Qualcomm has just released its Mobile Development Platform smartphone and tablet designs, both of which contain the company's next generation chipsets to highlight the power of the 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, it's Adreno 430 GPU, and the Hexagon V56 digital signal processor. This means that qualified developers will be able to get Qualcomm's next-generation chipsets to build apps and test their products today, though it won't be cheap. The reference smartphone design will cost $799 and the powerful tablet will set developers back $999, far in excess of Google's $649 for a Nexus 6 and $399 for a Nexus 9 with today's components.
The Qualcomm reference phone packs in a 6.2-inch QHD display, which is slightly larger than the 6-inch Nexus 6 but packs the same number of pixels, along with 4 GB of RAM for robust multitasking. The device comes with 32 GB of storage, a 3,020 mAh battery with Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 technology, 4-megapixel front-facing selfie camera, and a 13-megapixel rear camera with OIS.
The Mobile Development Platform Smartphone (MDP/S) is an early development platform for developers. This next-generation smartphone provides application developers and device manufacturers with early access to a high-performance platform for development, testing and optimization of Android applications. This development device is based on Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 Ultra HD processor, which includes a 64-bit octo-core CPU, Qualcomm Adreno™ 430 GPU and the newest Qualcomm Hexagon™ DSP, along with the latest available Android OS. It is the first commercially available Android development platform with high-performance DDR4 memory and is much thinner than previous MDP development hardware (9.9mm). Game and multimedia developers will enjoy its 6.2" Quad HD display with an incredible 490 pixels per inch. Advanced multimedia capabilities include hardware-based Ultra HD 4K H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC) video capture and playback. Connectivity includes Qualcomm VIVE™ 2-stream 802.11ac with new multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) for extremely fast data transfer speeds.
On the tablet front, we have a 10.1-inch display with a 3840 X 2160-pixel resolution, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, and a capacious 7,560 mAh battery to power the tablet.
Consumers won't be able to have access to these devices, so even if you have the cash to cough up, you'll have to wait until your favorite Android device-maker releases a flagship with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 810 processor. Developers working for approved companies and developing for Qualcomm Snapdragon should be able to experience the power of these chips for their development work today though.
Source: Intrinsync 1, 2
