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Intel described Android as the chipmaker’s ‘platform of choice’ for smartphones while claiming that upcoming Intel Medfield based smartphones would be faster than rivals.
The company made no secret of extensive efforts to optimise the open-source mobile operating system for the x86 instruction set but now appears to be confident in saying that Android will run better on the firm’s processors than those of ARM-based rivals.
Speaking to the EETimes, Intel’s ‘ultra mobility’ chief Mike Bell said: "We have chips that are just as power efficient as everyone else. At the same time, they’re faster."
Bell also revealed that Intel had produced a reference Medfield-based smartphone which he said was a cut above a prototype. "For all intents and purposes, you could sell this as a phone tomorrow," he said.
The first Intel-based smartphone to arrive will be an LG device for the Chinese market with Motorola expected to follow with a model available from the outset in West, later in the year.
Bell made lofty claims about the performance of Medfield-based smartphones, saying of the chip in web benchmarks: "we smoke the competition, in some cases we’re two, three, four times faster," he said.
The Intel mobile chief also hinted at an upcoming announcement of something that would "fundamentally make the user experience better", which the firm is clearly hoping will be attractive to handset manufacturers.
EEtimes has a video interview with Bell here.
