Qualcomm has deemed 2019 “the year of 5G,” and its CES press conference on Monday revolved around the advancements the chipmaker has made in pushing this connectivity standard.
“The impact of 5G is going to be significant — not only in 2019, but really moving forward,” said spokesman Pete Lancia. “And what it will do is remove any barriers to invention.”
See: 5G: Riding Wireless’s Next Wave
One of the industries most primed for invention, Qualcomm believes, is automotive: specifically, in developing foundations for smart transportation and in pushing the boundaries of the in-vehicle experience.
Related: Self-Driving Cars Cruise Into CES
For the former, Qualcomm discussed its work on V2X technology — encompassing communications between vehicles, as well as with pedestrians, traffic infrastructure and more — which will help drastically reduce collisions and will augment autonomous cars’ sensors to further enhance their safety. Ford, one of Qualcomm’s multiple automotive partners, announced that it has committed to having cellular V2X in all of its new U.S. vehicles starting in 2022.
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In terms of vehicle experience, Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon Generation 3 Automotive Cockpit. According to Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm’s automotive product management senior VP, the Gen 3 platform is designed to deliver a “comprehensive and scalable set of experiences across audio [and] display cockpit applications integrating safety, as well as advanced AI and location services.”
The company then brought on a stage a concept vehicle equipped with the Gen 3 platform. With a dashboard covered in smart displays utilizing Amazon Alexa voice control, and with AI features such as driver attentiveness monitoring, the demonstration provided a look into the advancements that promise to make our cars safer and more entertaining in the not-so-distant future.
