New Qualcomm Mobile Processor Supports High-Speed Data, Biometric Security

Qualcomm has announced a new mobile processor that it says offers devices faster computing speeds and stronger security.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with X16 LTE is designed primarily to facilitate faster communications, allowing devices to support the kind of media fed through emerging devices like VR headsets. Accordingly, its X16 LTE modem supports Gigabit Class LTE connections, Bluetooth 5, and 2×2 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi . And according to a statement announcing the processor, its use of the 10nm FinFET process node enables “breakthrough performance and power efficiency,” with the latter being a potentially important quality in the emerging Internet of Things.

On the security front, the processor uses the Qualcomm Haven security platform supporting “biometrics and device attestation.” This platform was also used in Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 smartphone, in which it supported the device’s iris scanning functionality.

While that device ultimately failed due to its widely reported safety issues, it may have sparked a new interest in iris scanning across the mobile industry, and any new devices incorporating the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 should be able to support such a feature and other biometric modalities.