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By Susan Kelly
The first commercially available smartphone running on Intel designed microprocessors will be going on sale. The product is called the Xolo X900 from a company called Lava Mobile. The Lava handset is available in India from priced for around $423.
The Lava mobile phones features Dual-SIM option,long-life battery, dual LED powerful torch, games, bluetooth, support up to 8 GB memory, FM radio with recording, one touch music player, dual stereo speakers, dual charging point, GPRS and speakerphone. “LAVA’s vision is to empower people with affordable, high-quality, innovative mobile handsets, catering specifically to their different needs.” according to Balakrishna Rao, CEO, LAVA International Ltd.
This is an important milestone for Intel as represents Intel’s first entry into a phone world dominated by chips based on designs of the UK’s Arm.
In addition Intel has just launched their third generation of Core microprocessors that it intends will defend its PC territory from many mobile competitors.
See also interview with Intel's Ajay Chandramouly On Xeon E5- 2600 Processor Advantages in Big Data
At an event in San Francisco this week, Intel is launching a new family of Core microprocessors, called Ivy Bridge, which shrink circuit widths from 32 to 22 billionths of a metre i.e. nanometres, offering better performance.
Ivy Bridge’s advances could help Intel fight off competition from Arm-based mobile-phone chipmakers who can see opportunities into the PC market as Microsoft is releasing its Windows 8 software this year. MS Windows 8 will include the first Arm compatible version of its operating system.
Intel has traditionally offered faster chips, but has not been able to match the battery-saving low power draw of Arm processors. As Intel continues to reduce the footprint of its chips they will be in a better position to compete.
If you look at Intel’s road map over the next two years, they are really pushing the manufacturing technology transition faster than anyone else. If all goes according to the current technology road map, at some point in late 2013 or early 2014, Intel will be at 14-nanometre manufacturing for smartphones and have close to a one-generation lead.
Intel's Arm rival phone makers will typically rely on Asian foundries to make their chips and Qualcomm warned last week it was having trouble getting enough 28nm chips from its suppliers.
While the Lava launch represents a small beginning for Intel, it has announced bigger names, including Motorola and Lenovo, also have Intel-based phones in the pipeline.
Published by myITview.com
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