Sales of smartphones with built-in 4G LTE connectivity are on the rise lately. To keep up with this trend, MediaTek is rumored to launch its quad-core MTK6290 chip with an integrated 4G modem sometime this year.

Although the new SoC chip will be primarily deployed to take advantage of China’s transition to the 4G LTE network, its launch—supposedly sometime in December—is also welcome news for Filipino consumers. Many local brands in our country use chipsets from MediaTek for their smartphones, and MTK6290’s release could mean affordable devices on our end with 4G LTE capability.

Besides having native support for 4G LTE, the MTK6290 is supposedly compatible with networks relying on TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, EDGE, and GSM. Basically an improved MTK6589, the chip will be manufactured using the 28-nanometer process and based on the Cortex A7 architecture. But until we receive an official announcement from MediaTek, consider these specs as mere speculation.

MediaTek is also reported to launch MT6592, the company’s first true octa-core mobile processor, later this year. Whereas the Samsung Exynos 5 chip can only use at most four chips out of eight at any time, MediaTek’s CPU is designed to make use of all its eight cores simultaneously.

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    1. but don’t expect crappy LTE signal in all major cities, at the least… hehehe, 7k phone w/ LTE + 2000mah batt… Great! :D