CES: Intel teams up with Lenovo and Motorola to launch Atom-based smartphones

LAS VEGAS: Intel chief executive Paul Otellini made the most of his CES keynote by announcing two high-profile smartphone partnerships and adding to the ultrabook family.

The chip manufacturer revealed that Lenovo will be the first manufacturer to launch an Intel Atom-based smartphone. The Lenovo K800 will ship with the 1.6GHz Atom Medfield processor and the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

The only specifications confirmed by Lenovo on stage were the 4.5in 720p display and 8-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash. The device will initially to go on sale in China starting in the second quarter with pricing and worldwide release dates yet to be confirmed.

Mike Bell, vice president and general manager of ultra mobility at Intel gave an extended demonstration of the firm's Atom-based reference smartphone. He showcased the ability to play HD movies and even demonstrated how users can capture 15 pictures in less than a second with the camera.

Bell rather boldly claimed that Intel-based Atom smartphones are the "most highly optimised version of Android on the planet".

Midway through the Intel keynote Motorola chief executive Sanjay Jha appeared on stage to announce that the manufacturer had signed a multi-year, multi-device partnership with Intel to make Atom-powered phones. Devices are expected to start rolling out this summer, Jha said.

The Intel chief finished off by emphasising the importance of ultrabooks, which up until now have been the main focus for the firm during CES.

To round off the announcements, Dell vice chairman Jeff Clarke came to the stage to unveil the firm's first ultrabook.

The Dell XPS 13 will feature a 13in Gorilla Glass screen, weigh 1.35kg and have a thickness of 6mm at its thinnest point. Dell claims the device will run for up to eight hours on a single charge.

The ultrabook will run on an Intel dual-core Core i5 2467M or i7 2637M processor and feature 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Dell will offer users the choice between a 128GB SSD or a 256GB SSD and plans to start taking orders in February.

Although the keynote finished without mention of the Clover Trail chipset, Intel's creative director will.i.am did help to ensure that attendees left the keynote smiling when he proclaimed that "the ultrabook is the new ghetto blaster".