Sprint's New Mobile WiMax Smartphone Gets Reviewed

HTC Evo 4G which is coming this June will be the last Android phone to have minuscule battery life as the next one on the line will last up to 240 hours without charge.

OZCAR could confidently say so as Intel revealed about its new Moorestown processor, nicknamed Intel Atom Z-Series which will offer cellphones with up to 10 days of battery life. According to Intel the new mobile processor is ready for mobile manufacturers to catch hold of.

The new processor is said to support Android OS and MeeGo, Intel’s newly created Linux platform. Eventually it will also support the Windows Phone 7 but we are not sure of the specific date.

Apparently the new processor is designed to save power and provide the power of a computer in a cellphone, as users are using their phones for many more other stuff than just making calls. The processor is focused to offer around 10 days of standby, six hours of 3G talk time and two full days of continuous music playback from a single charge.

Intel has also tested the new processor against the top five smartphone available at the moment and believes that they will definitely do much better than the rest. Future phones to come with the new processor will also get speeds up to 1.5Ghz, strong graphics processing support, will be able to run multiple 5-megapixel camera sensors, HDMI out and 1080p playback for videos.

Android phones with the new processor are expected to hit the UK market by second half of 2010.

It may be a game that was released some 11 years ago, but it still counts as a benchmark people recognize. If Quake 3 runs like lightning on your latest device, then you know you are on to a winner. So it’s with little surprise that Intel is using it to show off their Atom-Z (Moorestone) chip powering a cellphone.

The demonstration showed the game running at 100 fps, which is unplayable, but the point is it won’t struggle and gives gamers a solid 30/60 fps experience that is playable. Such performance can also be used to offer flawless HD video output, multitasking apps, and media-rich web browsing without breaking a sweat.

Gaming isn’t the only facet of the Atom-Z Intel is pushing, however. The chip giant is claiming its latest Atom chip is a better option than ARM processors for mobile devices. Power consumption is 50x less than current Atom chips, and developers can continue to use an x86 platform.

We won’t have to wait long to see the Atom-Z in use either, as Intel say devices will appear on the market in the second half of 2010. A 1.5GHz Atom-Z will be found in smartphones, while a 1.9GHz model will be in tablet devices, and both platforms run PowerVR 3D graphics acceleration. Intel is also promising devices running on Moblin.

Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) next-gen Atom processor-based platform (formerly "Moorestown") caused quite a stir in the news and among mobile computing aficionados. On the technical side, Intel seems to have delivered the goods. The platform includes Intel's Atom processor Z6xx Series Family (formerly "Lincroft"), the Platform Controller Hub MP20 (formerly "Langwell") and a dedicated Mixed Signal IC (MSIC) (formerly "Briertown").

It adds 3-D graphics, video encode and decode, and memory and display controllers into the single system-on-chip (SoC) design. Also included are the MP20 Platform Controller Hub and a dedicated MSIC, integrating power delivery and battery charging, and consolidating a range of analog and digital components.

What does this mean in plain English? That the new Atom platform is simply the best performing solution for handheld computing devices Intel has ever developed.

How much better? Try >50x reduction in idle power, >20x reduction in audio power and 2-3x power reductions in browsing and video compared to the previous-generation Atom (aka "Menlow") processor. These efficiencies translate into >10 days of standby, up to two days of audio playback and four to five hours of browsing and video life with common 1500mAh batteries.

Along with power savings, Intel's new Atom platform offers highly enhanced audio/video features that are critical to consumer experience and satisfaction. How enhanced? Compared to "Menlow," the new platform delivers 1.5-3x higher compute performance, 2-4x richer graphics, >4x higher JavaScript performance and support for full HD 1080p high-profile video decoding and 720p HD video recording.

said by Seph83:

From a 1ghz Dual Core processor with a 1500mah battery and several radios... That's one thing they really need to work on, is batteries. They make these phones more powerful, and the battery is the weakness. I should know, I own a BlackBerry Bold 9650.

said by kapil:

- WiMax is only used for data....voice still uses CDMA, which is stupid.

That last point is important. Sprint may have bee first to market with a "4G" network...but I don't quite get their strategy.

There is no standard for voice over WiMax...and doesn't look like there ever will be. So, Sprint is forever tied to hauling voice over CDMA and data over WiMax...and a WiMax network that it doesn't fully own or control.

Couple the above with the fact that WiMax has awful building penetration and coverage and it means that WiMax will never truly be a complete replacement for EVDO....and of course EVDO itself isn't perfect and needs to fall back to 1xRTT every so often.

said by SysOp:

How long did the battery last for Walt? We don't know.
How long would it last if he didn't use the hotspot feature? We don't know.
Before his battery lags, what was his voice usage? What was his data usage? These details are lacking!