Mobile World Congress is going gaga (not Lady Gaga) over dual-core processors in all their devices, but it seems next year it’s all going to be about quad-core.

Qualcomm, the company that makes most of the chipsets in mobile phones (Windows Phone 7, HTC, BlackBerry amongst others) has announced that it is working on a Quad-core Snapdragon chipset due out in devices in 2012.

The new quad-core APQ8064 is the flagship in the new family of Snapdragon chipsets and is based on the new micro-architecture code named “Krait”.

In English that means you’ll be able to get processor speeds of up to 2.5GHZ.

Why would you want such speeds? Qualcomm says it's to support larger screen sizes and resolutions, more complex operating systems, multi-tasking, multi-channel audio, HD gaming and stereoscopic 3D photo and video capture, and playback - as well as output to 1080P flat panel displays over HDMI.

Those who fear that battery life will be massively affected by the new speed and power boost shouldn’t be according to Qualcomm, who says it’s worked hard to stop that being a problem.

The processor will feature four new, low-power CPU cores, 75 pert cent lower than the first generation Snapdragon processors as found in the HTC Desire from 2010.

Other cool features? It will be able to support cameras with a megapixel count up to 20 megapixels, dual-cameras as found on 3D offerings, and of course WLAN, GPS, BT, FM, NFC (near field communication) and 3D.

The bad news is don’t expect to see any devices until this time next year at the earliest.