We knew Intel was in a hurry to ensure its Medfield processors hit smartphones but we never knew the level of urgency. Intel is currently looking at India and China to introduce its Medfield processor running Android smartphones, which could be launched as soon as April. In India, Lava is tipped to be Intel’s first partner, which is most likely to be made public at MWC. Lava will launch a new smartphone oriented brand that will be run separately from its mobile phone brand and will operate under its own brand name. It will have its own sales and distribution teams in place. At the moment we are not sure whether it would carry only Intel’s hardware or will also sell smartphones based on Qualcomm, TI and NVIDIA’s gear too. Read on for details of India’s first Intel Medfield running Android smartphone.
The device is likely to feature a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, a 8.0 MP camera and a 3.5 or 3.7-inch display. We are not quite sure why Intel would go with Lava and not a more prominent brand. It could be a case of global OEMs not being able to ship commercial products as early as Intel would prefer. It also would not want to miss the India/China opportunity, while major OEMs would look at introducing such a product globally.
But even if the device’s performance is top-notch, will consumers be willing to spend upwards of Rs 20,000 on a smartphone from a relatively new, local brand? It looks like both us and Intel will find out at the same time.
