14 DAY TRIAL // Chip maker Intel appears set to assault the smartphone market with a new processor, one that was leaked not too long ago as the dual-core Merrifield, a successor to the Medfield Atom processor that failed to impress too much.
The new mobile processor is expected to be officially introduced at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, and should deliver far better performance levels than the current chip, rumor has it.
While nothing has been officially confirmed on the matter for the time being, the processor has already made an appearance online, courtesy of benchmarking results for a certain Redhookbay device from Intel.
Spotted in NenaMark, Redhookbay managed to score 58.30, and unveiled some of the possible specs of the aforementioned Intel processor.
Thus, the dual-core CPU should operate at a frequency of between 1.6GHZ and 2.0GHz, while featuring a PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU attached to it.
Furthermore, the Merrifield chip is said to provide users with 4G LTE connectivity right from the start, something that Medfield did not offer.
Redhookbay also made an appearance in AnTuTu, where it managed to score quite high at 31,612, with Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean loaded on it.
For the time being, Redhookbay might be nothing more than a developer board, and not an actual phone, yet the benchmarking scores it has managed to obtain are still impressive.
According to rumors, Intel might not plan the launch of its own smartphones powered by this processor, but it might partner with various handset vendors out there for the inclusion of its chip inside their devices.
What remains to be seen is which markets Intel would target with the new processor. Some other reports, however, suggest that the company might have it packed inside entry-level smartphones for countries such as China, India and other emerging markets. Stay tuned to learn more on this.
