64-bit Goes Mainstream

　　Qualcomm rolled out the Snapdragon 410 system on chip (SoC) for mid-range 4G LTE-enabled smartphones and tablets. Built on the existing 28 nm silicon fab process, these chips combine "64-bit capable" CPU cores, with integrated LTE World Mode soft-modems, and Adreno 306 graphics. How "mid-range" can you get with these chips? Qualcomm expects smartphones running Snapdragon 410 to sell for as low as $150.

　　Qualcomm stopped woefully short of describing its CPU cores further in its press release, but we're learning from various sources that it chose ARM's Cortex-A53 architecture, and didn't innovate its own. The CPU is quad-core, and is wired to a 64-bit wide LPDDR3 memory interface that's backwards compatible with LPDDR2. Apart from 4G LTE World Mode, the integrated soft-modem supports Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 b/g/n (up to 300 Mbps) Wi-Fi, NFC, FM, GPS, and GLONASS.

　　"We are excited to bring 4G LTE to highly affordable smartphones at a sub $150 ( ~1,000 RMB) price point with the introduction of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor," said Jeff Lorbeck, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Qualcomm Technologies, China. "The Snapdragon 410 chipset will also be the first of many 64-bit capable processors as Qualcomm Technologies helps lead the transition of the mobile ecosystem to 64-bit processing."