Android smartphones with Atom chips were introduced at the International CES Show in Las Vegas. Of the first companies to experiment with Intel’s Atom chips, Samsung and LG Electronics revealed their latest Android smartphones. According to a ComputerWorld.com report, the success of this combination could shift focus from ARM chips that are currently used in most smartphones. Over 95% of smartphones make use of ARM-based chips.
This venture puts giants like Intel and Google on the same project. Google and Intel have spent considerable time and effort in optimizing the operating system to better suit Atom chips. The collaboration could result in better security for Android devices as Intel can now integrate McAfee security in future smartphones. In addition to Samsung and LG Electronics, Android fans can look forward to Motorola smartphones running on Intel Atom chips. As Google is in the process of taking over Motorola Mobility for an enormous price of $12.5 billion, Atom chips could potentially be integrated into Motorola smartphones as well. The soon to be unveiled Atom chip smartphones will be most likely be powered by Android’s latest OS, Ice Cream Sandwich.
Intel’s Atom Chip aka Medfield
Reference designs of smartphones running on the Atom chip, dubbed as Medfield, were recently posted online. Intel revealed that other products based on the Atom chip will be announced during the first half of this year. The Medfield prototype is said to resemble Apple’s iPhone 4 but weighs less. The prototype was initially designed with Android 2.3 and will most likely be upgraded to Android 4.0 to stay ahead in the competition. Although Intel is currently competing with smartphone chip experts like NVIDIA and Qualcomm, Medfield is Intel’s second chance to make a real mark in the industry. An Android class will help keep any programmer up to speed with todays swiftly changing technology.
Will Medfield Perform?
The fate of Atom chip based smartphones mainly depends upon LG’s line of products. However, replacing ARM based chips with Atom chips will be a challenging task. Intel promises that Atom smartphones will provide all-round benefits in comparison to ARM phones. With at least a 20% margin in performance and price, Atom smartphones also offer better security. One of the biggest selling points of Atom chip smartphones is security, a major concern in most Android devices. Although it is considered to be a long shot, Atom chips could change the smartphone industry to provide cheaper, efficient and more secure devices.
Other Endeavors by Intel
Initially exiting the smartphone market after selling the Strongarm chip to Marvell, Intel has taken years to build the new Atom chip. As Medfield is a single chip device, it ensures higher efficiency compared to ARM based designs. Whether you will study Atom chips in Android training courses or not mainly depends on the success rate of Intel’s newest offering. Although Intel is not the most successful name in the smartphone industry, it has an exciting line-up of products for this year as the company made news at the CES event with the latest chips for ultrabooks.
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