Your Next Android Phone Could Have One Of The IPhones Best Features
Whether you love the iPhone or hate it, there's no doubt that Apple excels at creating ecosystems. Twenty years ago, the iPod spurred the adoption of Macs, and today the company offers a wide variety of products and solutions that work together, from your pocket to your living room and beyond.
Whether it's copying text from your MacBook and pasting it onto your iPhone, unlocking your Mac with Apple Watch, or moving what you're listening to seamlessly between your Apple TV, HomePod, and AirPods, Apple's “ works” almost as if by magic.. their products together.
In recent years, Google and Samsung have tried to do the same in their ecosystems, with Pixel and Galaxy phones joining headsets, tablets and Android TV solutions. Now, Qualcomm offers a better solution that promises to unify all Android devices and accessories so they "work as one."
It's a smooth Snapdragon
At today's Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm announced the next innovation in its Snapdragon chipset technology. It's called "Snapdragon Seamless," a cross-platform solution that will allow all devices running its Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset to share information and provide a seamless experience across devices so they can work as an integrated system.
Unlike Apple, Google and Samsung, the ecosystem will not be one vendor. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset is found in nearly every Android smartphone and tablet on the market, and it's also starting to make its way into traditional Windows PCs. So Qualcomm has a long list of partners to choose from, and has already signed up Microsoft, Android, Xiaomi, Asus, Honor, Lenovo and Oppo for its first collaboration, “ To create experiences with connected devices using Snapdragon Seamless.”
Although the announcement was only made today, it's clear that Qualcomm and its partners have been working on it for some time, as the chipmaker says the first devices powered by Snapdragon Seamless technology could arrive later this year. The solutions go beyond just sharing data between phones, tablets and laptops, they also allow mice and keyboards to work seamlessly across multiple devices.
Best of all, if you're using Microsoft Surface with an Asus smartphone and Lenovo tablet, you don't have to worry; They'll all work together as one happy family of devices, as long as they have Qualcomm's latest silicon, of course.
“Snapdragon Seamless fundamentally breaks down barriers between [manufacturers], devices and operating systems. It's the only multi-device solution that puts users first,” said Dino Beckes, vice president and general manager of wearable and hybrid alarm solutions at Qualcomm.
Surprisingly, Snapdragon Seamless is built into Qualcomm's latest chipset, so don't expect it to appear as an update for older devices. However, it should be available on all new flagship phones, as the company says it's built into the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform, the chip that will no doubt power next year's Samsung Galaxy S24 series, as well as Snapdragon Slices. the . and wearables and hearing aids that use Qualcomm chips, such as the Snapdragon Sound Platform, which is based on the Qualcomm S7 Pro Gen 1 chip.
For now, Qualcomm is focusing on these specific platforms, but plans to expand Snapdragon Seamless to AR devices, automotive and IoT platforms in the future.
What can Snapdragon Seamless do?
From the start, Snapdragon Seamless will include the most common multi-device scenarios, enabling easy device discovery across multiple platforms, file transfer, screen and file sharing, and intelligent audio switching.
In practical terms, this means you'll be able to drag and drop a file from a Qualcomm-powered laptop to your Android smartphone without going through a complicated pairing and discovery process. The two devices should be immediately visible to each other as possible destinations for your files. The same method will be used to start a screen sharing session.
Smart voice switching is something Apple, Google, and Samsung users are probably already familiar with. This allows your AirPods, Pixel Buds, or Galaxy Buds to seamlessly switch between their respective devices, such as when a call comes in on your iPhone while you're listening to music on your MacBook.
However, Snapdragon Seamless goes further thanks to its cross-platform nature. For the first time, you will be able to do this even if all your devices are made by different vendors, including headphones.
Although augmented reality (XR) applications are a bit more advanced, Qualcomm showed off an XR fitness demo that shows how smart glasses can act as a personal trainer and display workout metrics right in front of the wearer's eyes. It was supposed to show the extent of the Snapdragon Seamless platform, which will most likely be used to tie the specs to the exercise device.
Again, the biggest problem with all of this is that these devices have to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset. This is very common on Android smartphones and tablets, but less common on laptops, headsets, and headsets.
Qualcomm is of course hoping that Snapdragon Seamless will encourage more manufacturers to adopt Qualcomm's latest chipsets, but one thing seems clear: While Qualcomm says Snapdragon Seamless is "open to everyone," it's a must-read for anyone making Android, Windows, and Snapdragon devices. Aside from its 5G modem chips, Apple doesn't rely on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, which means iPhone and iPad owners must continue to enjoy life in their own walled garden.
