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Android optimised for Intel Atom, Medfield teased

Google's Andy Rubin has announced all future versions of Android would be optimised for Intel chips, including its Atom processor.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

And the first celebrity guest of IDF has made an appearance! Google's senior vice president of mobile Andy Rubin rocked up at Intel's developer-fest to announce the continuing partnership between the two companies. Ah, it's like one big love-in. (Unlike two other tech companies we could mention.)

All upcoming versions of Android will be optimised for Intel's architecture, with a joint press release from the two companies highlighting Intel's Atom family of low power processors. Those are the ones found in netbooks.

The companies announced this is to speed up how long it takes Intel-based smartphones and tablets running Android to go on sale, so hopefully we'll be seeing shorter lead times on production. Which will mean we get our hands on them sooner, which has got to be a good thing.

Intel also showed off a prototype Android tablet and a smartphone both powered by the Medfield chip. No other partnerships were revealed (yet), so we don't know who'll be making these devices, but Intel did reveal phones running Intel chips will go on sale early next year.

The news comes just couple of weeks after rumours spread that Intel was giving MeeGo the heave-ho. A report claimed Intel planned to "temporarily discontinue development" of the MeeGo OS it launched with Nokia, presumably so it could jump into bed with Google and Android. Mind you, Nokia was playing away with Microsoft and its Windows Phone partnership, so it's like they were cheating on each other. Some things just weren't meant to be, we'll move on, no hard feelings, etc.

Though last week, Intel general manager Doug Fisher said the company remained "fully committed" to MeeGo, despite Nokia's shenanigans with Microsoft, and the fact the OS is getting very little love from manufacturers.

Is Intel and Android a match made in heaven? Let us know on our Facebook page.

Image credit: Engadget.