The following two articles shed some light on the new Intel-Microsoft Smartphone Reference Design...

<img src="images/hardware-intel-smartphone.jpg" align="right">Microsoft and Intel Unveil Windows Powered Smartphone Concept Design Based on Intel Personal Internet Client Architecture - Microsoft and Intel announced the immediate availability of the first Microsoft and Intel Smartphone concept design based on the Intel Personal Internet Client Architecture (Intel PCA). By taking advantage of this template for building Windows Powered Smartphones powered by Intel XScale technology, device manufacturers now can utilize the collective research and development resources of Microsoft and Intel, and focus their resources solely on features that improve the end-user experience and distinguish their products in the marketplace.

Intel Rolls Out Reference Design - Developers looking to implement the landmark Intel-Microsoft Smartphone reference design released at this week's 3GSM conference can now buy a Wireless Development Kit (DVK) from Intel. Intel quietly rolled out the DVK via a notice in a product brief on the PXA800F single-chip cellular processor that's at the heart of the Smartphone reference design.

The PXA800F(code-named "Manitoba") is billed by Intel as a "wireless-Internet-on-a-chip." It combines an Xscale processor, on-chip flash, and a digital signal processor jointly developed by Intel and Analog Devices. The reference design incorporating the IC, which was unveiled by Microsoft and Intel at 3GSM, is a huge step forward for the Smartphone platform. Until now, Smartphone has been perceived as playing catch up to media-capable cell phones running on the Symbian platform. However, if the Smartphone reference design is snapped up as a go-to-market platform, it could change that equation.

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