Future versions of Android to be optimized for Intel processors in addition to ARM

Today, at Intel's Developer Forum event, Google's head of Android, Andy Rubin, announced that future versions of the mobile platform will be optimized for Intel processors in addition the ARM-based chips that it currently runs on.

Up until now, Android has been solely available on ARM-based processors, which have had advantages over Intel (also known as x86) processors in power consumption and heat dissipation. These advantages have given manufacturers such as Qualcomm a great lead over Intel in the mobile space. Intel hopes to change that, as it has announced that it will be focusing on the development of low-power Atom chips for mobile devices. And it appears that Android will possibly be the first OS to run on these new processors, as this new partnership is expected to result in Intel-based smartphones and tablets.

Intel teased folks with an Android tablet and an Android smartphone that are powered by its "Medfield" chip. While still in the prototype stage, Intel says that we will see smartphones with Intel chips in the early part of 2012.

Ironically, Microsoft announced today that the next version of the Windows desktop operating system will run on ARM processors in addition to the Intel x86 processors that it has worked on for decades. Things should get pretty interesting in the mobile processor space in the near future. [via This Is My Next]