2 New Snapdragon CPUs Due Next Year

Qualcomm plans to launch two new Snapdragon processors next year.

The 1.2GHz MSM8260 is expected to be made available at the start of next year, but the 1.5Ghz version of the processor, commonly found in smartphones, won't appear until the end of 2011.

One technology that could benefit is high-definition video, which should see improved performance using the dual-core capabilities of Snapdragon, Qualcomm said.

"We are accelerating video in hardware, with a dedicated video core that can make a crisp, clear picture," Qualcomm product manager Aytac Biber told PC Pro.

"We can offload the burden of these operations from the general purpose CPU so that it can take care of the household tasks."

The processors were announced at the Innovation Qualcomm (IQ) event in London this week, along with an Augmented Reality digital photo frame.

Users can snap photos on their mobile phone and then display it on the frame by simply pointing the handset in the frame's direction and selecting an option with the phone's software.

Qualcomm said the frame shows what is possible with Augmented Reality, but declined to reveal when the photo frame and software for handsets would be available.