Intel’s Atom chip has made the leap from netbooks to smartphones, as a MeeGo device sporting an “Atom Inside” badge was spotted at a Russian Intel event.

One of the big reasons for Intel to be part of the group backing MeeGo development is that it lets the chip giant get its foot in the door of the smartphone market. It seems that every manufacturer has a favorite CPU – many of them ARM-based – yet you don’t see any using Intel’s chips. Since the performance levels of smartphones and low-end laptops are in the process of converging, Intel should rightly feel left out. MeeGo affords the company the opportunity to show if its wares have the power and energy efficiency to hold up against more established smartphone CPUs.

Aside from the Atom inclusion, there’s little to go on from the pics Mail.ru snapped. The phone is apparently the “Hi/Lo Vibrant”, and looks to have a five-megapixel camera with LED flash. We wouldn’t hold our breath waiting to see this model make it to the US, but expect other Atom pioneers to follow its lead and take a chance on Intel’s hardware. The next version of MeeGo, hopefully ushering in some new hardware running it, is likely to be released around April.

Source: Engadget