As expected, today Qualcomm took the wraps off its latest chipset intended for wearables. The Snapdragon Wear 3100 comes to replace the Snapdragon Wear 2100, which was getting pretty old in the tooth already. The good news about the new SoC is that Qualcomm promises some pretty nifty battery life improvements. Apparently you should get 4 to 12 more hours of usage from a watch using this chip, compared to one using its predecessor. The exact amount of extra operating time you'll take advantage of will obviously depend on factors such as display type, battery capacity, and device configurations. A watch with a 450 mAh battery and the Snapdragon Wear 3100 at the helm will last for up to 15 hours with GPS and heart rate monitoring on all the time, thanks to the new Personalized Sports Experiences in Wear OS that this chipset supports. On the other hand, the Traditional Watch Mode in Wear OS will deliver up to a week of stamina if you are okay with basically making your smartwatch dumb. With Enhanced Ambient Mode, Wear OS and the Snapdragon Wear 3100 work together to provide a smooth second hand, up to 16 colors, live complications, and improved brightness. The Snapdragon Wear 3100 has a Qualcomm QCC1110 co-processor, which is optimized for ultra low-power operation and "acts as a powerful companion to the main processor, re-defining audio, display, and sensor experiences for next generation smartwatches". It also integrates "a deep learning engine" for custom workloads such as keyword detection. That's all fine and dandy, but the 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU in the Wear 3100 is still using ancient ARM Cortex-A7 cores just like the one in the Snapdragon Wear 2100. In fact, given the 3100's internal model number, it seems to be based on the Snapdragon 210 SoC for phones. The Wear 3100 can be had with or without LTE data connectivity. If you buy a smartwatch with 4G, supported speeds are up to 1 Gbps for downloads and up to 150 Mbps for uploads. The chipset is in mass production and shipping today. The first customers for it are Fossil Group, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc. Source<doc-sep>Yes, the major public clouds offer a lot. But what you may not know are the limitations, and how open clouds make the difference. Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021. After a series of false starts and missed forecasts, the smartwatch market has finally started to come into its own. Android Wear, Google’s smartwatch operating system, was recently redesigned, relaunched, and rechristened Wear OS. And smartwatches sales have never been better, with shipments hitting a record 10 million globally in Q2 2018. That’s all despite the fact that the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100, one of the most popular choices in chipsets among manufacturers, is more than two years old. It wasn’t particularly cutting edge at launch, and competitors like Apple and Samsung have long since leapfrogged it with their respective architectures. Qualcomm hasn’t been sitting on the sidelines, to be fair — it launched the Snapdragon Wear 2500, a midrange system-on-chip designed for LTE-equipped kids’ watches running a custom version of Android, earlier this year. But on the eve of a press event where Apple’s expected to announce a next-gen Apple Watch, the San Deigo chipmaker jumped back into the ring today with a new high-end chipset: the Snapdragon Wear 3100. It’s based on a brand-new architecture Qualcomm claims is the most efficient it’s ever created, optimized for wearables-specific use cases like step tracking, heart rate monitoring, and always-on connectivity. A new coprocessor Image Credit: Qualcomm “We had two mantras when we were designing this chip: make smartwatches more useful, and make them last longer,” Pankaj Kedia, senior director and business lead of Qualcomm’s Smart Wearable division, told VentureBeat in a phone interview. “That’s how we’re increasing their utility. That was the laser focus.” To that end, the company’s engineers stuffed the Snapdragon Wear 3100 with a four A7 cores and two secondary chips — a digital signal processor (DSP) and an ultra-low power coprocessor (QCC1110) — in what Qualcomm calls a “big-small-tiny” arrangement. The “big” A7 cores handle intensive, complex tasks like switching between apps, while the “small” and “tiny” DSP and coprocessor perform sensor fusion and other background chores. The way Kedia tells it, the coprocessor — a diminutive 5.2mm x 4mm chip that’s the product of more than five years of research — is the inarguable showrunner. It taps a Qualcomm-designed memory module that draws a mere 0.6 volts of power, and it’s altogether 20 times more power-efficient than the A7 cores. “What is different about the [new chipset] fundamentally is that it’s designed for how we use smartwatches,” Kedia said. “It’s very different from how you use your phone. You don’t shut a smartwatch down at night — it’s working for you 24/7, always sensing you and monitoring your sleep patterns. Today’s architectures are not meant for that.” So what’s it do? It’s principally meant for light workloads like listening for the wake phrases that precede voice commands (“OK, Google”), streaming music in the background, and updating digital watch faces. However, it’s designed to be extensible — OEMs can tap the coprocessor for real-time sleep and activity monitoring, for example, or for heart rate tracking. “OEMs want to bring their own algorithms, especially the sports customers. That’s what they bring to the table. The coprocessor takes the brunt of that processing,”, Kedia explained. The coprocessor — along with the DSP and A7 cores — drive three smartwatch operating modes intended to boost battery life. Enhanced ambient mode displays a basic watch face UI in up to 16 colors, with a smoothly animated second hand, live complications, and ambient brightness. Traditional watch mode dispenses with those bells and whistles in favor of a basic analog watch face. Dedicated sports mode — which isn’t available at launch, but will arrive later with sports OEMs, Kedia said — enables core features like heart rate and GPS tracking, but nothing else. Image Credit: Qualcomm All three are made possible by both a “dual display” architecture that allows the A7 cores and coprocessor to render elements on-screen cooperatively, and by a new power management subsystem (PMW3100) that supports “lower power” and “higher integration” than previous generations. “When you talk to smartwatch customers, they tell you they want rich, live, and colorful complications — they want the watch to look like a watch, ” Kedia said. “Watches with the Snapdragon 3100 will continue to function as watches for an extended period of time. We’re targeting the fashionistas and sports people who don’t want to switch to a different form factor because of battery life concerns.” Qualcomm provided a blow-by-blow comparison of the Wear 3100 and Wear 2100’s power consumption: Lowest power mode: 67 percent lower GPS and location batching: 49 percent lower Keyword detection: 43 percent lower Clock update once per minute: 35 percent lower MP3 playback: 34 percent lower Voice queries over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi: 13 percent lower The translates to gains of about four to twelve hours in practice (depending on the form factor), or between a day and a half to two days of battery life. In traditional watch mode, Wear 3100 devices can last up to a week on a charge with 20 percent battery (or up to 30 days with full battery), according to Qualcomm, or 15 hours in dedicated sports mode (with a 450mAh battery). The DSP, A7 cores, and coprocessor aren’t the Snapdragon Wear 3100’s only highlights. There’s a new NFC chip from silicon supplier NXP that supports more readers and smaller antenna designs; a 4G LTE modem with high-performance gallium arsenide power amplifiers; and a new power management system that makes charging more efficient. The first Wear 3100-based devices will ship “this holiday season,” Kedia said, from the Fossil Group, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc. (The Montblanc Summit 2 was announced during an event on Monday.) Interestingly, Qualcomm’s not planning to phase out the Snapdragon Wear 2100 or any of the other SKUs in its wearable portfolio — at least for now. “The number one segment we’ve seen is smartwatches for kids, and the 2500, 1100, and 1200 are great for this. We’ll continue to support them,” Kedia said. Momentum in the market<doc-sep>It’s been two and a half years since Qualcomm last released a major new smartwatch chip, and in the time since, Android smartwatches have languished. But in the coming months, they could finally start seeing some meaningful improvements: Qualcomm is releasing a new processor for watches, called the Snapdragon Wear 3100, that’s meant to extend battery life, enhance always-on displays, and offer more versatility when it comes to sports devices and fitness sensors. The new chip’s key feature is the addition of a secondary low-power processor, which is supposed to handle most of the work when a smartwatch isn’t in use. This co-processor will power a watch’s sensors and ambient display, doing so while using up to 20 times less energy than the main processor would, according to Qualcomm. “The 95 percent of the time when you’re not actually interacting with [your watch], you are in ambient mode or always-sensing mode,” says Pankaj Kedia, Qualcomm’s wearables leader. “So the co-processor, that’s where you are 95 percent of the time ... we are doing less and less things in the main [processor].” The main processor hasn’t changed from last generation For this chip generation, that’s about all that’s changing. Both the Wear 3100 and the Wear 2100, its predecessor, share the same main processor — so there’s no reason to expect major speed gains. The co-processor is the main improvement, and that means almost all of the enhancements enabled by Qualcomm’s new chip come from what the co-processor can do. Grid View Compal reference design for Qualcomm 3100 smartwatches Dieter Bohn / The Verge Compal reference design for Qualcomm 3100 smartwatches Dieter Bohn / The Verge Mont Blanc Summit 2 Wear OS watch Dieter Bohn / The Verge Mont Blanc Summit 2 Wear OS watch Dieter Bohn / The Verge Mont Blanc Summit 2 Wear OS watch Dieter Bohn / The Verge Mont Blanc Summit 2 Wear OS watch Dieter Bohn / The Verge A lot of those improvements are related to battery. Qualcomm estimates more than a day of battery life for a typical Wear OS smartwatch, or around a five-hour boost over current fashion-style models. Companies could also choose to use a smaller battery and slim down their watch. Sports watches are supposed to get a boost, too. The new chip is designed to do a better job with GPS, helping them run nonstop with around 15 hours of usage — though Qualcomm is assuming these watches will have larger batteries in the first place, meaning thicker devices. The co-processor is also supposed to allow for a much richer ambient display. Qualcomm says a watch can now show a smoothly moving second hand as well as live-updating complications, like a step counter, and do all of that in up to 16 colors. Most of that does not sound particularly impressive, but one of Wear OS watches’ few advantages over the Apple Watch has been their ability to show a watch face at all times; adding complications to that will make the feature even more valuable. Smartwatches with a Wear 3100 processor will gain one other handy trick: if their battery gets low, the major functions of the smartwatch can shut off, allowing the battery to last potentially for days longer while powering a simple watch face. Qualcomm says that from 20 percent battery, you’d get a week of additional use in this mode. The downside, though, is that Wear OS shuts down, so you don’t get features like notifications. But it’ll at least continue to tell the time. After two years, Qualcomm announces two days before an Apple Watch redesign The final interesting update is to how the chip handles sensors. In the past, companies had to rely on algorithms built by Qualcomm to read heart rate or other collected data. But now, Qualcomm says hardware companies will be able to write their own code, potentially allowing some companies to get an edge on others. That’s something Qualcomm thinks will be particularly valuable to companies building sports watches. Qualcomm says the first watches with a Wear 3100 chip will ship before the end of the year. Among the first out the door will be models from Fossil, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc — Google, however, will be a no show this year, having said last week it isn’t planning to release the rumored Pixel Watch. That fashion brands will be the first adopters should come as no surprise. Over the past couple years, fashion brands have taken to smartwatches and churned out model after model of watch with differing designs and not much else in the way of improvements. But the bigger question is if any of this will be enough to revive the Wear OS ecosystem. While it launched with a lot of promise, the platform quickly hit a slump and has been slow to see updates — both on the software side from Google, and on the hardware side from Qualcomm and other chip companies. Clearly at the end of this year, the platform is getting another push. Alongside Qualcomm’s new chip, Wear OS watches are also getting improved software from Google that’s supposed to make the platform easier to navigate and just generally more helpful. Now we wait for the new watches None of these are major overhauls, though. And the platform faces a tough future: in two days, Apple will announce a redesigned version of the Apple Watch that appears to be, at least on the hardware front, leaps and bounds ahead of Wear OS watches. And while Apple’s software isn’t necessarily worth marveling at, it has evolved enough to simply and coherently handle the basic functions people want from a smartwatch. Wear OS will need more than just a single push to catch up. Qualcomm says it’s not accurate to say the company did nothing with watches for two years — the Wear 2100, which came before this, was improved over time via software updates, Kedia says. And Wear 3100 will be the same. “The features we announce on day one are just the beginning of the road,” he says.<doc-sep>Qualcomm’s next wearable processor is set to power the upcoming generation of Wear OS smartwatches. In addition to detailing specs, performance, and new features this morning, the chipmaker announced that Fossil Group, Montblanc, and Louis Vuitton will launch the first Snapdragon Wear 3100 devices. Coming two years after the Wear 2100, this new chipset focuses on power efficiency for increased battery life and new features. An “Enhanced Ambient Mode” allows an always-on watch face to have live updating complications, adaptive brightness, up to 16 colors, and a smooth spinning seconds hand. On the “Traditional Watch Mode,” devices can last one week with just a 20% charge, while a full charge allows for 30 day battery when displaying just the time. Meanwhile, in normal usage, the Snapdragon Wear 3100 should result in 4 to 12 hours of improved battery life compared to its predecessor. This is made possible by an ultra-low power co-processor that takes over display and sensor processing from the quad-core A7s. Fossil Group The Fossil Group is comprised of many well-known fashion brands like Michael Kors, Skagen, and of course Fossil. In recent weeks, all three have announced Wear OS devices based on the older chip, but will also be one of the first to launch a Snapdragon Wear 3100 watch. It will be available in time for the holidays. Michael Kors Runaway Fossil Explorist HR Montblanc Known for pens and other luxury items, Montblanc launched a Wear OS device in May 2017. The original started at $890 and is now being followed up by the Montblanc Summit 2. Powered by the Wear 3100, it is designed for both men and women and aimed at “travel, fitness, or exploration.” It is launching this October. Louis Vuitton The fashion brand launched the $2,500 Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon in May 2017, and today noted how it worked with Google and Qualcomm. It is “excited” about leveraging the Snapdragon Wear 3100 in future devices. Qualcomm noted that it was “coming soon.” Tambour Horizon (2017) Tambour Horizon (2017) Tambour Horizon (2017) Qualcomm did not detail when the first watches will be available for purchase, but notes that “the platform is in mass production and shipping today.” Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>
Image : Qualcomm Google recently rolled out a big update to Wear OS with improvements including a new streamlined UI, better health and fitness tracking, and an all-around smarter and more useful Google Assistant. But as nice as that all sounds, software is just one piece of what you need to make a good smartwatch, because without the right silicon powering the device, gadget makers can only do so much. And unlike the Apple Watch, which has gotten a new homegrown S-series processor every year, with Qualcomm responsible for 80 percent of the chips in Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) devices, the best most Wear OS makers could do has been the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 which have been around since February 2016 (and that’s not even considering the even more dated Snapdragon 400 chipset SD Wear 2100 is based on). Image : Qualcomm Thankfully, that could be changing today with the announcement of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform. Instead of shrinking down chips intended for phones and cramming them in wearables like with SD Wear 2100, SD Wear 3100 chips are purpose-built smartwatch SoCs (system-on-a-chip) with four A7 CPUs (instead of just one on the SD Wear 2100) for increased performance, and new DSP, and ultra low-power co-processor for increased energy efficiency. When you translate those efficiency gains into real-world battery life, the effect on new Wear OS devices could be quite significant with Qualcomm claiming Snapdragon Wear 3100 offers 4 to 12 hours of additional active use when compared to Snapdragon Wear 2100, with total battery life increasing by as much as 1.5 to 2.5 days (depending on the size of the battery, of course). Qualcomm is even using that new ultra low-power co-processor to make a new energy-sipping Watch Mode, so that when the device’s battery gets low, you’ll still at least be able to tell the time. Image : Qualcomm And to help support services like Android Pay, Snapdragon Wear 3100 also includes more tightly integrated NFC, while better 4G connectivity should make it easier for watch makers to create standalone devices that don’t need to be constantly tethered to a smartphone. There’s even redesigned integrated sensor hub to help facilitate things like all-day heart rate monitoring and other fitness data gathering. In another interesting twist, Qualcomm says Snapdragon Wear 3100's new co-processor now takes 20 times less power to animate a watch’s second hand, which many digital watch faces previously omitted because they sucked up too much juice. There’s a lot more fashion brands than tech brands in the Wear OS game nowadays, which is both good and bad. Image : Qualcomm Unfortunately, the new chip means many recently announced smartwatches may be outdated before they even go on sale. However, with an updated platform to work with, Snapdragon Wear 3100 may herald the return of more core tech companies to the smartwatch space. This is important because in the last couple years, most new entries into Wear OS smartwatches were made by fashion brands like Fossil and others, which is nice if you were looking for notification and step-tracking support from an otherwise normal(ish)-looking watch. But at the same time, those fashion brands weren’t really doing much to push the category forward in terms of new features and capabilities. But with Snapdragon Wear 3100, hopefully both gadget nerds and the more fashion conscious can find a happy balance. That said, until an actual watch sporting a new SD Wear 3100 gets released, it’s still on smartwatch makers to make that happen. Update: Montblanc has announced that the Summit 2 will be the first smartwatch featuring Snapdragon Wear 3100. It should arrive sometime in October, and if the original Summit is any indication, it’ll probably cost around $900.