Lenovo is working on a new ‘Always Connected’ PC which is based on Qualcomm’s ARM-based Snapdragon processor. This will be Lenovo’s second always-connected Windows 10 PC, after the Miix 630 which was announced at the CES 2018 in Las Vegas. “We have plans to launch an always-connected PC in India, but we are not ready today. This will be a new product and not the same device you heard of a couple of months back,” Rahul Agarwal, CEO & Managing Director, Lenovo India, told indianexpress.com on the sidelines of the launch of the IdeaPad 530S and 330S ultrabooks in the country. However, Agarwal chose not to reveal the processor that will power this next-generation product. But it seems this Windows 10 PC will most probably have the Snapdragon 850 processor inside, although the company has not confirmed it directly. It’s also unclear when Lenovo plans to ship the device to the market. Also read: Lenovo IdeaPad 530S, 330S ultrabooks launched in India; prices start at Rs 35,990 Earlier this month, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 850 mobile compute platform, designed for always connected PCs. The chipset is essentially an incremental upgrade over the Snapdragon 845 processor which currently powers high-end Android smartphones, such as the Galaxy S9 and OnePlus 6. In fact, both the Snapdragon 845 and 850 are almost identical, but the latter will be clocked a bit higher and promises to offer better performance for convertible laptops. According to Qualcomm, the chipset will only be used in PCs and will not be coming to smartphones. Qualcomm said the first-wave of devices to be powered by the Snapdragon 850 processor will be out sometime later this year. For now, Samsung has been confirmed to launch an always connected Windows 10 device, powered by the Snapdragon 850 processor. San Diego-based Qualcomm, best known for its mobile processors, has been aggressively pushing into the PC market in an aim to challenge Intel’s dominance. Last year, it teamed up with Microsoft to introduce the Snapdragon 835 powered “always connected” Windows 10 laptops and convertibles. The core emphasis was to come up with a different type of ARM-based mobile devices which enhances the functionality of laptops with "always on" LTE connectivity, extended battery life, and slim form factors. The Snapdragon 835 platform was seen on devices from the likes of Asus, HP, and Lenovo. In the coming months, Qualcomm is expected to reveal the Snapdragon 1000 chipset that’s being designed exclusively for laptops and notebooks from the ground up. German blog WinFuture.de reports that the Snapdragon 1000 is likely to compete with Intel’s low-end Y- and U-series core processors.
