Unlocking Creativity: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Dev Kit – A Compact PC for Developing Copilot+ Applications

Qualcomm aims to accelerate app development for the burgeoning AI PC era with its latest offering. At the Microsoft Build conference, the company unveiled the Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, a specialized compact PC powered by a Developer Edition of the Snapdragon X Elite chip.

“The Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows is designed to propel the next generation of on-device AI applications for PCs,” said Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Compute and Gaming. “This system provides developers with access to our powerful Qualcomm Oryon CPU and a 45 TOPS NPU, empowering them to create the AI applications of the future.”

The Snapdragon Dev Kit is not a standard mini PC; instead, it is tailored specifically for AI PC app development. Operating natively with the Windows on Snapdragon toolchain, it comes pre-equipped with the essential runtimes, libraries, and frameworks developers require to build AI-powered applications. Its multiple ports enhance compatibility with multi-monitor setups, making it a versatile environment for creating, debugging, and testing applications for Snapdragon X-supported AI PCs.

This isn't Qualcomm's first venture into providing development kits, nor is it the only one focused on AI. The Qualcomm Innovators Development Kit offers a platform for app prototyping across various domains, including on-device AI. Additionally, the Snapdragon Mobile Hardware Development Kit assists in the creation of innovative devices such as smart cameras and next-gen tablets. While Qualcomm also provides a Cloud Edge AI Development Kit for AI and video processing tasks, it operates as a wireless router running CentOS 8.0, distinct from PC applications.

What sets the Snapdragon Dev Kit apart is its specific design for apps on Snapdragon X AI PCs, especially following Microsoft's recent Copilot+ PC announcement. With many devices expected to enter users' hands, there’s a pressing need to streamline app development.

Developers can purchase the Snapdragon Dev Kit starting June 18 for a retail price of $899.99.