CES chip news this year included a number of new products that target devices beyond smartphones, tablets and PCs. Chipmakers foresee a world in which more of the devices we use every day will be connected to mobile networks.
Not content to dominate the smartphone chip market, Qualcomm made it clear this year that it is ready to start connecting other devices to mobile networks. The company launched solutions for the connected car, the smart home and an ultra-HD processor for smart TVs and set-top boxes.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told the audience at his keynote that the company’s goal is to “make everything smart” in a world of “immersive experiences.” To that end, Intel is launching a smartwatch that will not need a connection to another mobile device, earbuds with a heart rate monitor and a headset with a digital voice assistant.
Intel also used CES to promote its decision to avoid the use of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten in its chips. The company says these “conflict minerals” fund violence and exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is urging other chipmakers to also avoid these minerals.
MediaTek used CES to announce new CDMA and LTE modem technologies, complementing its recently introduced octa-core mobile processor. “With our entry into the CDMA 2000 space, we complete our portfolio of modem technologies and we can serve all the U.S. carriers in the United States,” said Mohit Bhushan, vice president of corporate marketing of MediaTek US.
Nvidia followed up on last year’s CES introduction of what it called “the world’s fastest mobile processor” (the Tegra 4) with this year’s launch of a 192-core processor called the K1. The company promoted it as an integration of the best of its CPU and GPU cores, capable of bringing PC-like gaming experiences to mobile devices.
Gaming is also on Broadcom’s mind this year. The California chipmaker followed last year’s launch of 5G Wi-Fi chips for handsets with a new 5G Wi-Fi offering for routers, gateways and set-top boxes. The company says its BCM43569 and BCM43602 chips will free up the device’s CPU for heavy duty tasks like HD video streaming.
