ASUS today announced the new Zenfone 11 Ultra during a dedicated online launch event. The company unveiled all the details about this mighty device, the latest iteration in the company's Zenfone flagship series, and showcased how it redefines expectations for powerful smartphones. Zenfone 11 Ultra marks an important switch to a larger form factor that provides more of everything, packing a better camera system, a stronger processor, and a bigger battery into a meticulously-designed chassis.

"With Zenfone 11 Ultra, ASUS provides users with premium design, a flagship camera, AI features, and a longer battery life," said ASUS Co-CEO S.Y. Hsu, speaking at the launch event. "In short, Zenfone 11 Ultra is everything a flagship phone in 2024 should be and it will provide the greatest benefit to the end user." Zenfone 11 Ultra is available in a choice of four refreshing colors, all inspired by different landscapes around the world, and ready to fit the user's style. Of course, ASUS also built the new Zenfone with sustainability in mind—incorporating recycled materials such as the 100% recycled aluminium used for its frame and an increased proportion of recyclable packaging.

Qualcomm's Weibo social media account has teased an upcoming new product launch: "the spring dragon raises its head, and everything is reborn! The new Snapdragon flagship is about to be released. Let's welcome the New Year and the new era. On March 18, please stay tuned for the Snapdragon flagship new product launch conference." News outlets believe that a variant of the current top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650-AB) chipset will be introduced next week. Smartphone tech tipster, Digital Chat Station, revealed that a mysterious Qualcomm Snapdragon "SM8635" model was in the pipeline. Early February speculation pointed to a possible "Snapdragon 8s Gen 3" moniker—the added "s" implies that this mobile processor could emerge as a cheaper "sub-flagship" model.

Geekbench 6.2.2 results—posted by a trio of Realme "RMX3851" android smartphones—revealed speculated "8s Gen 3" specifications, including a 3.01 GHz "Big" Core clock, an Adreno 735 integrated GPU, and a 1+3+4 cluster configuration. The pre-release samples could not keep up with finalized Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 hardware in performance gauntlets. A mid-range "Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3" SoC could make an appearance on March 18, but tipsters believe that the event will be dedicated to a single new product. Digital Chat Station reckons that Qualcomm will market the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 "as a Little 8G3."

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. unveiled its latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona. From the new Qualcomm AI Hub, to cutting-edge research breakthroughs and a display of commercial AI-enabled devices, Qualcomm Technologies is empowering developers and revolutionizing user experiences across a wide range of devices powered by Snapdragon and Qualcomm platforms.

"With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for smartphones and Snapdragon X Elite for PCs, we sparked commercialization of on-device AI at scale. Now with the Qualcomm AI Hub, we will empower developers to fully harness the potential of these cutting-edge technologies and create captivating AI-enabled apps," said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, technology planning and edge solutions, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "The Qualcomm AI Hub provides developers with a comprehensive AI model library to quickly and easily integrate pre-optimized AI models into their applications, leading to faster, more reliable and private user experiences."

Qualcomm and its smartphone manufacturer partners are reported to be in a rush to get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset released later this year—Digital Chat Station believes that a pioneering mobile device could enter a mass production phase around September of this year. Prototype devices are allegedly up and running—the tipster's insider sources have alluded to engineering samples being capable of reaching 4.0 GHz clocks on a high-powered Big Core (Nuvia's Oryon or Phoenix). Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC was revealed last October, and working hardware is slowly trickling out via retail avenues in early 2024—Digital Chat Station does not provide any reasoning behind the race to get the successor across the finish line within the same year.

An unnamed smartphone manufacturer is said to have outfitted a "dual-curved screen" model with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset—Wccftech's report suggests that Xiaomi usually gets first dibs on cutting edge Qualcomm processor tech. The Nuvia engineering team has likely got their custom Oryon cores running to more than satisfactory levels—the article points out that: "a previous Geekbench 6 single-core and multi-core leak revealed that the (3 nm) Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 competes with Apple's M3 and is 46 percent faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in multi-threaded workloads." Qualcomm is facing fierce flagship chip competition in 2024—MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 SoC could arrive at a cheaper price point, while offering comparable performance and efficiency.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced that the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy is powering Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s latest flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra globally and Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 in select regions. The Samsung Galaxy S24 series introduces Galaxy AI, taking advantage of the new and enhanced Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, the titan of intelligence and leader in performance and power efficiency.

"We're proud to continue working alongside Samsung to lead this new era for the mobile industry and provide consumers with extraordinary premium experiences," said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handset, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy instills its advanced AI capabilities in the Galaxy S24 series, to enable new experiences with AI features to empower users' everyday life. It also fuels advanced professional-quality camera, gaming experiences and ultra-fast connectivity including Wi-Fi 71, plus offers one of the most reliable authentication solutions available with our Qualcomm 3D Sonic Gen 2 technology."

Samsung Electronics today unveiled the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24, unleashing new mobile experiences with Galaxy AI. Galaxy S series leads the way into a new era that will forever change how mobile devices empower users. AI amplifies nearly every experience on Galaxy S24 series, from enabling barrier-free communication with intelligent text and call translations, to maximizing creative freedom with Galaxy's ProVisual Engine, to setting a new standard for search that will change how Galaxy users discover the world around them.

"The Galaxy S24 series transforms our connection with the world and ignites the next decade of mobile innovation," said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. "Galaxy AI is built on our innovation heritage and deep understanding of how people use their phones. We're excited to see how our users around the world empower their everyday lives with Galaxy AI to open up new possibilities."

Micron Technology, Inc., announced today that it is now shipping production samples of its low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) memory - the industry's only 1β (1-beta) mobile-optimized memory - for use with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.'s latest flagship mobile platform, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Running at the world's fastest speed grade of 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps), Micron LPDDR5X provides the mobile ecosystem with the fast performance needed to unlock generative artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge. Enabled by its innovative, industry-leading 1β process node technology, Micron LPDDR5X also delivers advanced power-saving capabilities for mobile users.

"Generative AI is poised to unleash unprecedented productivity, ease of use, and personalization for smartphone users by delivering the power of large language models to flagship mobile phones," said Mark Montierth, corporate vice president and general manager of Micron's Mobile Business Unit. "Micron's 1β LPDDR5X combined with Qualcomm Technologies' AI-optimized Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform empowers smartphone manufacturers with the next-generation performance and power efficiency essential to enabling revolutionary AI technology at the edge."

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it has started commercialization of the LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo), the world's fastest DRAM for mobile with 9.6 Gbps speed. The company said that it has obtained the validation that the LPDDR5T is compatible with Qualcomm Technologies' new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, marking the industry's first case for such product to be verified by the U.S. company.

SK hynix has proceeded with the compatibility validation of the LPDDR5T, following the completion of the development in January, with support from Qualcomm Technologies. The completion of the process means that it is compatible with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. With the validation process with Qualcomm Technologies, a leader in wireless telecommunication products and services, and other major mobile AP (Application Processor) providers successfully completed, SK hynix expects the range of the LPDDR5T adoption to grow rapidly.

At Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced its latest premium mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3—a true titan of on-device intelligence, premium-tier performance, and power efficiency. As the premium Android smartphone SoC leader, Qualcomm Technologies' latest processor will be adopted for flagship devices by global OEMs and smartphone brands including ASUS, Honor, iQOO, MEIZU, NIO, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, realme, Redmi, RedMagic, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE.

"Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 infuses high-performance AI across the entire system to deliver premium-level performance and extraordinary experiences to consumers. This platform unlocks a new era of generative AI enabling users to generate unique content, help with productivity, and other breakthrough use cases." said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Each year, we set out to design leading features and technologies that will power our latest Snapdragon 8-series mobile platform and the next generation of flagship Android devices. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 delivers."

Samsung's unannounced Exynos 2400 mobile chipset has been linked to the upcoming Galaxy S24 smartphone family, but internet tipsters have speculated that the in-house SoC will be reserved for the baseline model only. The more expensive Plus and Ultra variants could be the main targets for flagship smartphone fetishists - it is possible that Qualcomm's upper echelon Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is set to feature within these premium devices. Samsung's Exynos processors are not considered to be fan favorites, but industry insiders reckon that the latest performance figures indicate that Samsung's up-and-comer has the potential to turn some heads. Exact specifications for the Exynos 2400 are not public knowledge - one of the tipsters suggests that a 10-core layout has been settled on by Samsung, as well as a recent bump up in GPU core count - from 6 to 12. The company's own 4 nm SF4P process is the apparent choice set for production line.

A leaker has posted benchmark scores generated by an unknown device that was running an Exynos 2400 SoC - the Geekbench 5 results indicate an average single-core score of 1530 with a peak of 1711. The multi-core average score is shown to be 6210, and the highest number achieved is 6967. Therefore the Exynos 2400 is 31% percent faster (in multi-core performance) than the refreshed Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 variant currently found in Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones, but the divide between the two in terms of single-core performance is not so great. The 2400 manages to outpace (by 30%) Apple's present generation Bionic A16's average multi-core score, although the latter beats the presumed engineering sample's single-core result by 20%. The Exynos 2400 will face a new lineup of rival mobile processors in 2024 - namely Apple's next generation Bionic A17 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so it is difficult to extrapolate today's leaked figures into a future scenario.

A technology tipster has been dropping multiple tidbits this week about Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset - this follows a leak (from a different source, going back to mid-April) about the next generation Adreno 750 GPU getting tuned up for a battle against Apple's Bionic A17 in terms of graphics benchmarks. The latest leak points to the GPU being clocked at 900 MHz, rather than the rumored higher figure of 1.0 GHz speed (garnered from tests at Qualcomm's labs). The focus has now turned to the next generation flagship Snapdragon's CPU aspect, with information emerging about core clock speeds and multiple cluster configurations.

Revegnus suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SD8G3) chipset will be packing a large primary core in the shape of Arm's Cortex-X4 CPU with a reported maximum clock speed of 3.40 GHz. Leaks from the past have posited that the SD8G3 would feature a fairly standard 1x Large + 5x Big + 2x Small CPU core layout (with clocks predicted to be: large Cortex X4 at 3.2 GHz, big Cortex-A720 at 3.0 GHz, and small Cortex-A520 at 2.0 GHz). An insider source has provided Revegnus with additional information about two different CPU core configurations - 1+5+2 and 2+4+2 - it is theorized that smartphone manufacturers will be offered the latter layout as an exclusive option for special edition flagship phones. The more powerful 2+4+2 variant is said to sacrifice a big core (A720) in favor of a dual Cortex X4 headliner, although the resultant thermal output of twin large cores could prove to be problematic.

Early details of MediaTek's next generation mobile chipset have emerged this week, courtesy of renowned leaker Digital Chat Station via their blog on Weibo. The successor to MediaTek's current flagship Dimensity 9200 mobile chipset will likely be called "Dimensity 9300" - a very imaginative bump up in numbering - with smartphone brand Vivo involved as a collaborator. The tipster thinks that the fabless semiconductor company has contracted with TSMC for fabrication of the Dimensity 9300 chipset - and the foundry's N4P process has been selected by MediaTek, which could provide a bump in generational performance when compared to the older 4 nm and 5 nm standards used for past Dimensity SoC ranges. It should be noted that the current generation Dimensity 9200 chipset is presently manufactured via TSMC's N4P process.

MediaTek is seeking to turnaround its fortunes in the area of flagship mobile chipsets - industry watchdogs have cited a limited uptake of the Taiwanese company's Dimensity 9200 SoC as a motivating factor in the creation of a very powerful successor. Digital Chat Station suggests that the upcoming 9300 model will pack enough of a hardware punch to rival Qualcomm's forthcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC - both chipsets are touted to release within the same time period of late 2023. According to previous speculation, Qualcomm has also contracted with TSMC's factory to pump out the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 via the N4P (4 nm) process.

An online tipster, posting on the Chinese blog site Weibo, has let slip that Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset is touted to pack some hefty graphical capabilities. The suggested Adreno "750" smartphone and tablet GPU is touted to offer a 50% increase over the present generation Adreno 740 - as featured on the recently released and cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The current generation top-of-the-range Snapdragon is no slouch when it comes to graphics benchmarks, where it outperforms Apple's prime contender - the Bionic A16 SoC.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2023, but details of the flagship devices that it will power are non-existent at the time of writing. The tipster suggests that Qualcomm has decided to remain on TSMC's 4 nm process for its next generation mobile chipset - perhaps an all too safe decision when you consider that Apple has upped the stakes with the approach of its Bionic A17 SoC. It has been reported that the Cupertino, California-based company has chosen to fabricate via TSMC's 3 nm process, although the Taiwanese foundry is said to be struggling with its N3 production line. The engineers at Qualcomm's San Diego headquarters are alleged to be experimenting with increased clock speeds running on the next gen Adreno GPU - as high as 1.0 GHz - in order to eke out as much performance as possible, in anticipation of besting the Bionic A17 in graphics benchmarks. The tipster theorizes that Qualcomm will still have a hard time matching Apple in terms of pure CPU throughput, so the consolation prize will lie with a superior GPU getting rigged onto the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.