Intel Porting Android for x86 Notebooks, Tablets
Intel is porting Android to x86 for Atom-based devices.
Intel is reportedly working on a fully native x86 version of Google's Android operating system for Atom-powered netbooks and tablets. The company may actually porting the highly-anticipated "Froyo" v2.2--Google released the SDK back in May and just made the source code available on Wednesday. However this of course may depend on whether Google will finalize FroYo before Intel's expected release of the x86 Android OS later this summer.
Originally Android was written to run on ARM processors. However Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group Renee James said that the process of "Atomizing" the OS wasn't difficult at all thanks to the company's previous experience with Linux. The overall process is expected to wrap up soon.
"Our expectation is that (native x86 Android) will be based on the Froyo release and will be available this summer to developers," James said. She also added that the code used to construct the x86 Android OS will be piped back into the "open branch," and will be accessible to the Android developer community.
Although the software is expected to be used on Atom-based tablets and netbooks, Intel is hoping that this port will provide hardware partners another OS-based option for Atom-powered smartphones in the future.
I do like all the love android is getting though
They are talking about Moorestown
Imagine a tablet with FroYo or Gingerbread and a quad-core Atom...
For the consumer, there's just no benefit to using x86 over ARM (we don't really care what its running, as long as it runs). As for developers, since everything these days is Java, they don't really care about the platform either. Since these smartphones have much different hardware setups than a desktop computer, there's really no re-use argument here. You can't port a desktop app to a cellphone app any easier with x86 vs. ARM (when it was already in Java).
In the end, Intel is spending a lot of money to try to enter into a market where it really doesn't belong. They should be happy with 90% desktop/computer dominance. They really don't need another market tempting them to do something the FTC will frown upon.
What about the 65,000 strong Android App marketplace? And in case MeeGo tanks on one or more of those platforms?
It couldn't be that ARM didn't want to pay for the x86 license? And that Intel doesn't want to pay for an ARM license? Who here doesn't want to see some real competition in mobile phone CPU architecture?!
Right, but Intel does x86 better than anyone else. The eventual vision for the consumer would be faster/cheaper phones/mobiles. Intel has process tuning expertise. And Moorestown is power-management experience for their other segments.
tell that to game developers... PC, xbox, ps3, wii, DS and psp, iphone, all c++. and you most certainly CAN reuse all of your game code between platforms. and anyway... there is no such thing as porting between x86 and arm, as long as you have two competent c++ compilers, you don't have to do anything. so as long as intel add the appropriate stuff to the Android NDK, our life will remain easy, unlike with winmo7 where we have to recode everything in c#
Must be like the 100th time i've asked and still not got a straight answer.