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Moto's first Ice Cream Sandwich, Medfield handset leaked?

All of the smartphone's features are not immediately known, but a new report claims the device is running on Intel's new Medfield chip.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read
Lenovo's Liu Jun showing off the K800, his company's first Intel-powered smartphone.
Lenovo's Liu Jun showing off the K800, his company's first Intel-powered smartphone. James Martin/CNET

At Mobile World Congress later this month, a host of new smartphones will be on display. But it could be that one of Motorola's newbies has been leaked already.

Mobile blog PocketNow yesterday revealed a photo of what it claims is the first Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)-based smartphone from Motorola. The blog doesn't know what the device is called, but was able to find out that it comes with a new version of Motorola's MotoBlur user interface. In addition, the device's camera has a 15-frame-per-second burst capture, according to PocketNow.

But PocketNow's biggest claim is that the device will ship with Intel's new mobile Medfield chip. The Atom-based system-on-a-chip could be Intel's best mobile component yet, and the chipmaker has its sights set on ARM. Reviews site Anandtech last month showed off benchmarks, detailing how Medfield performs far better in browser performance and speed--among other metrics--than those chips found in Apple's iPhone 4S, the Motorola Droid Razr, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Although PocketNow has few details on the smartphone, there's a strong possibility the images it was sent of the device are real. Motorola has already signed on to use Medfield chips in unannounced smartphones, and the company is widely expected to unveil those handsets at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. There's a possibility that the smartphone leaked to PocketNow will be unveiled at the event.

One other note on Medfield: Lenovo has bundled the chip in its K800 smartphone. That device is launching sometime this year.

Motorola did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the PocketNow leak.