Qualcomm wants to help speed up app development for the AI PC — or is it Copilot+ PC? — age. At this year’s Microsoft Build conference, it introduced the Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, a compact PC powered by a Developer Edition of its Snapdragon X Elite chip.
“The Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows is purpose-built to accelerate the next generation of on-device AI applications for PCs,” Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manage of compute and gaming, says in a statement. “This system gives developers access to our powerful Qualcomm Oryon CPU and 45 TOPS NPU, so they can build the AI apps of the future.”
This isn’t like a mini PC you’d buy for private use. Rather, it’s specifically for AI PC app development. It runs the Windows on Snapdragon toolchain natively and is equipped with runtimes, libraries and frameworks developers might need to build AI-powered programs. It also has multiple ports that make this device compatible with multi-monitor systems.
Using this compact PC, developers have an environment from which they can create, debug and test apps and experiences for the slate of AI PCs supported by the Snapdragon X chip.
This isn’t the first Snapdragon-focused kit Qualcomm has made available, and it’s not the only one specific to AI. It has its Qualcomm Innovators Development Kit, which facilitates building app prototypes for various applications, including on-device AI. There’s also the Snapdragon Mobile Hardware Development Kit, helping developers create new devices like smart cameras or next-generation tablets. Qualcomm also has a Cloud Edge AI Development Kit, but it’s not a PC—it’s similar to a wireless router with an antenna, runs CentOS 8.0, and is used to power AI and video processing.
However, the Snapdragon Dev Kit stands out because of its form factor. It is meant for apps running on Snapdragon X AI PCs. And there are a lot of these laptops, thanks to Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC announcement earlier this week. With the possibility of so many of these devices in people’s hands, it’s time to accelerate app development.
Developers can buy the Snapdragon Dev Kit starting June 18. It has a retail price of $899.99.
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