LG Electronics and Samsung are expected to unveil Android smartphones next week that use Intel's latest Atom chip, dubbed Medfield, analysts said. The move, if it pans out, could portend a shift away from ARM-based chips, which are in 95% of smartphones.
The arrival of Atom-based smartphones at the International CES show in Las Vegas would join Google and Intel at the hip, said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. With Google in the midst of acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, at least some Motorola smartphones could be soon running Atom chips, as well.
A joint Intel-Google effort on smartphone designs would also allow Intel to incorporate smartphone security software from McAfee, which is an Intel company.
"It helps Google especially to have McAfee in the mix, because Android is not known for its security," Gold said. "Intel has spent a lot of time with Google to optimize Android for their chips."
Intel has released a photo of a reference design smartphone running Medfield, which MIT's Technology Review posted recently online. According to Technology Review, Intel Vice President of Architecture Stephen Smith said products based on Medfield would be announced in the first half of 2012.
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