Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) Unveils Its Snapdragon 820 VR headset

Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) has officially entered the VR industry with its new VR headset which is powered by a Snapdragon 820 chip. The company unveiled the headset as an all-in-one standalone headset.

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Qualcomm made the headset in partnership with Chinese electronics manufacturer called Goertek. The VR headset was developed based on the Snapdragon 820 chip which is the same chip used in smartphones. Qualcomm has given the VR headset the name VR820, The headset is expected to hit the market towards the end of 2016. Qualcomm claims that other companies can adopt it as a product. As far as pricing is concerned, the company told The Verge that it will not set the price, but it also revealed that the range might be a lot like that of high-end tablets.

The company also claims that this is not the first VR headset featuring the Snapdragon 820 chip. The Pico Neo which was also a joint project with Goertek also has a Snapdragon 820 chip and its price tag is about $500. Qualcomm has hyped up the VR820 as a self-contained headset. This means that it has a variety of inbuilt feature such as a resolution of 440 x 1440 for each eye. This is considerably higher than what the rival VR headsets have to offer. A good example is the HTC Vive which has a resolution of1080 x 1200 for each eye.

Though the VR820 shines above the competition as far as resolution is concerned, it has a refresh rate of 70Hz while the HTC Vive has a refresh rate of 90 Hz. Qualcomm has also included two cameras which it claims are for eye tracking as well as head trackers to track the movement of the head. Regular VR headsets have trackers placed externally. Qualcomm’s approach is thus new and unique. The company believes that its VR headset will set the standards as far as performance is concerned. The firm stated that it plans to launch a product based on the design of the VR820 IN 2017.

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