14 DAY TRIAL // New Medfield chips and acceleration in 14nm processor development are just one facet of Intel's effort to secure a portion of the mobile device market.
The Santa Clara, California-based CPU maker has also announced a partnership with Visa inc., one that will benefit developed and developing countries.
According to the press release issued during the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2012), the two are going to work together on mobile commerce solutions.
To start off, Visa has certified Intel's Smartphone Reference Device based on the Intel Atom Z2460 processor (Medfield) for use with Visa payWave (its mobile payment technology).
This technology lets owners make payments by waving their phone in front of a payment terminal.
On that note, Intel Smartphone Reference Device will also get NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, for securing such transmissions of payment info to those terminals.
Furthermore, phones based on this reference device will be able to connect to Visa's mobile provisioning service when used with a compliant UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card).
That way, financial institutions and mobile operators will securely download Visa payment accounting info and the Visa payWave application "over the air" to a secure chip on an NFC-equipped smartphone.
"Visa's agreement with Intel paves the way for financial institutions around the globe to offer their account holders mobile payments and financial services using innovative mobile devices and technologies designed by Intel," said John Partridge, president, Visa Inc. during the press conference.
"This is another example of how Visa is making mobile payments broadly available across devices and operating systems and is ensuring that mobile commerce applications are aligned with existing technology and security standards established by the global payments industry."
Long story short, Visa and Intel promise phones capable of helping people and organizations handle their transactions easily and securely at the same time.
"Intel's strategy is to enable more secure and compelling user experiences across a range of Intel-based mobile devices. Our alliance with Visa builds on this strategy and brings worldwide mobile payment and commerce solutions to Intel-based devices," said Mike Bell, Intel vice president and general manager of the company's mobile and communications group.
"Our work with Visa also extends to our customers designing products based on Intel's Smartphone Reference Device."