It’s pretty clear by now that drones are the next big thing. Facebook is beaming internet connectivity to remote parts of the world with drones; China’s DJI is worth over US$8 billion, and now one of the largest mobile SoC makers is trying to break itself into the business.
Qualcomm, makers of the popular Snapdragon mobile SoC series, have now announced Snapdragon Flight. It’ll be a chip that’ll act as a flight controller for your DIY (or pre-built) drones; the difference being that Snapdragon Flight will be exceptionally powerful for one.
Why I’m saying that is because Snapdragon Flight will be powered by the Snapdragon 801 (2.26GHz variant), which if I’m not wrong will make it the most powerful flight controller around. In fact I’m not even sure if all the power will be needed! Coming back, the board will have a size of 58 x 40mm and will support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology.
What this means is that drone pilots won’t have to spend additional capital on camera boards; Snapdragon Flight will offer support for up to 4K video with 1080p/60fps in the list too.
Snapdragon Flight will be available to most OEMs in the first half of next year; select few already have access.
