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Qualcomm SDK to bring machine learning to smartphones

Qualcomm says it will be the first mobile (SOC) provider to offer a deep learning toolkit optimized for mobile
Written by Stephanie Condon, Senior Writer

Qualcomm on Monday announced it will be offering a software development kit (SDK) that brings machine learning to devices powered by its Snapdragon 820 processors.

The SDK, called the Qualcomm Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine, opens up opportunities to add native neural computing to devices like smartphones, security cameras or drones. It represents the latest effort to bring machine learning off the cloud -- last week, chipmaker Movidius rolled out a USB stick with machine learning capabilities. Movidius also has a deal in the works with Google to use add machine-intelligence processing to Android devices.

Still, Qualcomm says it will be the first mobile system on a chip (SOC) provider to offer a deep learning toolkit optimized for mobile. The SDK is expected to be available for Snapdragon 820 processors in the second half of 2016. Devices that are powered by Snapdragon 820 processors include the Samsung Galaxy S7, the HP Elite x3 and the HTC 10.

The SDK is powered by Zeroth technology, which is already driving visual intelligence software like Snapdragon Scene Detect, as well as the advanced malware detection software found in Snapdragon Smart Protect.

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