@ Uplinq: Qualcomm entices developers with augmented reality SDK, peer-to-peer support

SAN DIEGO – Qualcomm Inc. has paid $3 billion to developers using its BREW platform, CEO Paul Jacobs told a crowd of about 3,000 during yesterday’s keynote speech at the company’s first Uplinq conference. That $3 billion amounts to an average selling price of nearly $2 per downloadable application, compared to an average selling price of about 29 cents for Apple applications, Qualcomm EVP Andrew Gilbert noted later during a panel discussion.
The chip company, which did not hold a BREW conference last year, changed the name of its annual developers conference to Uplinq in order to highlight the other platforms it supports, including Google Inc.’s Android operating system and Microsoft Corp. Windows Mobile 7, among others, aiming to help developers find the best system solution to use across software and hardware platforms, including its Snapdragon processor. Qualcomm will ship 2 million chipsets during the two-day conference, Jacobs noted.
While smartphone OSes are in the spotlight today, Jacobs maintained that BREW, which runs on feature phones, has a broad reach and is a sustainable solution, noting Twitter, Korea Telecom and AT&T Mobility are supporting BREW mp, which began as a total solution for CDMA carriers like Verizon Wireless. “The mobile phone has become the biggest platform in the history of mankind,” Jacobs said.
As the company urged its developer audience to write for the BREW platform, Jacobs pointed out its global reach, saying that China Telecom was considering adopting QChat, Qualcomm’s push-to-talk technology. Qualcomm also inked a deal for BREW-based applications to be distributed on Sina, a large Chinese web portal. At a time when developers often have a “write for the iPhone first” mentality, a recurring theme at the show is that developers should not be swayed only by the number of apps on a platform, but at their return on investment. Indeed, too many applications, like that found in Apple Inc’s application storefront, can make it difficult for people to find applications.
Going forward, Qualcomm is supporting peer-to-peer software solutions in its chipsets using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies, which will allow different devices to talk to each other. To prove the point, the company demonstrated a multiplayer game between a Nokia device, Google’s Nexus 1 smartphone built by HTC Corp. and a laptop. Qualcomm also is pushing what it calls vision-based augmented reality, saying an augmented reality software development kit would be available to developers in the fall, initially for the Android platform. Mattel Inc., the world’s largest toy company, then demonstrated an updated version of the game “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” using augmented reality technology. A target printed on a piece of paper served as the board game and players used their handsets to jab at the opponent. On the handset, the piece of paper appears as the boxing ring housing the familiar blue and red robots. Qualcomm has partnered with Georgia Tech to start a Qualcomm Augmented Reality Game Studio, Jacobs said. Further, the company announced an augmented reality developer’s challenge that will award $125,000, $50,000 and $25,000 to the top three most creative A.R. applications, Winners will be announced at next year’s Mobile World Congress.
During a second keynote, David Christopher, CMO at AT&T Mobility, touted his company’s decision earlier this year to support the BREW mobile platform. AT&T is allowing developers to determine what they will sell applications for the storefronts AT&T suppports, and the carrier will manage the billing. While AT&T Mobility has not officially opened its BREW mp yet, Christopher said that America Movil, in which AT&T has a minority stake, is launching the BREW mp with quick-messaging devices that mirro AT&T’s offerings. Mexican-based American Movil counts 206 million users across 18 countries.