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Intel Medfield x86 chips don't support 4G LTE, but it is coming soon

Intel Medfield x86 chips don't support 4G LTE, but it is coming soon

By Gaurav Shukla | Updated: 24 September 2012 17:14 IST

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Intel has been trying to make headway in the smartphone market for quite some time. Its latest attempt might not have generated any major buzz, but the company's chips have been slowly reaching smartphones. At least six smartphones with Intel chips have either made their way to stores or are on the way, including the recently launched Motorola RAZR i.

One of the reasons why Intel-powered smartphones are yet to click with consumers is the lack of major manufacturer branding, which is partly because of the lack of 4G LTE support in the chips. No major manufacturer wants to release high-end devices without 4G support as consumers demand it in bigger markets like US.

Intel confirmed the lack of LTE support in Medfield chips to TechCrunch recently but promised that it is coming soon. The company's director of product marketing Sumeet Syal told the blog that 4G support is in the pipeline, noting that Intel "will be shipping some LTE products later this year and ramping into 2013".

With markets around the globe increasingly getting 4G, Intel would not want to be left behind in this race. 4G LTE support will give manufacturers' like HTC, LG and Sony another reason to consider Intel chips for their phones.

App compatibility
Another reason of concern with Intel chips is the lack of compatibility with all Android apps. Recently an Android blog found that even Google's Chrome browser was not compatible with the Motorola RAZR i smartphone, which runs on an Intel chip.

Syal however points out that majority of apps work fine with Intel chips. "We're not quoting any numbers - but the majority of all the apps we've tested work just fine," Syal told TechCrunch. He also noted that the Intel software team is continuously working to make sure that all the apps work, which means incompatible apps are decreasing day-by-day.

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