At the Mobile World Congress Intel Corp. announced a range of new products, ecosystem and enabling efforts that will further accelerate the company’s presence in mobile devices. Among the other things the company introduced a new dual-core Atom SoC ("Clover Trail+") platform for smartphones and Android tablets.

“In less than a year's time we have worked closely with our customers to bring Intel-based smartphones to market in more than 20 countries around the world, and have also delivered an industry-leading low-power Atom SoC tablet solution running Windows 8, and shipping with leading OEM customers today. Looking forward, we will build upon this foundation and work closely with our ecosystem partners, across operating systems, to deliver the best mobile products and experiences for consumers with Intel Inside,” said Hermann Eul, Intel vice president and co-general manager of the mobile and communications group.

Intel’s new Atom processor platform (Clover Trail+) and smartphone reference design delivers leading performance with low-power and long battery life that rivals today’s most popular Android phones, according to Intel. The product brings Intel’s classic product strengths, including high performance that lets you enjoy smooth web browsing, vibrant, glitch-free, full HD movies, and an Android applications experience that launches fast and runs great.

Intel Atom Z2500-series “Clover Trail+” family includes three dual-core system-on-chips, including Z2580, Z2560, Z2520, with clock-speeds up to 2.0GHz, 1.6GHz and 1.2GHz, respectively. The processor also features support for Intel Hyper-Threading technology, supporting four simultaneous application threads and further enhancing the overall efficiency of the Atom cores.

The SoC also includes an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator engine clocked at up to 533MHz with boost mode, and delivering up to three times the graphics performance in 3D graphics apps compared to predecessor as well as full 1080p hardware-accelerated video encode and decode at 30fps. The GPU supports 1900x1200 maximum screen resolution, hence it will hardly be able to power leading-edge Android-based tablets. The platform will also support Intel wireless display technology output.

The new Atom platform also brings advanced imaging capabilities, including support for two cameras, with a primary camera sensor up to 16MP megapixels. The imaging system also enables panorama capture, a 15 frame-per-second burst mode for 8 megapixel photos, real-time facial detection and recognition, and mobile HDR image capture with de-ghosting for clearer pictures in flight.

The platform is also equipped with Intel identity protection technology (Intel IPT), helping to enable strong, two-factor authentication for protecting cloud services such as remote banking, e-commerce, online gaming and social networking from unauthorized access.

“Our second-generation product delivers double the compute performance and up to three times the graphics capabilities, all while maintaining competitive low power. As we transition to 22nm Atom SoCs later this year, we will take full advantage of the broad spectrum of capabilities enabled by our design, architecture, 22nm tri-gate transistor technology, and leading-edge manufacturing to further accelerate our position,” said Mr. Eul.

Customers announcing support for "Clover Trail+" platform for phones and tablets include Asustek Computer, Lenovo Group and ZTE.

Intel also highlighted its forthcoming 22nm smartphone Atom SoC ("Merrifield"). The product is based on Intel’s leading-edge 22nm process and an entirely new Atom microarchitecture that will help enable increased smartphone performance, power efficiency and battery life.

Tags: Intel, Atom, Clover Trail, Clover Trail+, 32nm, Android, Google, ASUS, Lenovo, ZTE