Intel Join Android in the Smartphone Race

The world's biggest chipmaker in the computer and server market has finally joined the smartphone race!

That’s right, Intel, who has so far played second fiddle to Cambridge-based designer ARM Holdings in the market for low power consumption chips, has teamed up with Android, the world's leading operating system for smartphones.

Google have been pushing their Android operating system, tying up with manufacturers, and with the ever increasing demand for mobile phone and tablet computers it will be interesting to see what comes of this new collaboration. 

The Oak Trail processor range is Intel’s answer to ARM's designs, but has only just seen the light of day.  The hope is that the new partnership will help Intel increase its foothold in the Android market.

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Intel striking a Thunderbolt

Intel, the Chip manufacturer has announced it is to roll out a new high-speed technology that may cut down on cabling for peripherals.

Thunderbolt, formerly known as Light Peak, promises transfer speeds twice as fast as USB 3.0.  Initially, it won't reach its theoretical maximum because Intel has opted to use copper wires rather than fibre optic cables, but they have suggested that they will move to the higher speeds over time.

At launch, the technology that allows dual bi-directional transfer over copper cable, will be limited to 10 Gigabits per second - twice as fast as USB 3.0, but still well below the theoretical maximum using optical cables.  They claim, that future versions will be able to reach 100 Gb/sec.

Apple will become the first manufacturer to use Thunderbolt, on its Macbook Pro computers.