Qualcomm, on Thursday, August 21, announced its new chipsets Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 and W5 Gen 2 for wearable platforms. The new chipsets enhance device connectivity, efficiency, location tracking, and form factor.
By leveraging Skylo’s Narrowband Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN), the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 and W5 Gen 2 platforms are the first to offer satellite functionality in the wearable segment. This development helps customers in remote locations without cell service by enabling two-way emergency communications straight from the wearable gadget.
In the event of an emergency, for example, adventurers might send SOS signals using their wearable device without worrying about mobile network connectivity.
The Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 platform comes with a low-power coprocessor which is absent in the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2. The new platform, which is based on a 4nm system-on-chip (SoC) architecture, has improvements which include up to 50 per cent more accurate GPS placement than the previous generation. This has been possible with Location Machine Learning 3.0.
Compared to their previous generation, the optimised RFFE helps to reduce size and power consumption by about 20 per cent, allowing OEMs to produce wearable designs that are more streamlined and have longer battery lives.
Sandeep Waraich of Google said that the next Google Pixel Watch 4 would make use of these chips. The watch will be robust, battery-efficient, and even capable of connecting to satellites for emergency communications – a major improvement in smartwatch safety features.
This new technology allows small wearable gadgets to remain connected even when traditional networks are unavailable, according to Tarun Gupta of Skylo, a Qualcomm partner company. This changes how people and companies use satellite connections, making these devices more useful and secure without quickly draining their batteries.
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The Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 is compatible with the latest version of Wear OS and launching first with Pixel Watch 4 and fine-tuned for multi-device experiences, seamless integration, and advanced features.
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