Orange San Diego to launch Intel-Based Android Smartphone

UK network, Orange, has unveiled its first new high-performance Android smartphone powered by Intel inside®, named as Orange San Diego. Earlier codenamed as ‘Orange Santa Clara,’ the device will deliver users the newest innovative smartphone capabilities. When looking at the price of this smartphone, both Orange and Intel have become more hostile in a bid to significantly draw attention from people and tech enthusiasts. It will arrive in UK on June 6, with starting prices at £199.99 for Orange Pay As You Go customers or £15.50 on 24-month contract. It is expected that the handset will be available in France and American shores in the second week of June, after then soon outside the UK market.

Until now, there are only few Android smartphones coming with Intel-based processors and Lenovo K800 which recently launched in China is included in this list. Though these devices have not high specs, people wants some change and so they prefer a device running on a processor based on Intel’s architecture instead of the usual ARM-based chips. Currently Intel’s new mobile processor is featured in only 2 smart phones - Lava Xolo X900 (released in India in April) and Lenovo K800 (already launched in China). One good news is that Intel’s own version of x86-based smartphone will arrive this month.

The San Diego measures 123mm x 63mm x 9.99m with 4.03-inch touchscreen display with 1024 x 600 resolutions and weighs 117g. A 3.5mm headphone jack placed on the top side, whereas HDMI-output at full 1080p resolution is supported. The camera providing on board seems to be fairly solid. The San Diego features an 8MP rear-facing camera that contains a burst shot mode. The component is even listed as being able to record 1080p Full HD videos. The only downside is that San Diego runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread at present, though Orange has promised that after release an Ice Cream Sandwich update will come soon. There are no details about the phone's battery, just expecting that it will boast 8 hours talk time and 14 days on standby. Other features consists of 16GB of internal storage, packing a single core Atom Z2460 1.6GHz processor, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, an HDMI-out port, etc. Overall, it seems to be quite a good deal for people who want a more than decent mid-range device.

Key features and technical specifications of the Intel-based Orange San Diego:

• 4.03-inch touchscreen display with 1024 x 600 resolution
• 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 Medfield processor
• 16GB flash memory
• HSPA+ support
• HD voice support
• A-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1
• HDMI-out
• 8-megapixel back camera with HD video recording and image stabilization
• Size: 123 x 63 x 9.9mm
• Weight: 117g
• 1GB of RAM
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread (exclusive Orange apps pre-loaded: Orange Wednesdays, Your Orange, Orange Gestures)

Hands on with the Orange San Diego video from youtube: