Lava, just one of the many Indian mobile phone brands, launched a new smartphone today. Not a big deal, considering there are plenty of Indian handset manufacturers launching new phones each month.

Except this time, there's a lot more buzz than usual surrounding the launch. Lava Mobiles launched the Xolo X900 smartphone, priced at Rs 22,000 today.

A hefty price tag for a small brand, most would say, except that Lava has become the first company to launch an Intel Medfield-powered smartphone.

So what exactly does a Medfield processor have in store for users?

Intel's Medfield chip is the company's first smartphone processor. The company has so far been a market leader with its PC-processors, but has yet to make a mark in the smartphone processor segment, where players such as Qualcomm and Nvidia rule strong.

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, Intel's CEO Mr Paul Otellini showcased just what a Medfield-powered phone can bring to users.

Some of the features that a Medfield chip will add to smartphones include support for: an 8 megapixel camera with 10 frames per second shooting, Full HD 1080p video playback and better power consumption.

The Lava X900's specifications include a single-core 1.6Ghz processor, 400 Mhz graphics processor, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front camera and HDMI and NFC built-in. It will also feature 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.

While the specifications do look impressive, one does have to keep in mind that right now, Intel Medfield only supports single-core processors.

A year ago Samsung Galaxy S2 made waves with its dual-core CPU and a couple of weeks ago the HTC One X with a quad-core processor hit the Indian markets. Although Mr Otellini maintains that multiple cores do not really maximise performance, the enhanced power of dual and quad-core smartphones do prove otherwise.

It remains to be seen how the Lava Xolo X900 will fare in the market, but it would probably be best to wait and watch what the experts have to say before you shell out the big bucks on an Intel Medfield phone.

>ketaki@thehindu.co.in