MediaTek is known for its affordable SoC solutions, for use in budget smartphones. It has officially announced the MT6572, an improved system-on-a-chip, designed to power entry-level Android handsets. Despite its low-cost designation, the MT6572 isn’t short in features. The 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A7 dual-core processor offers a number of integrated energy-saving tricks. It comes with built-in support for Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio and WiFi.
The integrated GPU should be able to handle 720p video recording and playback. The chip also supports up to qHD display resolution and 5Mp camera. There will be no 4G LTE support, but budget phone users should find HSPA+ data connection adequate.
Emerging smartphone markets are still preferred by major phone makers. Budget smartphones have solidly moved to dual-core processing arena. On the other hand, OEMs and worldwide operators are looking for “easy to adopt” reference designs, which may reduce manufacturing cost. MediaTek said that the new hardware platform would be available starting in summer this year.
