Qualcomm announces multiple partners working on new XR devices

In Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality News

March 1, 2023 – Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a global provider of semiconductors and a key enabler of the metaverse through its continued investments and research in extended reality (XR) technology, has shared this week from MWC broad operator traction around the enablement and expansion of XR.

Operators including CMCC, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI Corporation, NTT QONOQ, T-Mobile, Telefonica, and Vodafone are working with Qualcomm on new XR devices, experiences, and developer initiatives. According to Qualcomm, these operators are leading a variety of investments that involve XR, and are using the company’s cross-device and open ecosystem Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform as the foundation.

Qualcomm noted that many of these global operators are helping to define Snapdragon Spaces device requirements and compatibility, which will help to provide customers with more options to: wirelessly tether smartphones and glasses, champion these technologies on their networks, and launch regional developer programs that pioneer innovative headworn augmented reality (AR) experiences.

Expanding the current XR hardware offerings, multiple OEMs have recently unveiled new devices powered by Snapdragon technologies and developer platforms. Xiaomi revealed its new Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Platform. OPPO has confirmed a new mixed reality (MR) device that is Snapdragon Spaces Ready alongside its OnePlus 11 5G — which is the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 device to be approved as ‘Snapdragon Spaces Ready’ and will enable developers to bring headworn AR ideas to life, according to the company.

For more information on Qualcomm and its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, please visit the company’s website.

Below are comments from several operators using Qualcomm’s XR ecosystem of devices and solutions:

• Cui Fang, General Manager, technology department at China Mobile Communication Group Device Company: “With a series of Metaverse innovations, China Mobile is fully investing in the Metaverse and XR, implementing our strategy of both excellence in software and in hardware technology. We have a long-standing collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies in XR actively promoting the development of the industry and working together to solve industrial challenges. We look forward to working together in building the developer ecosystem using Snapdragon Spaces to empower the growth of the overall XR industry ecosystem.”

• Sean Seaton, Senior Vice President Group Partnering and Devices at Deutsche Telekom: “Qualcomm Technologies and Deutsche Telekom together with T-Mobile US teamed up two years ago on Snapdragon Spaces. Our tech incubator hubraum in Berlin ran an accelerator program to prove how relevant Snapdragon Spaces is for developers and creators from around the world – the results from the final teams were amazing! Innovative XR use cases require our superior 5G networks to create an even better user experience. We are excited to enter the next phase by leveraging our unique assets in entertainment as well as our enterprise solutions for the benefit of our customers.”

• Katsuhiro Kozuki, General Manager of XR Development Department at KDDI: “As a telecommunications operator, we have very high expectations for the use of XR because it will provide new customer experiences and contribute to our main business, increasing data volume. However, since the service will not scale if the development environment differs for each device, we understand that the Snapdragon Spaces platform, which solves this issue, will encourage practical business use of XR, and we support it.”

• Mikio Iwamura, Ph.D., Executive Vice President at NTT QONOQ, Inc.: “NTT QONOQ was founded in October 2022 to drive XR business development. XR devices will be fundamental to our value proposition, and we are thrilled to be working together with Qualcomm Technologies and Snapdragon Spaces in this new frontier.”

• John Saw, EVP of Advanced and Emerging Technologies at T-Mobile: “XR, paired with 5G, is poised to unleash a massive wave of new innovative applications for consumers and businesses alike. As the lead North America 5G launch partner for Snapdragon Spaces, we are honored to work with Qualcomm Technologies and others to continue fueling the advancement of XR on our industry-leading 5G network.”

• Daniel Hernandez, Vice President, Group Devices Unit & Consumer IoT at Telefonica: “We announced our multiyear XR collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies in September and have already built a strong collaboration around Snapdragon Spaces, whose industry wide adoption is paramount to build an open interoperable ecosystem. We have made significant progress over this period working within our Open Innovation programmes, 42 Academy and our XR Experience Centre. We look forward to collectively accelerating the development of the XR ecosystem over the coming years.

• Ulrich Irnich, CIO/IT-Director at Vodafone Germany: “Snapdragon Spaces has enabled Vodafone to make quick strides to deliver real-world, headworn XR solutions to our customers. Our GigaAR Stage is a prime example, and we will continue to push the boundaries of XR in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies.”

Image / video credit: Qualcomm / YouTube