Qualcomm has announced the launch of the 205 Mobile Platform, an updated offering designed to bring 4G LTE connectivity and 4G services to entry-level feature phones for sale in emerging markets such as India, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The Qualcomm 205 platform comes with the 205 SoC, capable of up to 150 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload speeds on 4G, 3G, and 2G networks, plus a dual-core 1.1 GHz CPU, dual-SIM support and “multiple days” of battery life. It also supports 3-megapixel cameras, a VGA display at 480p and 60 frames per-second as well as HD video streaming.
The company added that the new entry-level platform will enable more reliable and secure access to financial transactions for SMEs, while consumers will be able to use advanced LTE data services such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi). The 205 Mobile Platform is already available and is expected to be included in consumer devices by the second quarter of the year, said Qualcomm.
A Wall Street Journal report added that 4G devices based on the new Qualcomm platform are set to be more expensive than typical feature phones at around USD 50. The phones won’t have the capability or the flexibility of smartphones and aren’t expected to be able to access an app store, but they will likely come with some preloaded apps, said the report.
