"Future gadget will be a connected gadget" say Qualcomm

Satnavs, digital cameras, games consoles all targets

30 May 2008 2:14 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The future gadget will be a connected gadget according to chip maker Qualcomm. The company, who power most of the mobile phones on the planet, has said that we can expect a flurry of connected devices in the next couple of years as it moves to offer more and more companies outside of the mobile phone industry its chip technology.

The company’s technology already gives the Amazon Kindle ebook reader the ability to connect to the Internet to download more books on the go without the need to connect it to the PC, but the company’s CEO Paul Jacobs told Pocket-lint that this was just the start of things to come:

"There is a place in the world for other kinds of connected devices beyond the mobile phone. You are going to see small lightweight computing devices, you are going to see smarter smartphones."

"It makes sense to me to have a connected satnav device rather than an unconnected Satnav", Jacobs told Pocket-lint, confirming Qualcomm is working with satnav manufacturers on devices for the future. "Just as the connected PDA killed the unconnected PDA, the same will happen here. You are going to have up to date street maps, you’re going to be able to search."

But its not just the satnav market Qualcomm has its eyes on. Digital cameras, video games consoles, and laptops are all targets too.

"The same things will happen with cameras. The Flip [a cheap digital video camcorder] could offer you the ability to share video without the need for a computer by automatically uploading content over a network by what appears to be by magic, just like the magic experienced downloading a book with the Kindle."