Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit: Day One Live Blog (6:30pm UTC)

Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit

01:19PM EST - This week, in Hawaii, Qualcomm is holding its annual Snapdragon Tech event. This year we're expecting to hear news on the latest Snapdragon 800-series SoC, movements in Qualcomm's 5G and IoT activities, how Qualcomm is pushing into the server space with its Centriq 2400 line of processors, and also the latest news on how Qualcomm and Microsoft are bringing Windows to a new class of Snapdragon-powered, always connected devices set to attack the mid-range laptop, notebook and perhaps tablet markets, with most major OEMs on-board.

01:24PM EST - Ian is on hand covering the presentation, Andrei will be adding commentary

01:25PM EST - The Tech Summit is a 3 day event this year, with deep-dives and round tables on most of Qualcomm's Snapdragon business. VPs and Engineers will be discussing some of Qualcomm's portfolio, as well as some detailed information about what we might hear about today in this keynote

01:26PM EST - Should be starting in a few minutes

01:31PM EST - Opening video

01:31PM EST - Talking about IoT and QC Technology

01:31PM EST - Don McGuire to the stage, VP Product Marketing

01:32PM EST - 'At the heart of our innovation is our Snapdragon Platform'

01:32PM EST - Industry leading connectivity on the path to 5G

01:32PM EST - Over 300 press and analysts from 27 countries in attendance

01:33PM EST - Largest meeting of press and analysts in mobile outside Mobile World Congress

01:33PM EST - Cristiano Amon, EVP QCT to the stage

01:33PM EST - Lots to discuss

01:34PM EST - 'It probably wasn't a hard choice to come to Hawaii for our event'

01:34PM EST - Every smartphone contains a piece of Qualcomm technology, and soon 5G

01:34PM EST - Billions of connected devices

01:35PM EST - #1 Fabless semiconductor company

01:35PM EST - 'Leading system innovation'

01:35PM EST - 'Deliver amazing UX and driving industry transitions'

01:35PM EST - Today is a smartphone revolution

01:36PM EST - redefining computing into a mobile experience

01:36PM EST - Drive the smartphone platform which changes what we do as a society. It doesn't stop here

01:36PM EST - Our goal is to interconnect everything around us

01:36PM EST - Transform the everyday devices around us. This is a goal of 5G

01:37PM EST - 8.6 Billion smartphine shipments forecast between 2017-2021

01:37PM EST - Achieved through innovation in a number of vectors

01:37PM EST - Connectivity, faster connectivity, 5G in a couple of years

01:37PM EST - Processors with AI, and leading multimedia/graphics

01:37PM EST - Creating the digital economy

01:38PM EST - A data point: 30% of the China GDP is digital

01:39PM EST - The smartphone has taken over consumer electronics, productivity, and how we hold personal data

01:39PM EST - 'The smartphone is the custodian of our digital life'

01:40PM EST - 'There is no service that doesn't have a smartphone somewhere in the chain'

01:40PM EST - 'Mobile technology transforms everything around us'

01:41PM EST - We could never be more excited than a company in the mobile ecosystem

01:41PM EST - Mobile technology is transforming IoT, networking, mobile and automotive.

01:42PM EST - This are the main four (notice there's no VR)

01:42PM EST - Outside of mobile, >$3b revenue on this non-standard QC technologies in 2017

01:43PM EST - Mentioning the acquisition of NXP

01:43PM EST - Next transition is 5G

01:44PM EST - '5G makes wireless connectivity as disruptive as electricity'

01:44PM EST - We wont talk about use cases any more, we will assume it is just there

01:44PM EST - Delivering fiber speeds to mobile devices and reducing the cost per bit

01:45PM EST - 5G reduces latency by factor 30 over 4G

01:45PM EST - $12t of 5G goods and services generated by 2035

01:45PM EST - Cloud connectivity anywhere, any time

01:46PM EST - Improving latency will change social experiences, creating responsive social content, making it real time

01:46PM EST - Media and entertainment will become mobile. 5G is all about streaming

01:46PM EST - Netflix accounts for 35% of all US internet traffic

01:47PM EST - The next platform for innovation

01:47PM EST - 5G WILL happen in 2019, according to Qualcomm

01:47PM EST - 40 companies joined QC to accelerate 5G

01:47PM EST - Ready to complete on schedule

01:47PM EST - Targeting 2019 first half

01:47PM EST - Number of trials and pilots already in place

01:48PM EST - Spec compliant tests with China Mobile already happening

01:48PM EST - Product engagements with X50 modem

01:48PM EST - Smartphone form factor already announced with mmWave

01:48PM EST - Mass adoption expected in 2020

01:49PM EST - Enhancing the capability of the LTE network are essential to 5G

01:49PM EST - Foundation will be a gigabit LTE network that carries voice

01:50PM EST - Then sub-6 GHz for multiple gigabits

01:50PM EST - Then mmWave for 10s of Gigabits

01:50PM EST - Also significantly reduces cost

01:50PM EST - Operations on Gigabit LTE are already in place

01:50PM EST - In the process of deploying gigabit

01:51PM EST - A new standard of premium mobile connectivity

01:51PM EST - Allows network operators to differentiate, and transition

01:51PM EST - Now snapdragon

01:51PM EST - 10 year anniversary of Snapdragon

01:52PM EST - This year, SD835 now in almost every premium flagship Android devices

01:53PM EST - First time that the leading mobile SoC took the lead in semiconductor technology over a CPU or GPU

01:53PM EST - The need to advance transistor technology for better smartphone experiences

01:53PM EST - The next logical step to lead in performance and what users care about

01:54PM EST - Always Connected PC is now here

01:54PM EST - Allows users to connect and collaborate at any time

01:54PM EST - Gigabit experiences anywhere on a PC

01:54PM EST - A light, fanless, attractive, portable form factor

01:55PM EST - Beyond a day of useble battery life

01:55PM EST - changes the definition of what you should expect in a PC

01:55PM EST - The Windows 10 everyone knows

01:55PM EST - Allows you to go to work for the day and not take the PC power cord with you

01:56PM EST - No need to carry a tablet either

01:56PM EST - Productivity and entertainment

01:56PM EST - Two behaviours on your smartphone now come to the PC: Instant On and updating email/social media

01:57PM EST - Creating a modern PC experience

01:57PM EST - In the two largest economies, China and US, what features would you like if you could build your own PC? :

01:57PM EST - In the US, 65% want faster connectivity anywhere anytime, 51% wanted battery life

01:57PM EST - In China, 50% want faster connectivity, 61% wanted battery life

01:58PM EST - We are launching with many partners at this event

01:58PM EST - Video time

01:59PM EST - Ready to buy very soon

02:00PM EST - To the stage, EVP of Microsoft Windows and Devices, Terry Myerson

02:00PM EST - Our mission is to empower every person on the planet and more with computing

02:01PM EST - Next wave innovation: always connected PC

02:01PM EST - I've been using an always connected PC for a few months

02:02PM EST - >Listing everything he can do on the PC

02:02PM EST - Optimized version of Office365

02:02PM EST - Screen is instant on, no need to wait

02:03PM EST - Always connected with LTE

02:03PM EST - A week of general use

02:04PM EST - IT is always thinking about devices and culture to improve productivity (and keep costs down)

02:04PM EST - Always connected liberates workflow

02:04PM EST - Snapdragon offers a lot of security features

02:05PM EST - Doing more with less. If every office has network infrastructure, can replace with 5G connected devices everywhere

02:07PM EST - These are modern Windows 10 devices. Windows Hello, Touch and Ink

02:07PM EST - 'The answer seems simple. It's not a question of if, but when'

02:07PM EST - Video time

02:08PM EST - Amon back to the stage

02:09PM EST - The SoC changes PC KPIs

02:10PM EST - New benchmarks for PCs due to Always Connected PCs

02:10PM EST - Can talk about a month of standby time with these new PCs that wasn't possible before

02:10PM EST - Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO, to the stage

02:11PM EST - Now going through some of the devices

02:11PM EST - Oops, upside down photo

02:11PM EST - ASUS has been transforming the PC industries over the last decades

02:12PM EST - 1st Netbook (Eee PC), 1st 2-in-1 (Transformer Pad), 1st Windows Touch (Transformer Book), 1st Ultrabook (Zenbook)

02:12PM EST - More consumers today expect to be mobile, always connected and entertained

02:12PM EST - Growing demand for constant connectivity and true all-day battery life

02:13PM EST - ASUS has a history of designing beautiful devices for PC and Smartphone

02:13PM EST - The first ever gigabit LTE laptop

02:14PM EST - ASUS NovaGo

02:15PM EST - Streaming movies online with ease (with enough data in your packet)

02:15PM EST - 4CA and 4x4 MIMO antenna support

02:15PM EST - One account for multiple devices: eSIM and Nano SIM

02:16PM EST - 8GB DRAM, 256GB of UFS 2.0 storage

02:16PM EST - (at least they're not saying 256GB ROM)

02:17PM EST - 22 hours video playback, 30 days modern standby

02:17PM EST - Comes with a stylus

02:18PM EST - Windows Ink, Windows Hello, Cortana

02:19PM EST - MSRP from $599, 4GB DRAM/64GB

02:19PM EST - $799 for 8GB DRAM, 256GB Storage

02:19PM EST - US, China, Italy, UK, France, Germany, Taiwan

02:21PM EST - Gunther Ottendorfer, COO of Sprint, to the stage

02:21PM EST - Love gadgets

02:21PM EST - 'Sprint has been a pioneer in telecoms for 120 years'

02:22PM EST - First US Carrier for 4G and LTE Plus

02:24PM EST - Excited to work with QC and partners on Always Connected PCs

02:24PM EST - Sprint has been a pioneer in unlimited data (in the US?)

02:24PM EST - Goal is the network of the future - satisfy data hungry customers and spectrum holders

02:25PM EST - Estimated in 2023 that the average smartphone will use 48GB/month

02:25PM EST - Sprint has more spectrum than anyone else in the US, and high-band spectrum which 5G needs

02:26PM EST - First Demo of 5G in the US

02:27PM EST - Investing in millions of small cells

02:27PM EST - Sprint has simple activation and value

02:28PM EST - QC back to the stage

02:29PM EST - Introducing HP

02:29PM EST - Kevin Frost, VP and GM of Consumer Personal Systems HP

02:29PM EST - 'We'll be in Hawaii for any meet you want to have!'

02:30PM EST - HP is about Vision, Mission, and Brand

02:30PM EST - HP Envy x2

02:31PM EST - HP users have a wide range of user experiences: content consumers up to businesses

02:31PM EST - being always connected is an important factor

02:32PM EST - HP Envy x2: Windows 2-in-1 design

02:33PM EST - 6.9mm

02:34PM EST - he keeps moving about, I can't get a clear shot

02:34PM EST - stand still please

02:34PM EST - Always Connected PCs are going to grow the PC Total Addressible Market

02:34PM EST - People are going to use these devices in new ways

02:34PM EST - Good for the PC market

02:35PM EST - Coming Spring 2018

02:36PM EST - Lenovo will have an Always Connected PC lounge at CES. Lenovo media event at CES on the 9th

02:36PM EST - QC back to the stage

02:36PM EST - 'The Always Connected PC revolution is just beginning'

02:37PM EST - A multi-year effort to transform the industry

02:37PM EST - Real-time interaction will change the way we work

02:38PM EST - Always connected to the cloud, sub-ms latency with 10s x gigabits of bandwidth

02:38PM EST - This is just the beginning

02:39PM EST - Significant investment in enterprise deployments today. That will go away with 5G

02:39PM EST - Changing the enterprise approach

02:39PM EST - Kevin Lensing, AMD to the stage

02:40PM EST - Oh wow, didn't expect AMD to be there

02:40PM EST - Talking Ryzen Mobile

02:41PM EST - I guess, Ryzen Mobile with Qualcomm modems?

02:42PM EST - Ryzen, Vega, Ryzen Mobile...

02:43PM EST - AMD technical collaboration with QC with always connected 4G on Snapdragon modems

02:44PM EST - Many AMD notebooks with Qualcomm WLAN solutions today

02:44PM EST - The reference platform on Ryzen Mobile had the 4G LTE modem on it

02:45PM EST - Validated solutions are with OEM partners to bring high-performance computing with always connected mobile PCs

02:45PM EST - Extending 4G to other elements of the mobile ecosystem

02:46PM EST - QC back to the stage

02:46PM EST - Video recapping 10 years of QC

02:47PM EST - Now for premium tier Snapdragon

02:48PM EST - SVP of Qualcomm Semicon to the stage, Alex Katouzian

02:48PM EST - Perfect examples of QC working with their ecosystem partners

02:49PM EST - How QC plans for next gen premium tier solutions

02:49PM EST - Projects start 3 years in advance

02:50PM EST - We go out to everyone: OEMs, App devs, cloud providers, carriers to see what the next project news

02:50PM EST - needs*

02:50PM EST - every 0.1mm of silicon is accounted for

02:50PM EST - When the chip comes back from the fabs, 1000s of hours on testing and tuning, and with partners and customers

02:51PM EST - Six features for the future

02:51PM EST - Content creation, Be in another world (VR), AI, Security, Wireless experience, Power and Battery

02:52PM EST - AI will touch every app on a phone

02:52PM EST - Real-time translation

02:53PM EST - Everyone wants valuable things to be secure: photos, health, passcodes etc

02:54PM EST - Imagine buying a car with just your phone

02:54PM EST - Imagine a bank vault inside the phone

02:54PM EST - Also gigabit LTE

02:54PM EST - "Accessing apps on the web as fast as the memory on your phone"

02:54PM EST - Charging a power user up in minutes

02:55PM EST - Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform announced

02:55PM EST - 'The ultimate in mobile platform capability'

02:55PM EST - The best devices for users

02:55PM EST - Video time

02:56PM EST - More details on Snapdragon 845 tomorrow

02:57PM EST - Samsung to the stage: President of Samsung Foundry, Dr ES Jung

02:57PM EST - 'ES means Engineering Sample'

02:58PM EST - 'Samsung has worked with Qualcomm for 10 years'

02:58PM EST - Happy with what we have achieved together

02:58PM EST - Most amazing chip of the year

02:58PM EST - >What about Exynos ?

02:59PM EST - Best service for QC

03:00PM EST - Help QC be the most innovative company in the world

03:00PM EST - Amon: If that's true, nothing will separate us!

03:01PM EST - Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun to the stage

03:01PM EST - Xiaomi is a young company, but collaborated with Qualcomm for 6 years

03:02PM EST - Xiaomi flagships have always had Qualcomm

03:02PM EST - 238 million Xiaomi smartphones, powered by Qualcomm

03:02PM EST - Xiaomi's next flagship will use Snapdragon 845

03:03PM EST - Xiaomi is top 5 in quarterly smartphone market and smartphone marketshare

03:04PM EST - in Q3, Xiaomi grew 102.6% YoY

03:04PM EST - Xiaomi is number 4 in China, number 1 in India in Q3

03:04PM EST - Top 5 in 12 global smartphone markets

03:05PM EST - Xiaomi has had key innovations, such as Mi MIX

03:06PM EST - Initially, many companies were not on board, but now everyone wants a full-screen mobile phone design

03:06PM EST - Xiaomi has 102 patents for display-related technologies

03:07PM EST - 52% overseas, 48% china

03:07PM EST - 5756 patents total (23723 applied for)

03:07PM EST - Mi MIX 2 this generation, powered by SD835

03:08PM EST - Xiaomi is a highly innovative company

03:09PM EST - Xiaomi is also an e-commerce platform

03:09PM EST - The benefits for Xiaomi is efficiency for product development and deployment

03:10PM EST - Revenue model is about driving the platform, not just the product

03:11PM EST - QC back to the stage

03:12PM EST - 'There's no better place to be'

03:12PM EST - More discussions today about all that was discussed and more. That's a wrap