-architecture known as Krait which, the company says, offers a 150 percent improvement in overall performance and requires 65 percent less power than currently available ARM-based mobile processors. The new chipsets will be available in single-, dual- and quad-core versions and options will include an Adreno GPU series with up to four 3D cores as well as integrated multi-mode LTE modems.

“The latest family of Snapdragon chipsets will include the single-core MSM8930, the dual-core MSM8960 and the quad-core APQ8064,” says Qualcomm. “All chipsets in the family will integrate a quad-combo of connectivity solutions — WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and FM — and include support for near field communication (NFC), as well as stereoscopic 3D (S3D) video and photo capture and playback. Support for every major operating system, across all tiers of products, comes standard on all Snapdragon chipsets.”

“Just as the original Snapdragon revolutionized smartphones with the first 1GHz processor, these new generations of Snapdragon will revolutionize the next wave of mobile entertainment and computing,” says Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf. “We believe we have an incredible lineup of chips and software, representing a single platform that OEMs can utilize to create new devices ranging from mass market smartphones with integrated LTE, to tablets, to next generation computing and entertainment devices.”

Samples of the MSM8960 are expected to be available in Q2 2011 while samples of the MSM8930 and APQ8064 are anticipated to be available in early 2012.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions