These new chips, for example, have been designed exclusively for kids’ watches and for the elderly; for smart headsets and fitness trackers, of course, and for other wearable accessories.
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Among the Snapdragon 1100’s features is a Power Save Mode (pretty obvious why that’s useful), and an integrated LTE/3G modem.
Qualcomm’s iZat location tracking technology powers the Wear 1100 by using multi-GNSS (satellite), geofencing, and cell-ID positioning for superior location tracking functionality. While Snapdragon Wear 2100 is flawless for smartwatches, 1100 will be more suited to fitness trackers, notification bands and other low-function devices, for which 2100 will be a little too much. Mr. Kedia explained that IoT is a promising space and the company is excited to experiment in this part of the industry.
The new chipset can be soon witnessed in devices, as Qualcomm has said that the Wear 1100 chipsets has already been made available for manufacturers.
The other smartwatches are typically twice the price of an average fitness wearable (around $200-300), but also seem to represent decent business for the likes of Samsung, LG, and Motorola – but not the runaway successes that many were expecting. The big three consumer protocols (Blutooth, WiFi, cellular) seem destined to control the wearables market, but whether that distinction ever becomes something to write home about remains to be seen. It’s great for OEMs who want to release smaller smartwatches but with faster performance, more powerful battery, secured location, and smarter sensing.
According to the same publication, Qualcomm started its wearable chips division in the summer of 2014.
Wear 1100 follows another wearable focused chipset by Qualcomm called Wear 2100 which was launched a few months back.
The new chipset is compact, measuring only 79 square mm.
The Snapdragon Wear 1100 chip would certainly add in a potential game changer in terms of its power efficiency. In devices that run Android Wear software, Qualcomm has acquired 80 percent market share. “Combining the Aricent ADAPT Wearable Platform with frog’s design and strategy services allows us to accelerate the creation of unique experiences that children and caretakers will enjoy”.
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Qualcomm said both chipsets, the 1100 and 2100, will ship in the second half of the year. Qualcomm, then, is now focusing on the larger chip market for the growing Internet of Things trend.
