Intel is late to the smartphone game, sure, but its Medfield system-on-chip has been touted as the firm’s make-or-break venture into the market. Now the first working Intel phone is in the wild — and it seems promising.
The guys over at Technology Review were lucky enough to get a sneak-preview of Intel’s “reference designs” — devices which have been sent out to inspire manufacturers interested in building products around Intel’s latest technology. Intel hopes that its first all-in-one mobile processor design can strip away some of the custom from UK-based ARM, who currently dominate the Android market.
The Technology Review team actually got their hands on a pair of Medfield prototypes running Android: a phone similar in size to the iPhone, running Gingerbread, and a tablet close to the iPad 2 in thickness, running Ice Cream Sandwich. So, are they any good?
From what they say, the phone seems promising. They report that it could play Blu-Ray-quality video and stream it to TV, and that web browsing was smooth and fast. Apparently the Medfield chip is designed specifically to speed up Android apps and Web browsing, so that probably has something to do with it.
Elsewhere, the camera seems impressive. With a burst mode which captures 10 full-size eight-megapixel images at a rate of 15 per second, it seems real effort has been put into the image-processing capabilities of the devices.
The Intel tablet, which uses the same Medfield chip as the phone, runs Ice Cream Sandwich. With a slightly larger screen than the iPad 2, it was about the same in thickness and weight, and their short trial suggests that it was much nicer to use than many current Android tablets. Which isn’t that hard, but it sounds promising.
Intel VP Stephen Smith told Technology Review that Intel “expect products based on these [chips] to be announced in the first half of 2012.” But with these references designs already with the big manufacturers, might we see some early announcements at CES in January? Let’s wait and see. [Technology Review via The Verge; Image: Intel]
Icurafu
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 10:19 PMDon’t you mean the first x86 smart phone. Intel were in many windows mobile phones until they sold their RISC business.
Simon
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:29 PMx86 has it’s uses as there are YEARS of legacy code that depend on it which isn’t going away any time soon. NONE of these legacy apps are designed for a mobile phone, making X86 on a mobile phone nothing but a USELESS hunk of legacy code. The real key in the market is having an architecture that makes it easy to cross-port from iOS designed apps.
Assuming that this is based on X86 of course.
james_whatsit
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 1:37 AMall these numbers and figures but nothing on BATTERY DRAIN!!! when are mobile processor manufacturers going to get the whole BATTERY LIFE thingo!!!!!
TheFoxMan
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 3:14 AMI’m still waiting for a powerful droid with a classic 5-7day Nokia battery life like my Nokia 61i. Battery Tech really needs to catch up with these power house mobile CPU they are making.
Barry
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 9:05 AMWhen will 64bit mobile smartphones be released? With the advancements from the mobile chip makers, it can’t be that far away
Ash
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 9:47 AMThat mobile looks like a copy of the iPhone 4S, except for the bottom 4 buttons, which Im suspecting will also disappear if they begin to use ICS. Lawsuit anyone?
Jess
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 10:26 AMAs long as a phone has a touchscreen, it’s going to look like an iPhone. Apple are being ridiculous, they’re basically saying that if you make a rectangular phone with a big screen and no hardware keyboard, it’s a copy. Damn phone manufacturers, need to start making triangular phones! Maybe experiment into circular ones… hmmm.
Nads
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 10:56 AMWho is the one being ridiculous?
olearymo
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 5:30 PM…Apple. He just said that.
light487
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 10:23 AMWhat I’d like to see is a smartphone that can double as a mni-pc. What I mean is that you would be able to hook the smartphone up to a Keyboard-Mouse-Combo (or just a keyboard with trackpad) and an external monitor. You’d basically have a computer in your pocket.
Big Windows
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 12:09 PMMozilla concept phone goes one better… Some trick ideas in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2lj109xEZw
Ozoneocean
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 2:31 PMCan’t you already do that though? Even my Sensation can do that pretty easily. But there’s really not much point in the end- my actual PCs make any phone or tablet look like a toy.
smurfydog
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 1:17 AMI’m totally with you on that one.
Looking forward to the day that my phone is my secondary computing device that I can simply hook up to screen and keyboard and mouse and keep going where I left off. In fact – not even secondary device. Cloud synced clone of my PC in the areas I choose.
In my imaginary future, you won’t have to carry those peripherals with you – You’ll simply plug the phone into public stations or the station at your friend’s house or your hotel room, airport, train/aeroplane/bus.
Or not even plug in – just use NFC to hook your phone up to a screen/keyboard/mouse combo device.
What could possibly go wrong?
Seriously though – if it could work, it would be brilliant.
g
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 11:11 AMI am an Android users but am getting sick of manufacturers copying the design of Apple. Of course not everyone is, but there are a few who are… this phone is a blatent copy – if i wanted an iPhone i would buy and iPhone… But I want an Android phone- so MAKE AN ANDROID PHONE! Make it unique, make it sexy…
IMO the only new phone that mas pushed the boundaries of design of late is are the new Nokia phones – which have already been copied by LG for their 3rd iteration of their Prada phone…
light487
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 11:47 AMHow many cars look very similar? How many computer monitors look very similar? How many bicycles look very similar? How many front doors look very similar? How many refridgerators look very similar?
I could go on…
There is only so much you can do with innovative design before the object becomes not useful in what it does.
g
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 3:44 PMFirst up – the iPhone 4 design was VERY much like Sony Erricson design – and second – there is so much you can do to change design.
I again will repeat nokia… using new materials or old materials in new ways – actually spending time to design the device and not just throw it together; these are things other manufacturers need to startd doing.
A phone can be rectangle and still be different. Use your brain, and have a little think about it – then go and do some research on industrial design and you will see what is possible, for a very similar price when a company makes an effort.
As for your comparisons about other products:
- cars usually follow trend for front grills and headlights… not much else…
- front doors can be quite distinctive and different so fail there…
- refridgerators again can be very different
Your comments light487 suggest to me that you do not appreciate design, detail and craftmanship. Amazing things can be designed – hell, just look at all the concept devices out there – rather than just looking at them as concepts, companies should be tendering to make them reality. Until this happens, we will be stuck in a loop of bland, same-same devices.
qbngeek
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 12:17 PMWhat would you like them to do? Make it into an octogon? Bend it like a banana? The rectangular shape is used becuase it is comfortable to hold, easy to handle and inexpensive to make. The screens are getting bigger so the buttons are disappearing.
Apple need to get over themselves and realise that just because a phone is a rectangular box, does not mean it is a copy. The Dell monitor on my desk is rectangular just like the LG one on my other desk…oh noes time for a lawsuit.
Ozoneocean
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 2:35 PMYou are right on the money. this is a lame copy of the iphone 4.
Yeah, the iphone 4 design was striking a year and a bit ago when it came out, but now it’s dull and sad. Why bother copying it?
Either the product designers are morons (unlikely), or it was a bunch of brainless middle managers are responsible for requiring this to be based on the iphone4 design. I go with the latter.
g
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 3:50 PMThink before you type… or speak for that matter…
At the moment I have an Acer, LG, Dell and HP monitor arrangement around my office… not one of them is designed the same. They all look different – though they are all rectangular in shape. Stands, buttons, colours, speakers, bezels, sculpting, thickness and inscriptions – all make for different designs.
People like you don’t understand that subtle changes differentiate.
smurfydog
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 1:46 AMTo me this looks strikingly different to the iP4 in many ways.
- The screen doesn not sit proud of the body
- silver bezel
- different edge-button placement
- no physical button on the face
- more sharply rounded corners
- Glass back? I can’t tell.
It DOES look gorgeous though!
zoqwo
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:15 PMUh oh, clearly this phone is the lovechild of an SGSII and an IP4. Apple will now attempt to extradite Samsung to Sweden.