Intel to power two new 4G Lenovo smartphones in early 2015

From CNET: Intel is taking another step forward in its march toward mobile relevancy.

Lenovo plans to announce two new Intel-powered smartphones in the first two months of next year, according to a person familiar with the devices. Intel will provide both its 64-bit Atom processor and LTE-Advanced modem chips for the Lenovo phones, with one targeting China coming by early February and the other focused on emerging countries, coming in early January. The information comes just weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas early next month, when Intel, Lenovo and other major tech firms are expected to make a series of product announcements.

The design wins, the person said, mark Intel's first 4G smartphone in China -- by far the biggest smartphone market by current users in the world -- and represent an important milestone for Intel as the country rapidly moves into high-speed 4G technology. The deal follows two previous Intel-powered smartphones released by Chinese vendor Lenovo.

The 4G phones follow Intel's announcement in October of its first 4G smartphone in the US, the Asus PadFone X Mini. Though such product announcements are helpful advances for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, Intel remains well behind Qualcomm -- which controls two-thirds of the global mobile modem market -- and MediaTek as a supplier of chips for smartphones and tablets.

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