14 DAY TRIAL // Aava Mobile announced a while ago the launch of a mobile device that was powered by an Intel Atom (code name Moorestown) processor, which was meant mainly for development purposes, and which seems to have received a brother. The company has recently showcased its second device powered by the Moorestown processor, the Virta 2 reference design.
According to the guys over at Engadget, the new smartphone is set to start shipping to developers pretty soon. The device includes about the same internal circuitry as the previous model, but the company also performed some tweaks to it, it seems. One of the most important changes is than the device runs under the MeeGo operating system, and not the Android platform as the previous solution. However, it seems that one can switch from one OS to the other through simply swapping the microSD memory card.
The new Aava Mobile device comes with a rugged design (the original was thinner), boasting a more durable gunmetal frame, while packing quad-band radios, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, two cameras to enable video chat testing, along with all the necessary sensors (compass, accelerometer, ambient light and proximity). The photos available at Engadget show a little more on the development-aimed mobile phone.
Aava Mobile expects for the first units of the new device to start shipping in late August or early September, it seems. The platform should become commercially available next year, though this handset might never land in end-user's hands. The price tag for Virta 2 has been set at €1900 (around $2400), which makes it a rather expensive handset.
In case there are some who are not familiar with the purpose of Aava Mobile's solution, here's what the company notes on its website: “For developers seeking to write Android apps to run on upcoming Atom Z600 smartphones, we have a special SDK that is compatible with your current Android SDK software, and also gives you a fully-functioning hardware device with working modem/antennae connectivity and other peripherals. Develop and test like you've never been able to before.”
