We’ve been discussing Qualcomm’s upcoming and super hyped wearable silicon since May. It’s supposed to breathe new life into Wear OS, and frankly, the timing couldn’t be better. With the Snapdragon 2100 platform sitting at over two years old, it’s hard to get excited about any of the new smartwatches we see hitting the market.
According to a few teaser images that have hit Twitter today, it looks like the date has been set for this grand unveiling on September 10 in San Francisco.
Here’s a taste of what we expect, taken from our initial writeup in May.
- Qualcomm has built a brand new, from “ground up” chipset to be used in wearables that are coming later this year. This chipset isn’t just a modified other Snapdragon product that has been tweaked for wearables – it’s actually a wearable chip.
- This new chipset will allow for “dedicated chips that make your watch look pretty when you’re not looking at it, that brings the best fitness and watch experience, and extends battery life.”
- There will be a focus on watches both looking good and having smartwatch functionality. We’ve heard about a hybrid LG watch with mechanical hands and a touchscreen, which could be exactly what is being hinted at here.
- Battery life will see a “significant” boost and there will be better health features, like longer heart rate monitoring.
With this new chip, we expect to see a “lead” device to showcase it. We have zero idea if that reported device is to be showcased at this event or later, but if I was a betting man, my money would be LG’s reported Watch Timepiece hybrid or maybe even Google’s long rumored Pixel Watch, but that’s more likely at the October 4 event.
September 10, here we come.