At the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii in late October, Qualcomm unveiled a new way for phones, PCs, tablets, headphones and accessories to automatically connect, simulating Apple’s seamless interactivity outside its ecosystem. All device makers need to do is integrate Qualcomm’s system into all their products.
Making this dream a reality is as simple as integrating software protocols on devices, and thanks to minimal hardware requirements, it can be done on new and old products. Whether device-makers follow through on integrating Snapdragon Seamless – and if they do, whether it works as Qualcomm hopes – remains to be seen.
But it shows the appeal of Apple’s signature interoperability between its first-party devices. From AirPods and Apple Watches instantly connecting to iPhones, to using iMessage across devices, to sharing files from iPhone to MacBook to Mac to iPad, the ease with which Apple’s devices work harmoniously together has kept many people from straying outside the company’s lineup. If that can be achieved with devices from other brands, Qualcomm could build a new era of personal devices.
“The goal for us is across-the-board interoperability to defragment across all of these different platforms, across manufacturers, across different operating systems,” said Kabir Kasargod, senior director of product management in charge of Seamless at Qualcomm.
Watch this: Everything Announced at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit
On the Summit stage, Qualcomm kept the spotlight on PC and mobile chips with on-device AI, but nearly every presentation mentioned how Seamless could benefit it. The company set up a demonstration for attendees to try the product out, and after watching the pitch, I had to look for myself.
In a demo room full of Snapdragon-powered devices, Qualcomm set up a photo booth in the corner to showcase the Seamless workflow. I sat down on a chair in front of an Honor phone set up to photograph me in various poses – as if I was…
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