Qualcomm announced plans to release a new version of its Snapdragon chipset based on a 28-nm process.

The announcement was made at the company's analyst meeting in New York on Wednesday.

The new Snapdragon chipset (MSM8960) will feature two cores using an upgraded CPU core based on a new micro-architecture, the company said. This will result in a ~5x performance while the power consumption will be lower by ~ 75%.

The multi-Mode 3G / 4G integrated chipset will also integrate an LTE multi-mode modem that will also support all 3G modes, and new graphics capabilities that will offer a ~4x performance boost compared to the currently available Snapdragon chipset. In addition, the MSM8960 will integrate WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth and FM connectivity.

The MSM8960 will also be the first Qualcomm chip built on 28-nm process technology and will begin sampling in 2011. It is expected to power smartphones and tablets that will appear in late 2011.

It is not clear whether the new chipset will be based on ARM-based technology, which is currently used for Qualcomm's MSM8x60 chipset platform.

As a fabless company, Qualcomm has been working with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Hsinchu, Taiwan) on 28-nm process technology as well as with GlobalFoundries.

Qualcomm also unveiled new Adreno 300 series GPU that promise to offer gaming performance equivalent to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles. The sampling of these new next-generation chips will begin next year.