Intel crossed a milestone Thursday and confirmed that its first shipping Intel-based phone would be the Lava Xolo X900. The phone is due both online and in Croma stores in Lava's native India on April 23, when it will cost 22,000 rupees ($422) off-contract. Despite early hopes, it will ship with Android 2.3 at first and get 4.0 relatively soon afterwards.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini during a call discussing his company's latest results revealed that the first phone with one of its company's processors would at last be shipping this week. The executive didn't name the specific phone, but it may be the Lenovo K800, which had originally been promised for May. Other candidates could include the Orange Santa Clara or its near-identical cousin, the Lava Xolo X900.
As expected, Intel and Indian phone maker Lava have debuted a new, Medfield-powered handset at MWC, the Xolo X900. It uses Intel's Medfield platform and gets a 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 chip. The screen is 4.03 inches in size and will have an HDMI port for HD video playback. There will also be an NFC radio onboard for wallet-less payments.
Intel has reportedly teamed with Lava to create a new series of smartphones based on Medfield-series Atom chips. The Indian handset maker is said to be preparing to introduce a new smartphone brand for the Medfield devices, rather than sticking with its own branding that is currently tied to feature phones and a single budget-priced Android handset.
