Qualcomm has pulled the wraps off its new Snapdragon 800 series and 600 processors at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), currently underway in Las Vegas.

The firm’s Snapdragon 800 CPU series will feature a quad-core Krait 400 CPU offering operating speeds up to 2.3 GHz per core, coupled with an Adreno 330 GPU that delivers twice the compute performance compared to the Adreno 320.

The firm says that the Snapdragon 800 processor will be used to power smartphones and tablets, as well as consumer electronic devices the likes of Smart TVs and digital media adapters. These CPUs are expected to be available in commercial devices by mid-2013.

This CPU supports LTE (4G) networks with data rates up to 150 Mbps as well as Wi-Fi 802.11ac offering network speeds up to 1 Gbps. Devices employing this chipset will be able to record UltraHD (also known as 4K) videos and play these back on a UltraHD (4096 x 2304) display that sports four times as many pixels as full HD (1080p).

The accompanying audio will also be able to match these high-res visuals, as HD Audio is supported featuring DTS-HD, Dolby Digital Plus as well as 7.1 surround sound. In terms of optics, dual image signal processors (ISPs) support cameras with a maximum resolution up to 55 MP and is further able to handle up to four cameras. These ISPs allow for 3D capture, photo merging into a master 55 megapixel image, as well as separate autofocus and capture.

Qualcomm stated that the performance boost overall from the Snapdragon 800 processor is expected to be up to 75% better performance than the Snapdragon S4 Pro.

The Snapdragon 600 processor

Like the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, the new Snapdragon 600 processor boasts a quad-core CPU in a Krait 300 CPU that runs at up to 1.9 GHz. This CPU is assisted by an Adreno 320 GPU that the company says delivers more than three times the performance of previous generation’s Adreno 225 GPU.

The new CPU offers up to 40% better performance than the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and like the 800 it supports quicker LPDDR3 (low power double data rate 3) RAM. Qualcomm stated that its first Snapdragon 600 processor is expected to be available in commercial devices by Q2 2013.

It does seem that the gloves are coming off in the mobile processor boxing ring, with Nvidia recently revealing the much anticipated Tegra 4 chipset, also capable of handling 4K video and LTE, and Samsung unveiling its Exynos 5 Octa with eight cores. In short this means one thing - very fast smartphones and tablets coming soon, and we simply can’t wait.

In related news, Nvidia recently unveiled its latest mobile CPU hardware in the Tegra 4 mobile processing unit that will power the next generation of smartphones, tablets, portable gaming devices, in-vehicle infotainment, and PCs.