Data Center SoC Power & Limits Architect

Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ: QCOM) backs Ultrahuman's $70M round to transform smart rings into standalone computers. Ultrahuman, an Indian smart ring startup, has raised $70 million in a new funding round backed by Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ: QCOM), aiming to build rings that run software independently rather than simply track health metrics. The Bengaluru-based company is now valued at $365 million, roughly three times its $120 million valuation from 2023, according to a person familiar with the matter. Qualcomm Ventures joined the round alongside U.S. diagnostics giant Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Alteria Capital in the financing. The round comprises $65 million in primary equity and $5 million in debt, according to Ultrahuman founder and CEO Mohit Kumar. Ultrahuman is also working with Qualcomm to develop a new ring using the chipmaker's silicon, which will allow more software and algorithms to run directly on the device, reducing dependence on a phone or cloud connection. "All ring devices today are like trackers," Kumar said, noting that the goal is to make the ring function more like a computer capable of running programs and algorithms on the device itself. Quinn Li, global head of Qualcomm Ventures, said "the future of AI is personal, ambient, and always on," adding that Ultrahuman is building a new generation of "personal AI devices." Potential applications include using the ring as a game controller, a car key, a pointer or mouse, and an interface for AI interactions, with developers eventually able to write their own programs for the device. Kumar highlighted a key advantage over competing wearables, noting that "a game controller never reads your heart rate and your temperature, but this one does," opening the door to physiologically responsive gaming experiences. Some new capabilities, including game controller functionality and AI application interaction, are set to arrive on the existing Ring Air and Ring Pro through a software update by the end of September, Kumar said. Ultrahuman's business fundamentals are also strengthening, with the startup currently running at an annual revenue run rate of $140 million, up roughly 45% from a year earlier, and targeting $200 million by January 2027. The company has sold around 800,000 rings to date, up from approximately 700,000 in February, with about 12% of users paying for PowerPlugs, its subscription-based software feature tier. Co-founded by Kumar and Vatsal Singhal in 2019, Ultrahuman originally launched with continuous glucose monitors before pivoting to smart rings, which have since become the core of its business. The U.S. remains Ultrahuman's largest market, contributing about 45% of revenue this quarter, though the company was forced to pause Ring Air sales there for much of the past year following a patent dispute with rival Oura. The company returned to the U.S. market with its redesigned Ring Pro, and Kumar said demand is currently running at 18x to 20x the startup's available supply in the country. Ultrahuman expects to restore previous U.S. sales volumes as soon as next quarter and aims to triple those volumes over the following four quarters as supply ramps up. The company is also deepening ties with Labcorp, exploring whether blood-flow signals from the ring, combined with blood-test data, could help identify cardiovascular, fertility, and aging-related health risks. "By combining longitudinal wearable data with deeper biological signals, Ultrahuman is creating new opportunities in personalized health," said Megann Vaughn Watters, vice president and head of Labcorp Venture Fund and Strategic Alliances. Unlike rival Oura, which is reportedly eyeing a near-term IPO, Kumar said Ultrahuman wants to demonstrate roughly eight quarters of profitability before going public, with 2028 representing the earliest realistic window for a listing.

Snapdragon X and Snapdragon X2 driver updates target major games, giving Windows 11 on Arm another boost. Published 5 hours ago Qualcomm's latest Adreno GPU drivers bring targeted game stability fixes to Snapdragon X and X2 laptops. Gaming continues to improve on Windows 11 PCs powered by Snapdragon X chips. A recent Adreno GPU driver improves stability and quality for several titles, though the exact changes you'll see depend on if your system has a Snapdragon X chip or a Snapdragon X2 chip. Well-known titles including Halo Infinite and Black Myth: Wukong are among the games that will benefit from the driver update for those with Snapdragon X2 processors. Avowed, Borderlands 4, and Dishonored 2 are among the library of games that will improve when running a Snapdragon X chip. Windows 11 PCs powered by Snapdragon processors have come a long way. A massive library of apps now run natively on Windows 11 on Arm and emulation has improved to fill remaining gaps. Latest Videos FromWindows Central 7 Best Hidden Gems On Xbox Game Pass The top 7 games you might've missed on Xbox Game Pass! 7 Best Hidden Gems On Xbox Game Pass While there are pieces of enterprise and legacy software that do not work with Windows 11 on Arm, the biggest remaining gap is gaming. What needs to happen before you'd consider a Snapdragon PC for gaming? Elimination of game-breaking visual/texture bugs 100% Anti-Cheat and launcher compatibility across the board Native Arm ports from major game studios I'll never buy an Arm laptop for gaming - x86/x64 only I'm already gaming on one, and it meets my needs In both its own testing of Snapdragon X gaming support and game compatibility testing by Ghobso Gaming show that games can perform well on Snapdragon X systems. But there are still titles that are not supported or that are poorly optimized. For example, Halo: Campaign Evolved has a major texture bug that basically makes the game unplayable on Windows 11 on Arm. Easy Anti-Cheat is now supported, as is Logitech G HUB. Many games now perform better on Snapdragon X systems, but I think it's safe to call it a work in progress. There are two change logs to go through, one for Snapdragon X and one for Snapdragon X2, both of which were shared on Reddit by user "lexcyn": Snapdragon X series platforms: game stability/quality improvements. * Avowed * Borderlands 4 * Dishonored 2 * Dishonored: Death of the Outsider * DREDGE * Nobody Wants to Die * RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business * Seven Deadly Sins: Origin * Split Fiction * Squad Snapdragon X2 series platforms: game stability/quality improvements. * 007 First Light * Black Myth: Wukong * Borderlands 3 * Dishonored 2 * Dishonored: Death of the Outsider * F1 2022 * Granblue Fantasy: Relink * Hades 1 * Halo Infinite * Hollow Knight * It Takes Two * Lies of P * Seven Deadly Sins: Origin * Split Fiction * Star Wars Outlaws * Yakuza Kiwami 3 Qualcomm and Microsoft continue to work on the gaming experience on Snapdragon X systems. A recent update to Snapdragon Control Panel redesigned game library navigation and improved the software experience. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and other Snapdragon X2 chips are more powerful, allowing them to better handle modern games. When announcing those chips, Qualcomm did not mention gaming in its press release, but it's clear that the company has plans to power gaming PCs with its Snapdragon X processors. ASUS took a different approach and listed the Zenbook A16, highlighting its gaming capabilities. As more games are optimized and supported, gaming on Windows 11 on Arm will trend upward. News Writer Sean Endicott is a News Writer at Windows Central, where he covers Windows 11, Surface hardware, Microsoft 365, AI, apps, and the broader PC ecosystem. Since joining the site in 2017, he has written well over a thousand articles across the Microsoft landscape, covering breaking news, analysis, and feature reporting. He writes Windows Wrap, a weekly column covering the biggest stories in Windows and the PC industry, and what they mean for the platform going forward. Before joining Windows Central full-time, Sean worked in journalism and media production after earning a First Class degree in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. Outside of tech, he is an award-winning American football coach based in Nottingham, England, and was named BAFCA Youth Coach of the Year in 2024.

Qualcomm's stock has fallen 32% over the past three months as the smartphone market contracts and Apple exits faster than anticipated. The company's share in the upcoming iPhone launch will be materially lower than the previously estimated 20%, with Apple product revenue set to drop roughly 50% from September to December quarter. Management expects non-handset revenue growth to accelerate from 24% in fiscal 2026 to over 60% in fiscal 2027, enough to replace all fiscal 2026 Apple product revenue. However, the replacement revenue comes with lower margins. Two custom silicon wins for hyperscalers will generate revenue carrying gross margins well below the baseline 48% to 50% range, creating a 1.5% to 2% drag on QCT's weighted-average gross margin. The trade-off highlights a key challenge: whilst revenue growth may resume, the new data centre dollars earn less than those they replace.