Earlier today, Qualcomm showcased its annual developer summit, unveiling its latest flagship processor for smartphones, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Yet, the spotlight was not solely on this new release; the company also took the opportunity to highlight its recently launched Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, designed specifically for Windows 11 PCs.
Content Creation Support Expands
While Qualcomm refrained from announcing any plans for a next-generation chip in the Snapdragon X series, it did share exciting news regarding the support of various content creation applications for Windows. These applications will now, or soon will, natively support Qualcomm’s chips, which are designated for Windows 11 devices known as Copilot+ PCs.
Among the notable applications is Blender, the renowned open-source 3D creation suite widely utilized in the film and television industry. Qualcomm revealed that the new Blender app tailored for Snapdragon X-based Windows PCs is already available for download from Blender’s official site. Additionally, Qualcomm has proudly joined The Blender Foundation as a new member.
In conjunction with the Blender app, Qualcomm introduced a free NPU-based plug-in, accessible for download on GitHub. This innovative plug-in promises to “simulate rendering on the NPU using a neural network at warp speed,” significantly reducing the time required to transform early 3D object files into high-quality 2D images through text-to-image AI enhancements.
Furthermore, several other prominent content creation applications are set to offer native versions for Snapdragon X-based Windows PCs, including:
- CaptureOne: A powerful photo editing software tailored for professional photographers, enabling real-time edits with AI features such as AI Cropping and AI Color Grading for near-final results.
- Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): An essential tool for musicians, this software facilitates audio cleanup, mixing, and remixing, complete with MIDI support and the first-ever Microsoft-developed ASIO Driver.
- Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo: Esteemed Digital Audio Workstation applications favored by Hollywood composers and Billboard Hot 100 producers for audio editing and arrangement.
- Moises: A user-friendly platform where audio or video files can be uploaded to a cloud-based AI service, allowing for the isolation of vocals and instruments with exceptional quality.
As the excitement builds around these advancements, Qualcomm has yet to disclose any information regarding the potential launch of its second-generation Snapdragon X chips.
