Orange Santa Clara first ever phone to pack Intel

Intel and Orange confirmed late rumors in the evening and previewed the Santa Clara, the first officially launching Intel-based phone. Built behind the scenes by Taiwan's Gigabyte, the phone we first saw at CES will run Intel's new 1.6GHz Medfield-based chip as well as Intel's 21Mbps HSPA 3G chipset from its recent acquisition target Infineon. While not a high-end phone, it should potentially outperform many others at a similar price.

A four-inch screen, an eight-megapixel camera, and Android 2.3 put the Santa Clara would normally put it in the mid-tier, although a very dense 600x1024 screen resolution and 10 frames per second burst shooting give it advantages over most others in its class. Intel is still claiming reasonable battery performance that would normally need an ARM chip, at eight hours of 3G talk and two weeks on standby.

It supports modern smartphone extras such as MHL hybrid audio and video out as well as NFC for payments and other short-range wireless tags.

Timing may be its core issue. France and the UK will only get the phone through Orange in the summer, when phones like the HTC One S will arrive. Orange still hopes to compete on price, however. Android 4.0 should also follow soon after launch.

By Electronista Staff

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Intel, industry, Orange, Android, ARM, Atom, mobile phones, Medfield, Santa Clara