UK network Orange has launched the San Diego, an Android phone powered by Intel's Medfield Atom processor.
Hot on the heels of the Lava Xolo X900 going on sale in India, another smartphone powered by Intel’s Medfield processor is about to hit the shelves, this time in the UK.
Initially revealed as an exclusive device for the UK network Orange, with the codename Santa Clara, it has now been officially announced with the name San Diego. Orange loves naming its own branded devices after cities, with the ZTE Blade/Orange San Francisco being one of the best known.Like Lava’s Xolo, the San Diego is based on Intel’s reference design hardware, with which it demonstrated the capabilities of the Medfield chip last year.
The San Diego uses Intel’s Atom Z2460 processor, with a clock speed of 1.6Ghz, making it unique amongst a sea of phones all using ARM processor architecture. The Medfield Atom chip represents Intel’s most effective attempt to break ARM’s hold on the mobile industry yet.
A 4.03-inch touchscreen sits on the front of the 9.9mm thick, 117 gram chassis, and has a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. On the rear is an 8-megapixel camera with the ability to record 1080p video, and other features include 16GB of internal memory, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS and an HDMI-out port.
Perhaps the only disappointing aspect of the San Diego is that it runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but as Lava has stated an Android 4.0 update will be coming for the X900, there’s a chance Orange may offer one too.
So how much will the San Diego cost? If you select a Pay As You Go tariff, it’s a reasonable £199 (about $300), or alternatively an offer of a 24-month contract at £15.50 per-month, with the phone for free, will be provided for the first month of release. The Orange San Diego will go on sale on June 6.
