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Intel's Yolo low-cost smartphone debuts

Intel's low-cost smartphone will be sold for the first time in Kenya, the chipmaker announced today.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
Brooke Crothers
Intel Yolo smartphone will be priced at about $125 for sale in Africa.
Intel Yolo smartphone will be priced at about $125 for sale in Africa. Anandtech

Safaricom today announced a smartphone based an Intel design -- part of the chipmaker's effort to enter the global low-cost phone market.

The Yolo smartphone is aimed "cost-conscious...first-time buyers" in Kenya, said Intel, which is responsible for both the core electronics and phone's design.

That design was announced at CES 2013.

Inside the 3.5-inch Yolo is an Intel Atom Z2420 processor that can run at speeds up to 1.2 GHz and Intel's XMM 6265 modem with HSPA+ support for global roaming.

Yolo will be sold in Safaricom shops in Kenya at an entry price of Kshs. 10,999 (about $125) and comes bundled with 500 MB of free data.

And this follows an announcement in April of the Xolo X900 by Intel and India-based Lava International. That phone is built around the Intel Atom Z2460 processor.

At CES 2013, Intel announced the Lexington smartphone platform  -- the design that Safaricom is using for Yolo
At CES 2013, Intel announced the Lexington smartphone platform -- the design that Safaricom is using for Yolo. CNET