Francisco: Qualcomm Inc. announced a new mobile phone chip for forthcoming fifth generation, or 5G, phone networks aimed at speeding the introduction of that technology to overcome a lull in smartphone innovation that’s hurt growth. Samples will be offered to prospective customers in the second-half of next year, Qualcomm chip unit head Cristiano Amon said Tuesday at a company event in Hong Kong. As the current technology, called LTE, has matured, smartphone shipment growth has slowed and chip revenue has stagnated. As an interim step, Qualcomm is offering another new modem, working on the existing LTE networks, that will allow mobile phone users to download data at up to 1 gigabit per second. The new chip will bring that capability to smartphones this year, Qualcomm said.

Source: Mint October 18, 2016 11:37 UTC