Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1100 takes aim at kid's watches and fitness trackers

Qualcomm is no stranger to the wearables game, with the Snapdragon 400 becoming particularly popular among Android Wear watch makers. Running with that momentum, in February Qulacomm announced its first processor built specifically with smartwatches in mind, the Snapdragon Wear 2100. Now at Computex 2016 Qualcomm has announced a new chip in its Snapdragon Wear family.

While the Snapdragon Wear 2100 was aimed primarily at smartwatches and other more advanced wearables, the Snapdragon Wear 1100 targets a simpler class of devices including fitness trackers, kid’s smartwatches (and trackers), elderly location and assistance devices, and even smart headsets.

As you’d expect from a chip aimed at fitness trackers and other more ‘basic’ wearables, the Wear 1100 is designed with power efficiency in mind, and is also quite small in size. Despite this, the chip still is capable of plenty of features including support for LTE and 3G, Bluetooth, voice commands, and support for the iZat location engine.

While the smartwatch market has arguably slowed down a little in recent times, other types of wearables like fitness trackers continue to see pretty decent growth, so it’s no surprise Qualcomm releasing a chip optimized for these kinds of devices.

Be sure to stay tuned for more news and coverage from Computex 2016, where Lanh and Nirave are on the ground checking out all the latest announcements.

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Qualcomm Extends Industry-Leading Snapdragon Wear Lineup with New Processor, Platforms and Support for Targeted-Purpose Wearables

Snapdragon Wear 1100 SoC Ideal for Connected Kid and Elderly Watches; New Reference Platforms Support Fast Development Time; New OEM Products Bring Innovative Experiences to Consumers

Taipei, taiwan — May 31, 2016 — Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced at COMPUTEX 2016 that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., is introducing the new Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Wear 1100 processor for the fast growing targeted-purpose wearables segments such as connected kid and elderly watches, fitness trackers, smart headsets, and wearable accessories. The Snapdragon Wear 1100 processor complements the Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, which is designed for multi-purpose wearables, and joins the Snapdragon Wear product family.

Snapdragon Wear 1100: Designed for Targeted-purpose Wearable Devices

Snapdragon Wear 1100 is designed for the next generation of targeted-purpose wearable segments where consumers are demanding a smaller size, longer battery life, smarter sensing, secure location, and an always connected experience. This processor excels in meeting these requirements with low power features such as Power Save Mode (PSM), industry leading compact packages, and next gen Cat 1 modem with LTE/3G global band support.

The Snapdragon Wear 1100 also features an integrated applications processor for Linux-based applications and scales to support voice, Wi-Fi®, and Bluetooth®, thus supporting a seamlessly connected experience. Additionally, the Snapdragon Wear 1100 incorporates the Qualcomm® iZat™ integrated location engine to offer enhanced accuracy and power optimization through such features as multi-GNSS, cell-ID positioning, and ability to support applications that utilize geo-fencing for safety monitoring. Integrated in the chipset are the hardware cryptographic engine, HW random number generator, and TrustZone, which supports a highly secure environment for consumers. Snapdragon Wear 1100 is commercially available and shipping today.

“We are excited to have established a technology leadership position in the highly innovative wearables ecosystem, where the breadth of products and our connectivity, location and compute solutions bring differentiation to our customers,” said Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager, IoT, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd. “We are delighted to add Snapdragon Wear 1100 to our Snapdragon Wear family, thus making it easier for customers to develop connected wearables with targeted use cases such as kid and elderly tracking. We are actively working with the broader ecosystem to accelerate wearables innovation and are excited to announce a series of customer collaborations today.”

New Reference Platforms Support Fast Development Time

Qualcomm Technologies announced a series of collaborations with Aricent, Borqs, Infomark, and SurfaceInk who showcased reference platforms based on Snapdragon Wear 2100 and Snapdragon Wear 1100. These platforms represent reference implementations targeting the kid and elderly watch segment and enable OEMs to commercialize in an accelerated fashion.

“Aricent is thrilled to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies and take the Snapdragon 1100 SoC into the consumer wearables segment from gameplay, wellness and safety,” said Walid Negm, chief technology officer, Aricent. “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. By wrapping the Snapdragon Wear 1100 with a rich set of modular capabilities such as 3G/LTE, gesture control and interactive apps we enable companies to seize opportunities at the best price and performance.”

“Borqs has strategically invested in IoT for smart connected wearables with tailored solutions for kids, elderly, enterprise and youth,” said George Thangadurai, senior vice president of international business, Borqs. “We are pleased that our close collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies as a Snapdragon Wear platform ecosystem provider has resulted in ready to commercialize innovative reference designs exploiting the leadership features of Qualcomm Technologies’ SoCs. Borqs is delighted that we could accelerate the launch of different wearables from our global OEM partners.”

“Since SK Telecom’s launch of Infomark’s first generation JooN Kid’s Watch in 2014, we have created a trend in Korea for parents to equip their kids with the JooN watch,” said Dr. Choi, chief executive officer, Infomark. “The JooN series of watches provides parents a means for locating and connecting with their child while minimizing the distraction and addiction from smartphones. With the adoption of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 in our design, we will launch our third generation JooN watch for SK Telecom in second half of 2016, and further expand our market to North and South America, Europe and other continents.”

“We are excited to team up with Qualcomm Technologies as a Snapdragon Wear platform ecosystem provider, delivering reference designs that will give our customers a head start on their product development,” said Eric Bauswell, founder and chief executive officer, SurfaceInk. “Our work together on WeBandz is just the tip of the iceberg, and we look forward to future products and innovation that will result from this collaboration.”

OEM Products Bring Innovative Experiences to Consumers

In addition to the platform announcements, a number of OEMs launched connected kid watches at the event:

Anda Technologies announced plans to launch its kid watch, based on the Borqs reference design, for the Latin America region. “As a father of two young children, I conceived the original idea of creating a symbol-based communications product out of my own need to stay emotionally connected to them throughout the day,” said Jose Delmar, chief executive officer, Anda Technologies. “Our Android-based connected wearable, based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, offers a plethora of unique functions, innovative design, and top of the line materials, making it unlike any other children’s wearable product available in the marketplace.”

inWatch announced two kid watch SKUs, one for boys and another for girls, based on the Borqs reference design, specifically for the China region. “The always-on low power consumption and small size of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 greatly increase the reliability and enhanced the design of in919,” said Neo Wang, chief executive officer, inWatch. “Children’s watches have two fundamental but important functions: good communication and secure location, and Qualcomm Technologies’ ecosystem support for the Snapdragon Wear 2100 significantly enhances these two core performances of in919.”

WeBandz showed off its smart tracking modular device, based on the SurfaceInk design, which can be customized for the kid, elderly, and pet segments in the U.S. “It’s clear to see where the wearables market is headed,” said Ryan Shapiro, founder, WeBandz. “We are fortunate not only to have our hands on the best technology available for wearable tracking, but especially to be working with a great group of people within Qualcomm Technologies who share our vision for the future of wearables.”

Qualcomm-based Wearable Products Hit a Milestone

Reinforcing Qualcomm Technologies’ product and technology leadership, the company recently announced that more than 100 wearables products are now available with processors from Qualcomm Technologies. Leading product families such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100, CSR102x Bluetooth® Smart 4.2 SoC and Qualcomm® SiRFStar™ location are now incorporated in a variety of innovative products across the range of smart eyewear, smart watches, smart bands, smart headsets, and smart accessories. With the launch of the Snapdragon Wear 1100, customers will now be able to bring additional connected use cases in such targeted devices as kid and elderly watches.

About Qualcomm Incorporated

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
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