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Safaricom announces the Yolo, Africa's first Intel-powered smartphone
Intel is finally opening its wings and spreading its mobile influence to Africa, as Kenya's Safaricom has officially introduced the Yolo phone. The device, which will be the very first Intel-powered smartphone on the continent, will be priced at Kshs 10,999 ($126) and bundled with 500MB of data. The handset supports HSPA+ network connectivity and packs a Z2420 Atom processor that reaches speeds of up to 1.2GHz. If that CPU sounds familiar, it should, because it's the same "Lexington" chip that we sampled a few weeks back at CES. As for the rest of the Yolo's specs, you're looking at Android 4.0 on a 3.5-inch display and snapping pictures with a 5-megapixel shooter capable of recording 1080p HD video. Instead of competing with top-shelf handsets, Safaricom hopes to catch the eye of frugal first-time buyers with this budget-friendly device. If you fit the bill, you may want to check out the Yolo as soon as possible -- after all, your phone only lives once.
No surprise: Intel has known about Chrome OS, worked with Google on 'elements' of project
So as it turns out, Intel isn't just casually accepting of Google's new OS initiative, it's actually been privy to the project for some time now, according to a spokesperson for the chipmaker. The two have apparently also worked together (and are potentially still working together) on portions of Chrome OS, he says, which really makes it all the more curious that the company isn't mentioned among Google's first partners while Qualcomm, Freescale, and Texas Instruments are. Then again, said inclusion might make the Moblin team more than a little bit upset, and either way, let's not forget that Atom chips will be sold regardless of which OS is on the system -- it's really kind of a win-win situation that we reckon the hardware division isn't complaining about.
