Qualcomm ZOLA smartwatch coming in Q3?

BY Stefan Constantinescu

Published 27 Jun 2013

According to the anonymous Twitter user @evleaks, Qualcomm, the chip designer, is going to release their very own smartwatch in September of this year. It’s going to be called the ZOLA.

That’s all the information that was provided, so let’s break this down.

First, does Qualcomm have any ambitions of becoming a consumer facing company? You and I know what a Snapdragon is, but let’s be serious now, regular people don’t. With ZOLA, is Qualcomm going to try to win the hearts and minds of the buying public?

Second, what kind of chip will be powering this watch? We all love Qualcomm for their bleeding edge Snapdragon 600 and 800 products. And we know they make chips for midrange and entry level phones. But does Qualcomm have a chip in their existing portfolio that can reliably power a smartwatch for several days at a time?

Third, Qualcomm has been working on a display technology known as “Mirasol” for what feels like forever. A quick Google search shows the company first announced Mirasol displays back in 2008. Will ZOLA use Mirasol?

Fourth, will this thing talk to Android? Probably. The real question however is iOS. Love or hate Apple, if your accessory doesn’t support iOS, it’s not going anywhere.

Fifth, pricing and availability. Will Qualcomm be selling ZOLA with the intention to make profits or will they sell ZOLA at or near cost in an attempt to give birth to the wearables market that analysts and pundits alike can’t shut up about? ZOLA will probably be USA only at first, so how long until it reaches other territories?

As always, new information results in new questions. Hopefully they’ll get answered.