MWC: Intel-powered smartphones to launch this year

BARCELONA: Intel has confirmed that a number of smartphone models will be launched this year using the firm's processors.

Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said during a keynote at Mobile World Congress that the devices will be available at some point during 2011, but declined to give any further information except to say that it is a "pretty exciting" time for Intel.

Otellini said that he understood why Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop had chosen to go with Microsoft, and therefore likely pull out of the partnership around the MeeGo platform, and said that it represented a milestone in the industry.

"The move means that possibly the last fully integrated mobile phone manufacturer is now another horizontal," he said.

Otellini also made some interesting comments about the future of technology, revealing that Intel is creating wireless electricity systems in its labs and has been able to run a lamp using this form of power.

"It's just a proof of concept at the moment and we need to make sure it's safe, but it's probably only about five years away," he said.

Otellini believes that a new type of battery technology is one of the next big challenges that has to be addressed in the coming years.

"We can't keep using lithium-ion batteries. We need something that lasts a lot longer, possible made from silicon. Whoever invents that will make a fortune," he said.

Finally Otellini said that he had had a drink with Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am in Barcelona, suggesting that the appointmen t of the musician as a director of creative innovation at Intel is more than just a token gesture.