Qualcomm has announced its first entry into the streaming stick industry with a new Snapdragon-based offering.
The fledgling device won’t retail to consumers, it must be noted, as its only a reference design.
This means third-party manufacturers can make bank on Qualcomm’s designs, as long as it pays due royalties to use the base hardware.
It’s called the Qualcomm 4K Streaming Adapter, the headline feature of which is, well, the 4K streaming.
So what’s inside? Pretty much an entire smartphone, minus a battery and display.
The device runs off a Snapdragon 800 processor, runs Android OS, and can connect to both Wi-Fi and 4G/LTE.
‘Why no Snapdragon 810?’, we hear you ask. Well that’s because the streaming stick was built before the 810 was finished.
Fortunately, Slashgear reports that there’s ‘internal chatter’ regarding an upgrade, which would likely ship with the new 810 chipset.
Related: Google Chromecast vs Roku Streaming Stick
The streaming stick also makes use of LTE Broadcast. This means that mobile operators can beam television over-the-air to their customers, all via a 4G network.
Pricing is reportedly competitive, so we’d imagine devices using the Qualcomm prototype technology would retail somewhere around £25-45. Unfortunately we’ve no idea when it will launch.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
