Global Operators Support Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces
By Abraham Joseph -
27 February 2023, Mobile World Congress, Barcelona – Qalcomm Technologies, Inc., today announced that it is working in partnership with seven leading operators on new extended reality (XR) devices, experiences, and developer initiatives based on its Snapdragon technology.
The seven operators, CMCC, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI Corporation, NTT QONOQ, T-Mobile, Telefonica, and Vodafone, are undertaking a variety of investments in XR, and are using the cross-device and open ecosystem Snapdragon Spaces™ XR developer platform as the foundation.
The operators are helping to define Snapdragon Spaces device requirements and compatibility to give customers more options to wirelessly link smartphones and glasses, champion these technologies on their networks, and launch regional developer programs that pioneer innovative head-worn augmented reality (AR) experiences.
“We have a long-standing collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies in XR actively promoting the development of the industry and working together to solve industrial challenges,” said Cui Fang, general manager, technology department, China Mobile Communication Group Device Company. “We look forward to working together in building the developer ecosystem using Snapdragon Spaces to empower the growth of the overall XR industry ecosystem.”
“Qualcomm Technologies and Deutsche Telekom together with T-Mobile US teamed up two years ago on Snapdragon Spaces,” said Sean Seaton, Senior Vice President Group Partnering and Devices, Deutsche Telekom. “We are excited to enter the next phase by leveraging our unique assets in entertainment as well as our enterprise solutions for the benefit of our customers.
“We have very high expectations for the use of XR because it will provide new customer experiences and contribute to our main business, increasing data volume,” said Mr. Katsuhiro Kozuki, General manager of XR Development Department, KDDI. “However, since the service will not scale if the development environment differs for each device, we understand that the Snapdragon Spaces platform, which solves this issue, will encourage practical business use of XR, and we support it.”
"NTT QONOQ was founded Oct 2022 to drive XR business development. XR devices will be fundamental to our value proposition, and we are thrilled to be working together with Qualcomm Technologies and Snapdragon Spaces in this new frontier," said Mikio Iwamura, Executive Vice President, NTT QONOQ, Inc.
“XR, paired with 5G, is poised to unleash a massive wave of new innovative applications for consumers and businesses,” said John Saw, EVP of Advanced and Emerging Technologies at T-Mobile. “As the lead North America 5G launch partner for Snapdragon Spaces, we are honoured to work with Qualcomm Technologies and others to continue fuelling the advancement of XR on our industry-leading 5G network.”
“We look forward to collectively accelerating the development of the XR ecosystem over the coming years based as a foundation on this strategic programme, leveraging our 5G and Cloud Computing infrastructure, and bringing the best XR hardware and services to our consumer and B2B customers”, said Daniel Hernandez, Vice President, Group Devices Unit & Consumer IoT, Telefonica.
“Snapdragon Spaces has enabled Vodafone to make quick strides to deliver real-world, head-worn XR solutions to our customers,” said Ulrich Irnich, CIO/IT-Director, Vodafone Germany. “Our GigaAR Stage is a prime example, and we will continue to push the boundaries of XR in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies.”
Device Vendor Support
XR hardware offerings are expanding also. Multiple OEMs unveiled new devices powered by Snapdragon technologies and developer platforms. Xiaomi revealed its new Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition powered by the Snapdragon® XR2 Platform.
OPPO confirmed a new mixed reality (MR) device that is Snapdragon Spaces Ready alongside its OnePlus 11 5G, the first Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 device to be approved as Snapdragon Spaces Ready.
Looking Forward to MWC 2023 and to New Pastures
By Abraham Joseph -
26 February 2023 – Mobile World Congress, Barcelona. As the countdown began to the pre-show events for Mobile Congress (MWC) 2023, I caught up with Dr Mike Short, CBE, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government for an interview.
Mike has had a long and fruitful career in electronics and telecom and has topped it with five years in Government as Chief Scientific advisor, a role from which he is about to retire. He was previously Chairman of the GSM Association and Vice President in charge of R&D at Telefonica O2.
As he leaves his role in government he plans to focus on a portfolio of interests centred on electronics and telecoms. In particular, areas he feels have significant room for innovation.
Currently in his portfolio are:
- Working with the Satellite Applications Catapult on efficiency and dual mode cellular satellite services
- Working with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) on future telecoms, and
- Teaching and research at universities including University College London (UCL) and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow
He has more than ample to keep him busy, but time permitting, he is always willing to explore collaboration opportunities in his focus areas.
So what is he most looking forward to at MWC this year - apart from catching up with old friends? The latest innovation in satellite, quantum, private networks, AI and IoT. He sees these areas as being on the ‘innovation frontier’, and among the ones to add the greatest value to digital markets.
Areas like ESG and sustainability y are also of keen interest. He is especially interested in case studies from around the globe that demonstrate successful initiatives.
On the challenges of investing in Post-Brexit Britain, his responses are robust, naturally. The UK is fourth in the global innovation index, has ten of the top universities in Europe, has an unrivalled R&D ecosystem and hosts the City of London.
Top tips for budding entrepreneurs? Learn to network effectively. “You can always improve your understanding of your market through networking.”
The Interview will be published shortly after Mobile World Congress.
