UNVEILED: Motorola unwraps first Intel-powered smartphone

Google-owned Motorola has released its first Intel-powered smartphone, which is based on a mid-range model sold in the US that features an ARM-based Snapdragon processor. The smartphone features a new Intel Atom chip, which runs at...

Google-owned Motorola has released its first Intel-powered smartphone, which is based on a mid-range model sold in the US that features an ARM-based Snapdragon processor.

The Razr i has a 4.3 inches (10.9cm) display screen, making it bigger than Apple''s iPhone 5, but smaller than Samsung''s top-selling Galaxy S3 and HTC''s One X.

The smartphone features a new Intel Atom chip, which runs at 2 gigahertz, and is an improvement on the 1.6GHz model included in an Orange-branded model launched in the UK in May.

Intel said the chipset also included a new image signal processor that had been specifically optimised to work with Motorola''s technology.

'You can be ready to take a picture in less than one second, which is about twice as fast as other products on the market,' Eric Reid, General Manager of Intel mobile and communications group, told the BBC.

However, the inclusion of Intel''s technology has indicated that Google has not been able to offer Chrome as the default web browser, as it does with the handset''s US counterpart, the Droid Razr M, the report said.

'Chrome is not ready for pre-loading on this device,' acknowledged Jim Wicks, senior Vice President of Consumer Experience Design at Motorola.

Motorola said it had also included its own 'Smart Actions' software to help the device achieve an approximate 20-hour lifespan between charges. The utility is not offered to other Android device makers, the report said.

The handset will be offered in the UK, France, Germany and Latin America, it added.