Details of the phone itself are being tightly held by the Intel and FreedomPop, though Stokols described it as aiming to pack as much technology as possible into a device that can sell for less than $200.
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FreedomPop says that it plans to launch its first smartphone in 2016. The two companies will be working on a “Wi-Fi first” smartphone designed specifically for this service. For texts, calls, and data connections, it will prioritize the use of WiFi instead of mobile data, but it will have the capacity to switch between these data services.
Founded in 2011 and launched publicly the following year, FreedomPop is a Sprint-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers free services to low-demand users of voice, text and data services.
Intel Capital highlighted the investment activity at its annual conference in San Diego on Tuesday and announced $22 million in new investments, spread across 10 startups. Intel’s investment will help FreedomPop go against its main competitor Google Fi, while giving Intel a gateway into the mobile space, a segment it famously missed out on and has cost billions of dollars in recent years.
In September, Intel Capital, the venture arm of chipmaker Intel, had indicated its annual investments might run to more than $600 million. Handsets offered to customers of these hybrid carriers, are regular cellular-enabled phones that use special SIM cards to allow them to handle voice, text and data over the hybrid carrier’s hotspots.
In 2014, Intel Capital spent approximately $359 million on startups. “Intel’s investment shows the considerable opportunity we have to bring more mobile choice and value to consumers”, Stokols said.
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Intel Capital is also investing in Body Labs, which digitizes human body data; an Internet-of-Things service called Microprogram Information; a Chinese imaging and video company called Perfant Technology; Chargifi’s wireless charging network; laser company KMLabs; Prieto Battery; and an early-stage predictive analytics company called Parallel Machines.
