Lenovo and Qualcomm unveiled what they described as the first 5G computer powered by a Snapdragon processor, although it is not set to hit the market until 2020.
Debuted at Computex in Taiwan under the banner “Project Limitless”, Johnson Jia, SVP of the PC business group at Lenovo said: “With real 5G in a PC, it’s all about satisfying users’ need for speed: faster file transfers and streaming in 4K, 8K and even AR/VR; faster and higher quality video chats on-the-go; even faster screen refreshes for mobile gaming.”
Qualcomm has been touting its concept of always connected PCs for several years now, with a range of vendors having brought products to market supporting the technology. To date, these have used LTE networks for connectivity.
And while much has been made of the potential of 5G to drive connectivity across form factors, so far smartphones and Wi-Fi hotspots have led the way.
Ahead of the launch, Miquel Nunes, senior director of product management at Qualcomm Technologies, told Mobile World Live: “The capacity improvements, the latency improvements, are going to change the way people use PCs. You have a network without any boundaries.”
He expects the new device to appeal to markets including enterprises, attracted by the flexibility such devices can offer.
“Enterprises today are typically confined to a building or campus. This removes those boundaries: you can work from anywhere and have the same access you would on a local network on a remote network,” he continued.
Project Limitless is powered by Qualcomm’s 8cx platform, which the company said is “the world’s first 7nm platform purpose-built for PCs that offer 5G connectivity”.
It uses the US company’s X55 5G modem, and also includes an X24 LTE modem for areas beyond 5G coverage.
Source: mobileworldlive.com
