Qualcomm's foray into the netbook processor market is not a secret. They have even showcased models of Snapdragon-powered devices in the past, hinting that they are ready for a primetime release.

In an interview with CNET, Manjit Gill, the Qualcomm Director of Product Management revealed more details about the platform. He says that their vision is to make the users stay 'always connected.' The Snapdragon chipsets have an always-on feature; even when the device is shut down, it will be still 'on.' The laptop connects to the user's exchange server, retrieves e-mail, puts it on the storage drive, and when the user flips the device open, the e-mail is ready, awaiting a reply.

Gill also said that though their chip now competes with the Intel Atom processor, their goal is to build a chip that exceeds the capacity of current ARM processors found in many portable devices today.

With more than $350 million infused into the project and with the labor of 50 CPU designers, their QSD8672 dual-core Snapdragon chipset is ready. It runs at a clock speed of 1.5GHz and features high speed 3G, 1080p HD video playback, Wi-Fi, graphics, and GPS.

Snapdragon devices will be available next year. Manufacturers like Acer, Asus, and Toshiba are already developing devices based on this chipset.

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