We already know that Intel is working on its very first Android smartphone and tablet as Google has made it official the Android 4.0 will be supporting the x86 architecture. Well today we have some more progress.
The processor giant has revealed some plans about its upcoming chipset for smartphone and tablet which will be running on Android.
The Medfield reference design by Intel smartphone and tablet will be offered by the company for handset manufacturers to adapt for future Android handsets with the x86 mobile chip architecture. Intel also revealed two devices, a phone running Android Gingerbread and a tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich, which were demonstrated to MIT’s Technology Review with a render of the smartphone.
The System-on-Chip design is similar to the ARM processor technology used be NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. This SoC is said to offer better battery utilisation which has been an issue with Intel chipsets for a long time.
Both the smartphone and tablet with common mobility tasks, such as multimedia playback and recording performed well. Technology Review said:
“The phone was powerful and pleasing to use, on a par with the latest iPhone and Android handsets. It could play Blu-Ray-quality video and stream it to a TV if desired; Web browsing was smooth and fast. Smith says Intel has built circuits into the Medfield chip specifically to speed up Android apps and Web browsing”
Both the devices can capture ten full-size 8-megapixel images at a rate of 15 per second, using technology in part based on Silicon Hive, the mobile processing specialists Intel acquired earlier in the year. According to Intel’s own tests, Medfield delivers faster browsing, better graphics performance and lower power consumption than “the top three” phones on sale today. The company hopes to bring in the devices by early 2012.