Intel isn't yet done with x86 smartphone chips

From InfoWorld: Smartphones with Intel-based x86 chips aren't dead yet. Intel may have stopped making Atom chips for smartphones, but a partner is keeping that effort alive.

Chinese chip maker Spreadtrum is still making x86 smartphone chips based on the Atom architecture named Airmont. The company will ship a powerful eight-core Atom variant for smartphones in the second half of this year.

Smartphone makers will be able to use the Spreadtrum SC9861G-IA chip in mid-range handsets. It will have a PowerVR GT7200 graphics core and support 4K video and displays with resolutions up to 2560 x 1440 pixels.

It's far more powerful than the original Atom smartphone chips made by Intel. Handsets with the chip were shown at Intel's booth at the ongoing Mobile World Congress trade show.

And that may not be all. Intel is also open to the idea of making smartphone chips again, but with integrated modems. Intel wants to make chips for any device that needs to connect, and that could include smartphones, said Aicha Evans, senior vice president and general manager of the Communication and Devices Group at Intel, in an interview at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

View: Article @ Source Site