Qualcomm Shows Off Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows on Arm Development
by Ryan Smith on May 24, 2021 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Snapdragon
- Qualcomm
- SoCs
- Windows 10
- Windows on Arm
Alongside today’s Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC announcement, Qualcomm is also unveiling a new Windows 10-focused development kit. Collaborating with Microsoft, the two companies have put together the Snapdragon Developer Kit for Windows 10, which true to its name, is designed to serve as a dev kit for application authors to more easily test Windows 10 on Arm programs. The pint-sized PC is expected to be available this summer.
Overall, while devices based on Qualcomm’s Windows-capable Snapdragon SoCs have been around for a couple of years now, neither Qualcomm nor Microsoft have put together an official development kit for the platform. And though the idea of a development kit is somewhat foreign in the PC landscape where there is no one PC platform (x86 or otherwise), Qualcomm’s Windows on Arm (WoA) efforts hail from the mobile world, where dev kits and reference devices are common. So in an effort to better meet the needs of WoA application developers, whom until now have been stuck doing testing on laptops and tablets like the Surface Pro X, Qualcomm and Microsoft are putting together a proper mini-PC for developer testing.
At this point, Qualcomm isn’t saying too much about the PC itself, in part to give Microsoft something to announce as part of their Build conference later this week. However, given the timing of the announcement – as well as Qualcomm’s own comments on ensuring the dev kit remains affordable – it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the kit based around the new Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC. Though the slowest of Qualcomm’s offerings, the 7c Gen 2 is also the cheapest option, and more than sufficient for basic compatibility testing.
Meanwhile a side-shot of the PC at least gives us a basic idea of what to expect for I/O. The right side of the box ha a single USB port, along with a SD card slot and a third, unknown card slot (SIM?).
The Snapdragon Developer Kit will go on sale this summer, with Microsoft selling the dev kit directly through their online store.
Source: Qualcomm
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
27 Comments
View All Comments
iphonebestgamephone - Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - link
Ikr! Apple are fools for including it in their devkit!NXTwoThou - Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - link
More about easily working headless. After initial setup, the mac mini was just tossed next to the switch in the server room. Was hoping to do the same thing with this thing.ikjadoon - Monday, May 24, 2021 - link
Let’s hope they found space for another USB port on the left side, lmao.And Ethernet, display out, and a third USB port for I/O would make this useful.
Silly if it’s a single port. Why skimp on the I/O? Let’s ensure we have a real hardware mouse and keyboard without a dongle: you know, the two input devices used in every Windows application.
Of course, the obvious comparison: it pales next to Apple’s Arm DTK, but let’s assume Qualcomm’s is much cheaper (under $75?),
Apple A12Z processor
16GB memory, 512GB SSD
2 USB-C ports (up to 10 Gbps)
2 USB 3.0 ports (up to 5 Gbps)
HDMI 2.0 port
802.11ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.0
Gigabit Ethernet
macOS Big Sur developer beta
Xcode 12 with support for Universal 2
ikjadoon - Monday, May 24, 2021 - link
This device being sold by Microsoft worryingly reinforces the meme that Windows-on-Arm doesn’t exist.It’s Windows-on-Snapdragon, which is gobsmacking awful lock-in after decades of Wintel.
We need real competition here: at least, we should see Samsung SoCs and Mediatek SoCs. Qualcomm being alone has never served anyone.
If there is too much friction for new vendors and/or preference for Qualcomm in the next five years, then we’ll see another virtual monopoly (e.g., Qualcomm SoCs on WoA devices) and who is ready for 5-10 years of SoC stagnation?
Even Intel would be jealous of Qualcomm’s monopoly here. If Microsoft isn’t opening up, vendors need to barge in soon: momentum is hard to get back.
domboy - Monday, May 24, 2021 - link
Well, WoA will run on M1 Macs via parallels. And they is a leaked ARM32 build of Windows 10 that people have loaded on RT devices, which were mostly nVidia SoCs. So technically it's not just Windows on Snapdragon, but I get your point. Hopefully we'll see other SoC vendors join in. I've recall hearing heard rumors of a device with a Samsung SoC hitting later this year...mode_13h - Monday, May 24, 2021 - link
> Windows-on-Arm doesn’t exist.It runs on Raspberry Pi. Not well, but it runs.
domboy - Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - link
> It runs on Raspberry Pi. Not well, but it runs.Oh yeah! I forgot about that one. Case in point.
This is the Samsung Laptop that is rumored to use their own chip: https://www.windowscentral.com/samsung-reportedly-...