

Intel ports Android to run on Atom CPUs, goes after ARM - archon810
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/04/13/intel-wants-a-piece-of-android-action-ports-android-to-run-on-atom-cpus-goes-after-arm/

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lutorm
It says Intel plans to port _all_ mobile operating systems to Atom. Somehow I
doubt Apple is in on that plan...

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buster
Apple also made the switch from powerpc to intel, so i don't think it's
unimaginable. I agree, that ARM has by far the upper hand in this segment,
though.

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mooism2
Although Apple didn't buy a company to customise its own powerpc chips, did
it?

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dublinclontarf
Hmmmm an Atom slate running on Android - It would be cheaper than the iPad,
have decent, suitable OS for the task. Goodbye iPad?

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jcromartie
You mean like the JooJoo?

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warfangle
JooJoo doesn't run android (part of why it's UI is demonstrably crappy, I'm
putting two cents on)

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mustpax
I'm rooting for RISC in this round of the RISC vs. CISC saga. X86 is so
bloated and legacy ridden that it is great barrier to entry to the
CPU/compiler space, and that's the way Intel likes it.

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melling
RISC will rise again! Seriously though, it will be great to have as much
competition as possible. I want my next phone to be quad-core and run for a
week on a charge. A lot of competition is the quickest way to get companies to
produce their best work. Look at what Intel did once AMD gave them a good
kick. The real trick is that both companies need to remain strong. AMD needs
to get back in the game.

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ShabbyDoo
What does this mean for Android developers? Instead of using the Google-
provided emulator, will one be able to run Android inside, say, VMWare? I
haven't tried the emulator in about two years, but I recall it being quite
slow.

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biafra
You can already do that:

<http://code.google.com/p/live-android/>

I tried it with VirtualBox 3.1.6

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ShabbyDoo
Cool. So, what value will Intel be providing? Are there specific optimizations
that can be obtained with Atom-specific compilation?

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zokier
Intel seems bit lost in the mobile markets. First Moblin, then Meego, now
this. Do they ever get anything finished and shipped to end users?

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vetinari
Moblin _is_ Meego. Android is supported due to popular demand. Novel concept,
right?

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jcromartie
From what I've seen, Atom has a long way to go to catch up with ARM in terms
of efficiency.

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c00p3r
"ports"? Reconfigures current linux kernel and recompiles with different
version of gcc (or icc?) along with all userland? Big deal..

