charging

If there's one big complaint that I hear from everyone in the mobile industry, it's that our devices simply don't hold a charge long enough. Qualcomm, NVIDIA and plenty of other companies are trying to address that issue by creating processors that consume less juice, but let's face it: we're asking more from our devices than ever, and the battery is going to drain as we use them more frequently.

Qualcomm's looking to address this problem on a different front, by allowing you to charge your devices up to 75% faster with its new Quick Charge 2.0 solution. Quick Charge 1.0 made its debut last year and is built into 70 devices, but it only charges them 40% faster than competitors. Quick Charge 2.0 is part of the company's Snapdragon 800 processor (but it can also be added separately at the component level) and is also part of AC/DC wall chargers.

To put the faster charge in perspective, Qualcomm said that it was able to fully charge a device in 3 hours that normally takes more than 7 hours to juice up.

"We anticipate that devices and wall chargers with Quick Charge 2.0 will be available for purchase by early 2014; all smartphones and tablets with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor will have Quick Charge 2.0. Snapdragon 800 processors are an entire system-on-a-chip and feature a CPU, GPU, DSP, LTE Modem and much more, enabling UltraHD video, high-end 3D gaming, 7.1 surround sound, and up to 55 Megapixel image captures, so being able to quick charge means less time charging and more time doing," Qualcomm said.

Sounds amazing, hopefully we can play with the technology soon.

Show Press Release

Qualcomm® Quick Charge 2.0: Less Time Charging, More Time Doing

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

You can't go mobile if you're stuck plugged into an outlet waiting for your smartphone or tablet to charge. Last year, over 70 devices launched withQualcomm Quick Charge 1.0, an in-device solution that enables smartphones and tablets to charge up to 40% faster. Today we're introducing the next generation.

Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 resides in both the device (offered as a standalone IC solution or as part of the PMIC power management integrated circuit of Snapdragon™ 800 processors) and in the AC/DC wall charger. It's even faster and more flexible than Quick Charge 1.0, and will be inside smartphones and tablets powered by Snapdragon 800 processors.

Products with Quick Charge 2.0 can charge up to 75% faster than products without Quick Charge technology. In our labs we found tablets that normally take over 7 hours to charge were able to reach full charge in less than 3 hours with the Quick Charge 2.0 solution.

Quick Charge 2.0 devices are designed to play nice with Quick Charge 1.0 chargers and vice versa; they're all backward and forward compatible. You can use a Quick Charge 2.0 charger with a Quick Charge 1.0 device, since by default the 2.0 charger safely provides only the voltage/power allowed by the 1.0 device. And while 2.0 devices will ship with 2.0 chargers, 2.0 devices can be charged safely by 1.0 chargers as well, but at '1.0 speed'. To get the fastest, most optimal charge, simply use a 2.0 charger with a 2.0 device. Then and only then will the 2.0 charger safely provide the higher voltage at the request of the 2.0 device.

Quick Charge 2.0 will soon be built into standard micro-USB AC/DC wall chargers, so these  chargers won't look or operate differently and should be widely available. In fact, Qualcomm is already working with leading AC/DC chipset suppliers and their AC/DC power supply partners to fully enable the power supply ecosystem.

You'll soon be able to charge even more types of devices faster. While Quick Charge 1.0 technology, with about 10 watts of power, was designed primarily for smartphones and tablets, Quick Charge 2.0 delivers up to 60 watts, not only improving charge times for smartphones and tablets, but adding support for larger mobile computing devices like slim notebooks.

We anticipate that devices and wall chargers with Quick Charge 2.0 will be available for purchase by early 2014; all smartphones and tablets with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor will have Quick Charge 2.0. Snapdragon 800 processors are an entire system-on-a-chip and feature a CPU, GPU, DSP, LTE Modem and much more, enabling UltraHD video, high-end 3D gaming, 7.1 surround sound, and up to 55 Megapixel image captures, so being able to quick charge means less time charging and more time doing!

The Snapdragon processor is designed to consume very little power, so once your device is quick charged, you won't have to worry about charging for a while. Our website provides all the latest information on our upcomingSnapdragon 800 processors and about Qualcomm Quick Charge. Qualcomm Quick Charge is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.