— New Program Provides Manufacturers with Reference Design Products and Increased Access to Testing and Resources —
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) through its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., announced the launch of its Head Mounted Display (HMD) Accelerator Program designed for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of virtual reality hardware. This virtual reality industry-first program is designed to help manufacturers reduce engineering costs, decrease the time it takes to create and ship new products, and provide means for OEMs to validate performance metrics.
"The HMD Accelerator Program is designed to increase scale and lower the barriers for manufacturers to create a cutting-edge HMD effectively and efficiently with pre-validated components while meeting required VR performance criteria," said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and president, QCT. "Qualcomm Technologies has laid the groundwork for consistent, successful and flexible product development so manufacturers can have a commercial product available within just a few months."
The Qualcomm Technologies HMD Accelerator Program is a catalyst for hardware manufacturers focused on creating a virtual reality HMD of their own. Manufacturers will have access to reference design products and choose from a pre-qualified set of components. They have the choice of either building their own HMDs from reference design materials provided, or working with a trained, turnkey original design manufacturer (ODM) like Goertek® or Thundercomm to modify and the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 VR HMD to suit the manufacturer's commercial needs. VR tracking software from technology leaders like Leap Motion and SMI has also been pre-optimized on the Snapdragon 835 VR HMD to accelerate time to development. Furthermore, the program includes pre-defined quality metrics and methods of testing, accessories and more, to help manufacturers develop and deploy mobile VR HMDs that deliver the most immersive user experiences possible with Snapdragon 835.
The HMD Accelerator program follows the initial success of the Snapdragon 820 VR HMD reference design announced last September. Since that time, four ODMs have signed on with commercial designs; an additional five products have launched; and more are expected to launch later this year. As part of the HMD Accelerator Program, Qualcomm Technologies is making available a new HMD reference design, the Snapdragon 835 VR HMD. GoerTek® and Thundercomm are ODMs ready to engage on new OEM designs following the Snapdragon 835 VR HMD, and are working with global manufacturers for commercial designs.
Beginning today, partners and customers can take advantage of Qualcomm Technologies' latest premium system-on-chip, the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform. Next-generation chipsets will also follow the program.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm's technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G – and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
