Qualcomm is developing its own Chrome Cast

Qualcomm has designed a prototype similar to HDMI dongle Chrome Cast. The difference is that inside are a Snapdragon 800 and all the connectivity of a smartphone. A little toy that no longer waits for a manufacturer is interested.

This week, Qualcomm has invited a handful of international journalists to discuss the latest developments in progress and return to the thorny case of Snapdragon 810, the octo-core 64-bit media that meets some problems. Of all the information provided by the California founder, one of them has titillated the curiosity of guests on what appears to be a design reference for a Chrome cast competitor of Google. His name: 4K Streaming Adapter.

HDMI dongle that has everything a Nexus 5

Outside, the dongle is like many others. It connects to an HDMI port to an HD TV (1080p or 4K) and has a microUSB port for power. LED seems to have been installed to provide some additional information (power, connection, receiving data, etc.). So far, nothing really revolutionary, especially with respect to the Chrome Cast. We must open the beast to be surprised.

Because inside, Qualcomm has included a platform for high-end smartphone, included connectivity. Streaming Adapter has indeed Snapdragon 800 chipset (in the words of Qualcomm made to Slashgear, Snapdragon 810 was not ready when dongle design). The old quad-core flagship refiner supports 4K video playback. But he cannot do that: it also has full connectivity: Bluetooth, WiFi and LTE Broadcast, a version of LTE that uses the 5 GHz band to receive a video stream sent by a compatible transmitter as … a set-top box for example.

Infinite potential, if given the choice

The article does not go into the details of the data sheet, including the built-in RAM or any storage capacity. However, he indicated that the dongle has a full version of Android, unlike Chrome cast. Understand that it is capable of displaying the full interface of the OS on a large TV. And as that does more can do less, it would also be able to replace a ChromeCast whose use is, by comparison, quite restrictive.

The question is whether the dongle is able to manage the accessories to navigate the Android system. Since it depends essentially on the uses and possibilities of the object, even if a Nexus Player should be more convenient to use in the absolute. In addition, it will reflect the ambitions and will partner manufacturers. For as all reference designs, this accessory is intended to be covered by a manufacturer to be manufactured, branded and marketed. Qualcomm admits that the first contacts are encouraging, but none have signed agreements.

Qualcomm is developing its own Chrome Cast