MediaTek announces new chipsets for 3G and 4G KaiOS phones

KaiOS is the software found on moderm-day feature phones such as the refreshed 'banana phone', the Nokia 8110. It offers many customers worldwide a viable alternative route to mobile connectivity and computing.  MediaTek has released its newest KaiOS-compatible chipsets, the MT6731 and MT6572. They will bring 4G and 3G respectively to the phones on this platform in 2019.

The MT6731 will also facilitate 4G in both SIM cards of a dual-slot device, while also enhancing the operating system with support for 64-bit processing. MediaTek's TL Lee has claimed that both it and the MT6572 will improve the reliability of the KaiOS phones into which they will be built, while also conserving battery life.

KaiOS has grown from a basic, feature-phone system to one that now supports apps such as Google Assistant and connectivity options such as NFC and WiFi. At present, it runs on approximately 80 million devices worldwide. The new 4G and 3G MediaTek SoC options should help it compete even more effectively with Android and iOS in the future.