One of the most important companies driving the next generation of wireless communications is Qualcomm. Its chips and wireless modems are in just about every phone on the market, and have made it possible for much of the world to go online via wireless technology. So when I got an invite to its recent developer conference in San Francisco, I decided to go and see what else it was doing in wireless technology that might advance the world of communication.
Qualcomm announced that it has agreed to acquire chip maker CSR for $2.5 billion in cash as part of its continuing strategy to dominate the electronics in mobile devices.
San Diego, Calif.-based Qualcomm will add a wide variety of chip product to its growing portfolio in the internet of things, automotive electronics, and mobile communications.
CSR, based in Cambridge, England, has chip business in categories like Bluetooth chips and navigation. It has also branched into automotive infortainment and the “internet of everything,” also known as the internet of things, where it puts smart computing and connectivity into everyday devices.
A pug-size robot named pioneer slowly rolls up to the Captain America action figure on the carpet. They’re facing off inside a rough model of a child’s bedroom that the wireless-chip maker Qualcomm has set up in a trailer. The robot pauses, almost as if it is evaluating the situation, and then corrals the figure with a snowplow-like implement mounted in front, turns around, and pushes it toward three squat pillars representing toy bins. Qualcomm senior engineer Ilwoo Chang sweeps both arms toward the pillar where the toy should be deposited. Pioneer spots that gesture with its camera and dutifully complies. Then it rolls back and spies another action figure, Spider-Man.
