Sony announced today that Qualcomm’s Gobi mobile Internet technology will be coming to select VAIO notebook systems. Devices with the Gobi chipset can connect to a wide variety of high speed mobile broadband services all around the world – basically wherever you can make a mobile phone call, you’ll be able to access the Internet (of course it’ll cost ya to connect to the service provider). The beauty of having Gobi embedded in the notebook? There’s no need for external dongle devices when you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot – everything is built right into the notebook and it’s optimized for battery, radio, and throughput performance.

Sony will initially unveil Gobi technology in three ultra-portable models – the VAIO Z, TT, and the new P series. Expect variations by region also.

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Technorati Tags: Sony, Qualcomm, Gobi, VAIO notebooks, mobile broadband, 3G

Here’s an interesting press release that went across the wire this morning.

“Qualcomm has acquired certain graphics and multimedia technology assets, intellectual property and resources that were formerly the basis of AMD’s handheld business. The acquisition enhances Qualcomm’s multimedia capabilities, allowing Qualcomm to strengthen its leadership position in delivering more advanced products that redefine next-generation mobile user experiences.”

According to Steve Mollenkopf, executive VP of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, “This acquisition of assets from AMD’s handheld business brings us strong multimedia technologies, including graphics cores that we have been licensing for several years”

Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has extended job offers to various design and development teams from AMD’s handheld business. AMD will receive $65 million dollars from AMD as part of this transaction.

So what exactly is AMD handing over to Qualcomm? In a report over at CNET’s News.com, AMD states that they are providing “vector graphics and 3D graphics technologies and IP” to Qualcomm. However, this does not include the Imageon line of graphics processors. The company will retain the rights to Imageon and “honor existing customer commitments” but will not make future updates to the Imageon road map.

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Technorati Tags: AMD, Qualcomm, handheld graphics