Stefan Mileschin

Intel's San Diego smartphone, is being peddled to another third world country with huge debt problems and a backward political system.

The phone will go on sale in the UK on June 6 through Orange, the operator said.

The UK, which is celebrating being ruled by a hereditary monarch, has traditionally favoured ARM-based processors which are designed in the country.

But it seems that Intel is spending a lot of dosh to get its foot into the door of the mobile market.

The San Diego has Intel's Atom Z2460 processor which runs at 1.6GHz with the wind behind it and if it is going downhill. The phone also has a 4.03-inch screen with a 1024-by-600 pixel resolution and an eight megapixel camera.

Orange is a big supporter of HD Voice, which has been implemented on the San Diego.

British buyers might be a little disappointed that the phone runs the slightly elderly and incontinent Android 2.3, but an upgrade to Android 4.0 is coming.

What is interesting is that Chipzilla is trying to enter the UK market with an entry level phone. The San Diego will be available for £199.99 (US$310) on Orange Pay As You Go, when customers top up £10.

The Apple iPhone 4S with 16GB which costs £489.99 on Orange Pay As You Go.

Prepaid users in the UK get a free monthly allowance of 250MB of mobile data per month for 12 months.

Orange is also planning to launch the phone in France, but it is not clear how the phone will go down with people who don't think roast beef is a good meal and who chopped the head off their King and Queen hundreds of years ago.

http://news.techeye.net/mobile/intel...s-uk-this-week