Dec 1, Reuters -- Qualcomm Inc has released a new chip designed for gaming-specific handheld devices with 5 G connectivity, a potential new mobile platform for video gamers that allows them to play streaming games on the go.
The San Diego-based firm has partnered with gaming hardware company Razer Inc to create an initial test device for game makers.
Qualcomm is the world's biggest supplier of chips for smartphones, which have become a key platform for video games, which in turn are one of the biggest revenue generators in mobile app stores.
Qualcomm expects to have a touch screen similar to a smartphone, but also physical controls like a gaming console controller and a longer battery life while playing graphics-intensive games with its G 3 x Gen 1 chip announced on Wednesday.
The most popular similar device on the market is the Nintendo Co Ltd Switch, but it doesn't have cellular data connectivity, instead relying on a WiFi connection.
Qualcomm powered devices would have 5G connectivity to stream games directly from cloud gaming providers like Microsoft Corp when WiFi isn't available. The devices would also have bigger batteries to take advantage of Qualcomm's graphics processing capabilities, which are often not fully exploited on phones because it would hurt battery life.
The phone is going to fit in your pocket, which is the big thing about it. Micah Knapp, senior product management at Qualcomm, told Reuters that there are a lot of compromises that go into a phone for the use cases that are not gaming. Qualcomm is partnering with Razer, a maker of gaming PCs and laptops, to create an initial developer kit that game makers can use to start writing software. Qualcomm did not give a time frame for when commercial devices for consumers might appear.