Intel has unveiled a set of reference designs for smartphones and tablets centered around their latest generation of chips. The devices run the Android operating system and sport the latest and greatest Intel chipsets, which have been specifically optimized to speed up web traffic and apps on mobile devices.
According to Technology Review, who were apparently given the prototypes last week for review purposes, the devices are “powerful and easy to use,” comparable to the leaders in the device markets. The prototypes are a meant to be a demonstration of what Intel’s latest chips – dubbed Medfield – are capable of.
Intel’s chips are found in a wide variety of devices, including computers, TVs, and a whole host of others. Nevertheless, the chip maker that has long reigned supreme in the personal computer market has remained woefully underrepresented in smartphones and tablets. Though Intel has chips in some Android-based phones, many smartphones use chip technology developed by, and licensed from, ARM Technology, a British tech company. The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S both use the A5 processor, a chip designed in-house by Apple and based on ARM’s technology. These new devices aim to increase Intel’s presence in the ridiculously lucrative smartphone market.