AT&T purchases 700MHz LTE spectrum from Qualcomm for $1.9 Billion

While we can always use some comfort food for a pick-me-up after a bad day or event, AT&T just goes shopping for LTE frequencies; and who can blame them – after the T-Mobile merger failed they lost a pretty penny. Qualcomm will sell their 700MHz spectrum for $1.9 Billion, and the purchase should be finalized by the end of the year. For the deal to go through, the FCC states that AT&T will not only have to meet FCC enforced interference requirements, but they may have to offer up a percentage of the spectrum for data roaming on other carriers. And currently, that includes Verizon Wireless as that had acquired most of the FCC’s 700 MHz C Block spectrum some time back. These newly acquired airwaves should help to boost up their...

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Qualcomm announces its own Snapdragon game store

As Android’s gaming prowess (or at lest the hardware it requires) becomes more and more evident, Qualcomm has decided they want to highlight the potential of their Snapdragon series of mobile processors. To that end, they’ve announced Snapdragon GamesCommand, a showcase app filled with “console-quality” and casual games exclusively for Snapdragon devices. Like Nvidia’s Tegra Zone, at least some of the games in GamesCommand will not appear anywhere else – those with other hardware are out of luck. The company is also revamping their Snapdragon GamePack, adding three games to the mix: The Ball, Fight Game Heroes and GALAGA Special edition, all expected by early 2012. These high-profile titles join more than 100 games already available...

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Is HP just making up excuses now to keep webOS in the dark?

HP’s gone a little bit up and down over the last few months. Actually, many would say that there has been a lot more downthan up, and I would tend to agree. I am a fan of any company out there that stands behind their products to the end, and shows that they are pushing ahead despite the hardships. I’ll support those companies along with them, even if I know there’s an obvious dead end ahead. It’s one of the reasons I bought a TouchPad in that crazy fire sale that was happening. Even when I was seeing HP’s dismissal of the hardware front, I was holding out hope for the software. And now that HP is supposed to make a decision on webOS itself, I find myself holding my breath here and there, waiting to hear something.While we’ve been reporting...

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Qualcomm’s Skifta app streams video and manages your DLNA devices

Qualcomm-Atheros is making a cloud push in a big way with their new Skifta service and app. Skifta is a system for DLNA-certified devices that allows streaming media by way of your phone from either your phone or your home computer, giving you options that previously required separate apps. Built-in free content from the likes of Picasa, Revision 3 and TED Talks rounds out the package. Basically, Skifta (man, it’s hard to find good non-copyrighted names these days) aims to be a one-stop-shop for all of your media, streaming easily to connected televisions, computers and speaker systems. Video, audio and photos are currently supported. Skifta works on DLNA and UPnP-compatible devices, including Windows 7 computers and the PlayStation...

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Qualcomm teases Snapdragon efficiency, 100% bug powered smartphone [Video]

Yes you read the title right, that says 100% bug powered smartphone and that is exactly what we have. Today Qualcomm has presented us with the “Bug Circus Generator” where they’ve neatly gathered a few speedy Praying Mantis and tossed them on unicycles and a Tarantula on a treadmill and rigged them to generate tiny amounts of electricity. What do you get? A 100% bug powered smartphone thanks to the extremely efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Qualcomm recently unveiled details about their upcoming S4 mobile processors and how extremely powerful, yet efficient they will be compared to current generation mobile processors and SoC’s. The new Qualcomm S4 is built using a much refined and smaller 28 nm processing fabrication that...

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The new gesture technology that could kill the touchscreen

Qualcomm has demoed a new gesture system at its Innovation Qualcomm event in Istanbul. It allows the user to control an interface without even having to touch the phone or tablet’s screen, and could spell the end of the touchscreen as we know it. In move that anyone who has complained about smudges on their phone or tablet would be proud of, the system, which was briefly demoed by CEO Paul Jacobs on stage at the event, uses ultrasound picked up by the device's microphone to work out where your hands are. In the demo, the CEO waved his hand over the phone, flicking through a carousel of images. Qualcomm has said that the new technology should be in phones and tablets by the end of next year. The technology, which Qualcomm claims is the...

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