Intel Medfield-powered smartphone revealed, looks promising
They’ve taken their time getting their, but Intel’s first steps into the mobile market look set to be firm and assured ones. They’ve just revealed the first smartphones and tablets powered by their Medfield system-on-a-chip, and they’re already showing great potential.
Showing off two “reference designs” (built to tempt manufacturers into building products around the Intel tech) Technology Review were first to get a glimpse at what Intel-powered mobile devices will be capable of.
What they were shown looked looked very promising indeed.
Looking first at the smartphone, it was an Android Gingerbread handset, similar in size and shape to an iPhone 4S. It was capable of playing back Blu-ray quality video, and streaming that to a web-connected TV, proving itself quite the media powerhouse. Apps and web browsing were also said to be very snappy, with the Medfield chip itself built specifically with app and web browsing speed in mind.
Perhaps most impressive was the phone’s still photography capabilities. Its camera featured a burst mode that captured 10 full-size 8MP snaps at a rate of 15 per second, and looks a true competitor to the stellar work Apple have put into their iPhone 4S camera system.
Moving on to the tablet, it too bore a resemblance to an Apple device, in this case the iPad 2. Though featuring a slightly larger screen, it was roughly the same weight and thickness as Apple’s popular slate. Running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest build of Google’s OS, it is said to be far more responsive than the Android tablet offerings currently available from other manufacturers.
As it stands, Intel have yet to announce any consumer product releases with the Medfield chip inside, be that in smartphones or tablets. But Intel VP Stephen Smith did tell Technology Review that the company “expect products based on these [chips] to be announced in the first half of 2012.”
With CES just around the corner in January, we wouldn’t be surprised if these nifty looking devices didn’t make an appearance.
Via: Technology Review
