{"id":640018,"date":"2013-01-24T12:59:35","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T17:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=743803"},"modified":"2013-01-24T12:59:35","modified_gmt":"2013-01-24T17:59:35","slug":"intel-makes-mobile-push-into-africa-via-partner-safaricom-releases-android-powered-yolo-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/640018","title":{"rendered":"Intel Makes Mobile Push Into Africa Via Partner Safaricom, Releases Android-Powered Yolo Smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lexington\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Intel is gunning to gain some mobile traction in emerging markets, and the chipmaker doesn\u2019t seem to be wasting any time in 2013. Kenyan wireless operator (and Intel partner) Safaricom has just officially revealed Africa\u2019s first Intel smartphone, the Android-powered Yolo<\/a> at an event in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Yeah, you read that right: the Yolo.<\/p>\n

Now despite what you make of its name, the phone isn\u2019t actually encouraging young, tech-savvy Africans make poorly-considered life decisions. Instead, it seems more like the continuation of some weird existing naming practices \u2014 Intel\u2019s first Atom-powered Android smartphone for instance was dubbed the XOLO X900<\/a> when it made its debut in India in April 2012.<\/p>\n

The announcement doesn\u2019t come as much of a surprise since Intel\u2019s Mobile and Communications VP Mike Bell pointed out at CES that Safaricom (among other carriers in developing regions) would release smartphones based on the company\u2019s value-oriented smartphone reference design<\/a> in Q1 2013. That focus on highly cost-sensitive markets means that the Yolo and its ilk don\u2019t exactly have a spec sheet that will set your world on fire \u2014 the Yolo sports a 3.5-inch touch display, and its Atom Z2420 processor can hit speeds of up to 1.2GHz, encode and decode 1080p video, and support HSPA+ data speeds. Naturally, that sort of performance is reminiscent of the sorts of devices you can find on domestic store shelves a few years ago (a sentiment Engadge<\/a>t echoed when they got some brief hands-on time at CES), but it\u2019s still a pretty compelling package considering the competition in Kenya.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s always the issue of cost to deal with. Safaricom will soon begin selling the Yolo (and 500MB of free data access) for Kshs. 10,999 (roughly $126) \u2014 sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but companies like Huawei have already waging a price war with devices like the $80 IDEOS smartphone<\/a> on the front line. Really, with the explosion of even less expensive smartphones<\/a> in Kenya and beyond, one has to wonder how much of a market Intel will actually be able to carve out in Africa.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that Intel is gunning to gain some mobile traction in emerging markets, and the chipmaker doesn\u2019t seem to be wasting any time in 2013. Kenyan wireless operator (and Intel partner) Safaricom has just officially revealed Africa\u2019s first Intel smartphone, the Android-powered Yolo at an event in Nairobi. Yeah, you read that right: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mobile","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}