Intel has a prototype handset, they can mass produce it with no problem. They already make SSD drives, motherboards, wireless cards, raid cards, ethernet adapters, cable modems and set-top-boxes (not yet but they bought out TI's Puma line last year), complete server & workstation computers, they used to make video cards... Trust me, if they can make all those things, a phone not impossible.

I'm going to be a gloomy gus and say nobody will. Ecosystems run things now, and Intel's AppUp isn't there yet.

Samsung may very well use the MeeGo core for Bada, but to be honest I think Samsung already is way ahead of MeeGo. The wave 8500 use some OpenBSD and it works hell of a lot better than any MeeGo I have seen.

In fact it's a mystery. Samsung made Bada in no time, including different cores using different OS'es. Nokia and Intel didn't get anywhere, even though Maemo was up and running.

They will be there fast I think, Intel has removed fees for joining their developer program and announced the first 100 approved apps get $500 USD and the top 10 get $1000. Nokia is still running their own Qt contests too.

Aren't the two main variables to tweak from Intel's camp (as a hardware vendor) just cost & performance?

I don't think Intel can significantly trump ARM in the performance side (speed, efficiency, etc).

But I think Intel may be desperate enough to dump these things at very low cost to wedge themselves into this market to get a slice of it.

ysss, you need to do some research rather than just thinking.
Intel has what is called a "process advantage" over ARM, because they're the only cpu manufacturer able to ship 32nm HKMG chips. Everyone else is stuck at 40nm. Both globalfoundries and TSMC are delayed. Q4 for TSMC and 2012 for globalfoundries should bring a 28nm process from them. Meanwhile, Intel is on track to deliver 22nm. So, I'm excited to see how long you guys can keep up this perception of Intel making slow inefficient mobile chips, which seems to be based on the fact that they never tried to design one before...
I think the Intel marketing will eventually convince you.

Here, read the "Intel" stuff on this recent article. At least it's based on something better than industry analyst opinions that don't know anything about cpu technology, and they admit they're not psychic and don't know exactly what Intel has done. It sounds like it will be very close.

Not for long (http://www.arm.com/about/newsroom/ar...imizations.php).

Well, other things being equal a chip implementing the ARM instruction set should outperform one implementing IA32.

Yes, for long. "announced" is not "in production". Do I have to quote myself? Read my post again.
Other things are NOT equal. Read the beyond 3d article. Try to understand what hyperthreading brings to the table, and why CISC can *sometimes* do more in a cycle than RISC. Don't forget Intel has the best compilers and optimization tools.

Lol Steve Ballmer said: Windows phone 7 has the best capability and functionality for people at work and will be appreciated by the IT sectors.

I said: LOL>>> LIAR

That's funny, their own document here says it has worse support for Microsoft Exchange than most other devices... I wouldn't allow people to use a device without full encryption!