The new Smartwatch chip from Qualcomm still allows permanent display

For the first time in more than two years, Qualcomm is revising its chips for smartwatches and the results may appeal to fans.

The chip maker said its new Snapdragon Wear 3100 microprocessors, which will appear later this year in watches running Google's Wear OS software, were specifically designed to add some of the most popular features for consumers. A better battery performance, for example, will display a colorful watch face, always visible, even for users who have not raised their wrists.

The popular watches of Apple, Samsung and Fitbit, as well as many watches currently equipped with Google software, mostly display a black screen. Watches featuring the new Snapdragon chip will be able to permanently display a multicolored dial with a mobile second hand and updated information such as date, remaining battery life and tracked milestones.

At Monday's announcement, Qualcomm also indicated that the chip would be used in the new watches of Fossil Group (fosl), Montblanc and Louis Vuitton, among others, during the big shopping season. More partners will be unveiled later, said Pankaj Kedia, head of Qualcomm's smart wearable segment. Fortune ahead of the announcement.

The new permanent display feature is especially important for luxury brands and fashion brands, Kedia said. "They are jumping into the smartwatch space but they do not want to give up their quality watch heritage," he added. "They do not want their customers to wear a piece of technology. They want their customers to wear a fashion watch that happens to be smart. "

Qualcomm and its Google partner could use a lift. Even though smartwatch sales grew by 37% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, devices using Google software (googl) lost market share, less than one in ten, according to counterpoint research firm.

And the competition becomes more intense. Samsung has just launched a new smartwatch on its proprietary software Tizen last month and Apple (aapl) is expected to unveil its fourth generation watch on Sept. 12. which also works on proprietary software.

North Star of Qualcomm

Kedia says that for two years he has written two simple sentences on a large whiteboard in his San Diego office: "make it more useful" and "make it last longer". the decisions pursued these simple goals, he says. "We have been there a long time," says Kedia. "It's our star in the north – everything we do has to bring us to these two things."

Qualcomm (qcom) has been providing chips for smartwatches since 2014, he notes, but previous designs were adapted from smartphones chips. This is not a great idea, because a smartphone is used directly with its full display for five or six hours a day, while a smart watch can be viewed for an hour or less a day, because users do not watch them only briefly. "Only 5% of the time you interact with your watch," Kedia explained. "95% of the time, you are not."

The big innovation of the 3100 chips is the inclusion of two completely different processors running different software. A section is based on an ARM Holdings A7 chip design that runs Google's Wear operating system and provides the superior processing power needed to run applications such as fitness tracking, map navigation, and maps. mobile payments. But it is also a relative power factor compared to a secondary processor, dubbed QCC1110, which runs a much simpler operating system that can handle only a few tasks. It is the low-power processor that manages the simpler dial that will probably be displayed 95% of the time.

The end result is that the watches running the new chips will last more than two days of intensive use. Customers can also put the watches in an energy saving mode that will last a week or longer if they do not use a lot of applications.

The energy savings could also be used by some manufacturers to make smaller or thinner devices with smaller batteries that always last the same life as models with older chips.