WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
Indian handset company Lava International is to launch a handset on Monday which was described as “the first smartphone with Intel inside,” following a partnership with the chip giant announced during the GSMA Mobile World Congress in February.
The XOLO X900 uses a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, and is powered by Google’s Android platform. It has a 4-inch high-resolution screen, has an 8-megapixel integrated camera, and includes HSPA+ connectivity.
Lava has formed a partnership with national consumer electronics retailer Croma for the promotion and sale of the device, with wider availability to follow early in May 2012. It will be priced at “approximately INR22,000 (US$423),” a high price given the country's wage levels.
While Intel’s position in the PC market has been assured for many years, it has failed to generate a position in the smartphone market, which has instead been dominated by rivals such as Qualcomm, TI and Samsung.
Earlier this year, it announced partnerships with Motorola Mobility and Chinese IT giant Lenovo intended to address this weakness, which were later complemented by deals with Lava and aggressive handset maker ZTE.
The company is also working with Orange to offer an own-brand Intel-powered smartphone to customers in Europe, which is set for launch “this European summer.” This handset is being manufactured by vendor Gigabyte.
