Intel Lexington design targets budget smartphones

 

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By Nicole Kobie in Las Vegas

Posted on 8 Jan 2013 at 01:52

Intel is looking to make its mark in budget smartphones, unveiling the Lexington reference design.

Intel last year revealed at CES that its Atom platform was finally heading to smartphones, with seven released over the past year. More Intel handsets are on the way, but they're set for release in emerging markets such as India and Latin America, where there's huge room for sales growth, rather than the US or Europe.

"The customers in these segments want high-end smartphone features, and Intel thinks customers in these segments shouldn't have to settle," Bell said.

To help push manufacturers to use its Atom Z2420 processors in low-cost smartphones, Intel has created the Lexington reference design.

It runs an Atom chip up to 1.3GHz, features a 3.5in 430 x 320 VGA display, 1.3-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras, and supports HSPA+.

If that doesn't sound very impressive, it can snap seven still photos in one second, supports 1080p HD at 30fps, includes Intel's wireless display system, and includes SGX540 graphics for gaming.

It also supports dual SIM cards, allowing both to be active at once, as well as a microSD card slot to easily expand storage.

Other features include FM radio support - a key feature to get free content without using data allowances, Bell noted. "It’s a no compromises smartphone we’re talking about here," he said.

So far, Acer, Safaricom and Lava have all signed up to make phones, with release dates and prices to be revealed by manufacturers later this quarter.