Qualcomm unveiled its most advanced Snapdragon system-on-chip to date, and reeled off a highly conventional list of target devices – smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots. But lower profile announcements over the past few days – in areas from medical devices to drones – reflect the US company’s urgent need to diversify its platform into areas where it can find more growth than in handsets, and perhaps preserve a headstart over its Asian rivals for longer. Of course, while Qualcomm – like arch-rivals such as MediaTek and Intel – is pursuing growth in the internet of things (IoT), for the time being, its revenues will remain firmly based around its traditional target products. And in the smartphone and tablet spaces, it still…