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Intel launches chip for smartphones, tablets

Intel on Tuesday announced its long-awaited Atom chip for smartphones and tablets, a crowded market populated by a host of formidable rivals--unlike the PC market where it dominates.

Previously known by the code name "Moorestown," the Atom Z6 processor series will "open the door" for Intel chips in the smartphone market, said Pankaj Kedia, director in the Ultra Mobility Group. To date, Intel's Atom has been used primarily in Netbooks, where it has been adopted widely by all major PC makers and been an unqualified hit.

"The specific focus of Moorestown is entering the smartphone segment but it also does very well, it scales very well in the tablet segment," Kedia said. The entire package of chips is composed of the Atom Z6 series system-on-a-chip and two accompanying pieces of silicon. The system-on-a-chip is the "brains of the smartphone" and does all of the heavy lifting such as the core data processing, the handling of video and audio streams, and graphics, Kedia said.

"This time the Atom architecture was defined so it could (fit) into the high end of the smartphone segment," said Belliappa Kuttanna, chief Atom Architect.

Compared with Intel's relatively power-hungry PC processors, Moorestown's most distinctive characteristic is its power frugality. Standby time using a "BlackBerry-style" battery is 10 days. Active battery time, when Web browsing or watching video, for example, is about five hours, said Kedia, who claimed battery life is competitive with high-end "premium" smartphones. (Though Kedia didn't mention any by name, premium smartphones include Apple's iPhone and Motorola's Droid.)

But Intel's hallmark feature is performance. "When you look at Web page type of performance. For example, Java-script-rich Web sites. Specifically, how fast the Web pages load.… Read more

Motorola gives us the W161 and W181, we yawn

If you thought Motorola's first announcement at GSMA World Congress was boring, how little did you know. Perhaps it's because the company made such a bang at CES, but Motorola in Barcelona is proving to be a snoozer. Besides the Wi-Fi Motorola Z6w, Moto also unveiled two very basic phones: the W161 and W181. Sporting minimalist candy bar designs, the handsets are just for making calls. In fact, the W161 is so simple that it has a monochrome display. Surely, it's been years since we've seen one of those. Though I know there's always a … Read more

Moto's Z6w offers Wi-Fi

At the GSMA World Congress, Motorola has shown you can't judge a company by the size of its trade show booth. Though Moto had a sizable booth--and a swanky, two-story meeting area (complete with a bar)--the company's ho-hum announcements were barely audible above the din of the show floor.

Moto's biggest news, which, trust me, isn't saying much, is the Motorola Z6w. Identical to the Z6tv, and Z6c, the Z6w sports the slider design that was started by the Motorola Rizr Z3. Curiously, Motorola said it is dropping the Rizr name from its lineup, so … Read more

Verizon Wireless launches the Motorola Z6c World Edition phone

Verizon Wireless and Motorola have introduced the Motorola Z6c, a new dual-mode CDMA/GSM world phone. It's the second such offering from Verizon (RIM's BlackBerry 8830 was the first), and you can use the Motorola Z6c with Verizon Wireless's CDMA network while in the U.S., but once you're abroad, you're free to pop in any SIM card of your choosing to access the phone's GSM functionality. This is a huge boon to Verizon customers who wish to use their phones internationally, since GSM is much more accepted worldwide.

But you won't want … Read more

When wallpaper goes wrong

And here I thought Alltel's commercials were bad. As I prepared to review the Motorola Rokr Z6m I was scrolling through the phone's available wallpapers to see what it offered. After passing by the standard options that come with any Alltel or Motorola handset, I found a wallpaper that stopped me cold.

In the middle of a blue sunburst pattern was an animated figure of the blue-shirted spokesman from Alltel's grating commercials. The wallpaper shows "Chad" (as he is called) gyrating away to some unheard music. Though I can't put my finger on exactly … Read more

A Rokr or a Rizr?

Alltel landed itself a slick new cell phone today: the Motorola Rokr Z6m. A music-focused feature set gives the Z6m the Rokr name, but it is really just another Moto Rizr. It has the same (but still attractive) slider phone shape. Verizon Wireless released the nearly identical Moto Z6tv last month, but as its name suggests, that model is centered more on television.

Features on the Rokr Z6m include an MP3 player, a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, an expandable memory slot, support for TeleNav's GPS application, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack. The phone is now on sale … Read more

Moto unveils V Cast TV phone

Though there was much ado about Verizon Wireless' V Cast Mobile TV service when the carrier launched the service earlier this year, it's been eerily quiet since then. In particular, we've been waiting for new handsets beyond the original LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-U620.

Fortunately, our wait came to an end this morning when Verizon and Motorola announced the new Moto Rizr Z6tv. Sporting the familiar, and may we add quite attractive, Rizr slider design, the Z6tv offers a solid feature set beyond the Mobile TV support (which is quite enough by itself). You'll find Bluetooth, … Read more

Moto Madness: Z3, Z6, or Z8?

If you're into Moto Rizrs, as I am, you know you can buy the Z3--but you're anxiously awaiting the Z8.

But don't ignore the third in this series, the Z6. With a great feel, a solid slide, and even a separate MP3 button, this cell phone has "winner" stamped all over it.

The chrome casing is eye-catching and good-feeling (the rubberized Z3 drops a notch there) and talk time has been around five to six hours for me, with excellent reception. Browser connection is almost instantaneous. It also takes a 2GB microSD card, so you … Read more

Photos: Fancy new Moto phones

Motorola today showed off a bunch of fancy cell phones, including the new Razr 2. At an event in New York City, the company debuted not only a successor to the popular Razr line but also showed off the Rokr Z6, the "media monster" Z8, and new versions of the Motorola Q. Multimedia is a big theme here, while slider and thin designs continue to be in. Check out photos of the event and the new handsets in our slide show.