Budget carrier FeedomPop has signed a deal with Intel that will see it introduce a “WiFi-first” smartphone next year. The phone will use Intel’s low-cost “SoFIA” Atom x3 processors and leverage WiFi hotspots wherever possible instead of mobile data, even for things like texting and calling. The phone will “seamlessly” switch between WiFi and cellular networks with no discernible difference to the user, and when it does connect to cellular it’ll apparently be free. FreedomPop already offers a similar service — its big selling point is that calls and texts are sent via mobile data or WiFi rather than traditional means — but this will be the first phone purpose-built for its virtual network.
Source: FreedomPop