Intel’s new entry level smartphone looks a lot like an iPhone complete with a 4″ display screen.
Based on the reference design that the processor company showed at the 2012 CES event in January, the device will be manufactured by Chinese firm Gigabyte with Telstra and Optus set to sell the device in the second half of 2012.
Designed as a first smartphone, the new smartphone will run Google’s Android 2.3.
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Called the Santa Clara during development the Intel offering is set to be re-branded. It will have an 8MP camera that includes 10 frames per second photo burst mode. Performance and battery life is said to be similar to the current iPhone.
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p >Intel’s first major push into smartphones is seen as a challenge to ARM and the manufacturers of its chips, such as NVIDIA. Future models will be released over the remainder of the year, and the company expects to be able to gauge whether a phone with the ‘Intel Inside’ logo pulls in further customers. Previous Intel processors have struggled with power consumption problems, but the manufacturer now claims it can achieve higher performance with lower power use than its competitors.
