Intel, Motorola Strike Android Smartphone Alliance at CES

Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha announced a multiyear, Atom-based Android smartphone and tablet deal. Intel is also pushing hard for Windows 8 ultrabooks and other reference designs.

LAS VEGAS-Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) Jan. 10 inked a multiyear, strategic agreement in which Motorola will sell smartphones based on Intel's Atom processor Z2460 platform, starting in the second half of 2012.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha announced their new pact on stage here at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show Jan. 10. Neither financial terms nor duration of the deal was revealed.

Motorola, which is awaiting word from federal regulators on whether or not Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will be allowed to buy the Android OEM, will also make Intel Atom-based Android tablets in the future. The companies will collaborate on hardware, software and services to build mobile gadgets with long battery life, speedy application performance and better imaging and video capabilities.

Otellini said the partnership will help accelerate Intel's move into the mobile market versus ARM. "We expect the combination of our companies to break new ground and bring the very best of computing capabilities to smartphones and tablets," Otellini said.

Otellini and Jha unveiled their agreement just hours after Intel rival Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) demonstrated its forthcoming ARM-based Snapdragon S4 processor technology on Microsoft's emerging Windows 8 operating system. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs put on an impressive keynote, bringing out Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and Sesame Street's Grover to tout mobile chipsets.

Otellini, whose company is trying to mount a formidable challenge to Qualcomm, which has sold 7 billion chipsets worldwide to date, wasn't to be outdone by Jacobs. Intel's leader called one partner after another to join him on stage to announce new products.

One of those guests was Liu Jun, senior vice president and president of mobile Internet and digital home for Lenovo. Jun showed the audience the very first Intel Atom phone, the Android-based Lenovo K800 smartphone, which has a 4.5-inch, 720p display.