Is the RAZR i the fastest smartphone ever? Motorola says yes.
Last summer, Google acquired Motorola Mobility, in a deal worth a reported $12.5 billion. Now Motorola Mobility has partnered with chip-maker Intel to release a new Google-Motorola-Intel hybrid device dubbed the Motorola RAZR i. In size, shape, and hue, the RAZR i greatly resembles the recently unveiled RAZR M (more on that phone, and the RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD here).听
Witness the sleek black chassis, the 8-megapixel camera, and the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen, which Motorola calls "edge-to-edge" 鈥� meaning, in this case, that there's very little border to the display. Almost all the exterior details match the RAZR M. The difference between the RAZR M and the RAZR i, of course, is the Intel Atom processor. According to Motorola, the Atom will allow the RAZR i to hit speeds of聽2.0 GHz, the fastest ever on a smartphone.聽
By way of example, Motorola says the camera app would launch in less than a second.聽
"Intel鈥檚 goal is to provide compelling technology options that translate into great user benefits and experiences," Intel exec Erik Reid said in a statement today. "RAZR i is a great proofpoint in the collaboration and we鈥檙e thrilled to be working with Motorola to bring this edge-to-edge experience enhanced with Intel Inside to people around the world."
Of course, as Natasha Lomas over at TechCrunch, the RAZR i isn't the first Intel-powered Android smartphone. There was the oddly-titled Orange San Diego, which was for 拢200 in the UK, or roughly $300. And there's the (how about that mish-mash of upper-case letters and actual real words?). But Lomas rightly singles out the RAZR i as the first Intel phone from a "recognizable mobile maker."听
And when it comes to smartphones, brand matters a great deal.聽
No word yet on when 鈥� or if 鈥� the RAZR i will launch in the US. But Motorola has set an October launch for "European and Latin American markets including the U.K., France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico."听
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