Qualcomm Tech Summit, Day 3 Live Blog (Starts at 2pm ET)

01:44PM EST - The final keynote this week is on Qualcomm's Always Connected PCs. We're waiting outside to be let in!

01:44PM EST - Event is scheduled to start at 2pm ET, 7pm UTC

01:57PM EST - Now sat down, front and center :)

02:02PM EST - Here we go

02:02PM EST - Alex Katouzian to the stage, SVP and GM Mobile

02:03PM EST - 200k social media watchers, 10x over last year

02:03PM EST - A dig at Intel's advertising at the local airport

02:04PM EST - Video about always connected laptops

02:05PM EST - Sanjay Metha, SVP Compute Products to the stage

02:05PM EST - 'Saved the best for last'

02:05PM EST - Going to announce product and speeds and feeds

02:05PM EST - Qualcomm is a tech enabler

02:06PM EST - ACPC is designed to solve several key pain points

02:06PM EST - battery power, connectivity, carrying a power cord, thermals

02:06PM EST - An industry going from a couple of hours battery life to multiple days

02:07PM EST - Current devices take ages to log in to corporate VPN

02:08PM EST - THe uses cases for the ACPC allows connected freedom

02:08PM EST - Airport, train, wherever

02:08PM EST - No longer need to use a legacy device

02:10PM EST - Current two generations of ACPC in the market, Snapdragon 835 and S850

02:11PM EST - Laptop market is ~200m, smartphone market is ~2B

02:11PM EST - Taking core IP from mobile into laptops

02:12PM EST - Process leadership with ACPC. Snapdragon 835 at 10nm when CPU/GPU on 12/14/16nm

02:13PM EST - (Note that process node # means very little these days comparing across foundries)

02:13PM EST - Commitment to the PC industry and to innovation

02:13PM EST - Announcing a new member to ACPC

02:14PM EST - Snapdragon 8cx

02:14PM EST - Kryo 495, Adreno 680

02:14PM EST - It's a completely separate chip to the 855

02:15PM EST - Lenovo's dual screen design

02:15PM EST - Looks like a surface ?

02:15PM EST - World's first 7nm compute platform

02:15PM EST - (photos are slow again, apologies)

02:16PM EST - To the stage, Miguel Nunes to the stage

02:16PM EST - Most extreme snapdragon ever created

02:16PM EST - extreme perf, extreme battery, extreme connectivity

02:17PM EST - Everything updated

02:17PM EST - higher frame rates, more transistors

02:17PM EST - better video, faster download

02:18PM EST - battery life and thermal efficiency remains key

02:19PM EST - Coexist with S850, create a new perf tier

02:19PM EST - Productivty based OS

02:20PM EST - A real PC that can do productivity

02:20PM EST - Usually have to decide between premium computing or battery life

02:20PM EST - Others have a focus on peak performance

02:20PM EST - Qualcomm is all about the balance

02:21PM EST - Integrated design philosophy in the chip

02:21PM EST - Built technologies purposefully built for compkute

02:21PM EST - Adreno 680

02:21PM EST - Most extreme GPU QC has ever built

02:22PM EST - 2x faster than previous gen

02:22PM EST - 3.5x faster than Snapdragon 835

02:22PM EST - 60% more efficiency than Snapdragon 950

02:23PM EST - Biggest perf/watt leap ever

02:23PM EST - Asphault 9 demo

02:24PM EST - 2x more transistors, 2x memory bandwidth, DX12 support

02:24PM EST - Dual 4K HDR monitors

02:24PM EST - VP9 and H.265 decoder

02:24PM EST - Kryo 495 CPU

02:25PM EST - Large system cache

02:25PM EST - 4+4 core design

02:25PM EST - Total 10MB cache

02:25PM EST - fanless

02:26PM EST - Peak perf vs 15W competitor

02:26PM EST - Peak perf at 7W is 2x Core i5

02:27PM EST - At a fraction of the power

02:27PM EST - memory, 8 channel LPDDR4x

02:27PM EST - NVMe SSD, UFS 3.0

02:27PM EST - (mem is 128-bit)

02:27PM EST - Also modem

02:27PM EST - X24 LTE, Up to 2 Gbps

02:28PM EST - 4x4 MIMO

02:28PM EST - 20 Streams, 7xCA

02:29PM EST - No longer counting battery life in hours, but in days

02:29PM EST - Working in real world use cases

02:29PM EST - Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+

02:29PM EST - Also Aqstic HD

02:29PM EST - aptX HD

02:29PM EST - Alexa and Cortana support

02:30PM EST - USB 3.1 Gen 2, 4x PCIe 3.0

02:30PM EST - Dual 4K monitors

02:31PM EST - Now apps

02:32PM EST - 64-bit SDK

02:32PM EST - LLVM now supports Windows on Snapdragon

02:32PM EST - Native browser support

02:32PM EST - Invluding Chromium

02:33PM EST - Announcing Firefox ARM64 native is being worked towards

02:33PM EST - Open individual tabs on separate CPUs

02:34PM EST - 8cx platform will support Windows 10 Enterprise

02:34PM EST - Erin Chapple from Microsoft to the stage

02:35PM EST - Working with partners on a new class of devices on the 8cx

02:35PM EST - provide business and consumers with a portfolio of devices that span multiple price points

02:35PM EST - All price points will take advantage of Win10 Enterprise

02:36PM EST - The msot secure version of Windows

02:36PM EST - Today's enterprise is challenged how to enable users and engage customers

02:37PM EST - Best way to experience Win 10 Enterprise is with a connected PC

02:37PM EST - >shots fired

02:37PM EST - Creativity can strike anywhere

02:40PM EST - >Banter between MS and QC. Pretty dull

02:41PM EST - Support between Windows, Azure, Office 365

02:42PM EST - Win10 Enterprise allows the pitch into the commercial markets, a main target for ACPC

02:42PM EST - Symantec to the stage

02:43PM EST - Mark Gentile, Chief Architect.

02:43PM EST - Now using an ACPC as his daily device

02:43PM EST - Favorite feature is resume time

02:47PM EST - Endpoint Cloud Connect Defense: Network Integrity, Smart VPN, UEM integration

02:50PM EST - >this is just banter again

02:52PM EST - Enterprise Apps

02:52PM EST - very important

02:52PM EST - VMWare Workspace One for Snapdragon

02:53PM EST - Multi-generational improvements in performance

02:53PM EST - Channel is growing

02:54PM EST - SCP and CIO, Mary Grendon to the stage

02:54PM EST - Creating and deploying solutions to make the workforce productive and secure

02:54PM EST - ACPC is creating new opportinities for enterprise

02:55PM EST - 'The Mobile Workforce' is a little old

02:55PM EST - People would be shocked to see how many power cords QC buys

02:57PM EST - 'At Qualcomm, we don't eat dog food. We drink our own champagne'

02:57PM EST - Ensuring ease of introduction into the enterprise

02:59PM EST - 'We're ready for 5G'

02:59PM EST - Trialling the latest ACPC internally before it comes to market

03:00PM EST - Matt Bereda, VP of Global Consumer Marketing Lenovo to the stage

03:01PM EST - At Lenovo, everything starts with the customer

03:01PM EST - How does the device work into their life

03:01PM EST - Drive innovation to deliver the best UX

03:01PM EST - Expanding on potential

03:01PM EST - Partnerships help solve complex problems

03:01PM EST - Lenovo #1 PC manufacturer in the world

03:02PM EST - Meet the needs quicker than on their own

03:02PM EST - Already working with Qualcomm on 5G with the moto mod

03:03PM EST - Yoga C630 Windows on Snapdragon has won multiple awards

03:03PM EST - Multi-day battery life on a single charge

03:04PM EST - The future is about the intelligent transformation of PCs

03:04PM EST - Five components about the next generation of PCs

03:04PM EST - 1) Natural language processing and voice assistants

03:05PM EST - 2) Always Connected Mobility with LTE

03:06PM EST - 3) AI Optimization

03:06PM EST - CV and machine learning in the device

03:06PM EST - learning how people use the device

03:07PM EST - 4) Advanced Security and Privacy

03:07PM EST - 5) Seamless Cloud Connection

03:07PM EST - no longer defined by geography or timezone

03:08PM EST - Collaboration with team members around the world in real time

03:09PM EST - The future is intelligent transformation

03:11PM EST - Now about driving channels to drive scale

03:11PM EST - New use cases

03:12PM EST - Multiple tiers of product solutions

03:12PM EST - Leading computing to 5G

03:12PM EST - 5G ACPCs due out in 2019

03:12PM EST - In 2019

03:14PM EST - Don McGuire to the stage

03:14PM EST - recapping ACPC launch

03:14PM EST - 331 press here

03:16PM EST - Moderated Q&A Panel Time

03:19PM EST - I'll post the Q&A as complete

03:27PM EST - Q) Some users don't think about battery and power as a pain, and connection isn't much an issue, but users say power/connectivity is the most requested when asked what smartphone features workers want on their PCs. What will Windows 10 Enterprise enable? A) Today's workforce is mobile. People need thin and light devices just to carry around because that's what your smartphone is like. We need strong OEM partnerships and software partnerships. We're ever evolving and enabling the modern workforce. No-one carries the power cord with their smartphone everywhere any more. The future is devices with data.

03:27PM EST - Q) When talking connected, everyone talks about data. What will the new generation of computing with 5G bring? How much will be doing with a PC that is always connected? A) We think 5G is going to change the way people use their devices in enterprise or consumer. Economics of data have always been about capacity. With 5G and those technologies, operators and service providers will have plenty of capacity. It will create new business models. The concern about congestion and capacity will disappear. We expect this will be the future.

03:28PM EST - Q) If you have a millenial in your organisation, they live and breath in the cloud and have multiple devices. What do you think about the next gen of computing (to Microsoft)? A: When we started this journey, we had a philosophy - battery life, performance, connectivity. This is what customers have always wanted. But like the smartphone it doesn't happen overnight. As we've launched the first waves of devices, we're getting telemetry back from customers about how these devices are being used. We're seeing that customers are recharging after a full day and still have 60% battery life left! We're seeing how users have old habits and are changing and adapting in their day to day use cases. The value is playing out, and that is starting to transcend into the enterprise. We have done a set of pilots with our customers. We are seeing the value in two pieces: the workforce changing the boundaries of creativity if they don't have to worry about portability or performance or security (it changes the way they think about how to use the PC), and then on the IT side, the simplification on the security side allowed for seamless provisioning which is a key factor for enterprise. It is super important. From an end-user point of view and a management POV we are getting feedback. Consumers have to go buy a device, but in enterprise you are given one and it is interesting how quickly habits change in that environment.

03:28PM EST - Q) People ask about not having full windows on ACPC? A) We have Windows ! It's jsut windows. Windows Home, and Windows Enterprise.

03:29PM EST - Q) Wouldn't it be nice if surface picked up the ACPC? A) We have a Surface Pro with LTE, and we'll continue to evaluate how we provide the best choice and selection to customers.

03:33PM EST - Q) From a Symantic perspective, what are you hearing from your customers? A) When we provide protection to our customers, we don't cherry pick. MS is delivering a full windows experience, and this will be a major hit in the enterprise. It is very clear that enterprise will adopt Windows on Snapdragon. We intend to support all endpoints in an enterprise organization. We believe that Snapdragon and Windows PCs to be a part of that spectrum.

03:35PM EST - Q) From an ecosystem perspective, we see a lot of partner momentum. You said 850 is still here, so you're making a portfolio. What are you expecting from OEM partners and momentum from design? A) If you follow the PC industry for a while, OEMs need to build a portfolio. Having a price range from entry to premium we think is very important. You'll see a lot of new devices on both the 850 and the 8cx. Having the breadth of portfolio we think is very important. This is why we have two chips that will coexist.

03:41PM EST - Q) With not all geographies being equal, how do you apporach that? A) I think about penetration rates in various countries and how our hardware can assist. Penetration on mobile devices usually depend on LTE coverage. Penetration can drive with better LTE coverage. If you look at big cities, these have emerged, but we might only have single digit penetration. By having the right product at the right price point, there is a lot of potential. It's time to fan out and scale out and drive the ecosystem.

03:49PM EST - Q) How do you think Intel will respond to you on this? A) QC is here to solve pain point issues in the industry. Connecticity, always on, battery life - these issues exist and we're here to solve them. We service a multi-billion user market as our start point - we're bringing that technology to the PC side. We're well positioned. We look forward the future.

03:50PM EST - That's a wrap.