Intel is reportedly preparing a tool for transferring iPhone applications to Intel-powered mobile devices. The chip maker is pushing hard into the mobility space.
Intel is apparently working on a tool that will allow developers to transfer
iPhone applications to mobile devices that use Intel processors, potentially
expanding the amount of software that relies on Intel architecture.
"We'll get [applications on] AppUp, then MeeGo and I imagine Windows,"
Doug Fisher, Intel's vice president of Software and Services, told
PC World in an Oct. 5 interview. "It's basically taking the existing
applications, finding the ones that are most relevant to end users and ensuring
[that] they get pulled over."
AppUp is Intel's cloud-based
storefront for netbook applications. It
stopped being a beta on Sept. 14, nine months after its introduction at the
Consumer Electronics Show. Intel's Atom Developer Program has been combined
with the AppUp storefront and renamed the AppUp Developer Program. There are
currently over 800 applications in the store, according to Intel; about 30
percent of them are free.
Intel and Adobe have announced a collaboration that will allow developers to
build Adobe AIR netbook applications for
AppUp, with the portal supporting Adobe AIR
runtimes. But Intel is obviously thinking far beyond AppUp's current state.
The iPhone relies on an ARM processor.
Intel is trying to penetrate the smaller-device market with its power-sipping
Atom processor, and has a low-voltage "Oak Trail" processor for
tablets under development. Atom was originally developed for netbooks, but
Intel has since tried to market Atoms as ideal for handsets and other
mobile devices.
During an Oct. 5 talk at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New
York, Intel CEO
Paul Otellini expressed regret over his company's relatively late entry into
the mobile market.
"I wish we had started earlier," Otellini told an audience, according
to Bloomberg. "I wish I had been smart enough to start [working on smartphone
processors] seven years ago because we'd be in a good position today, but I
wasn't." Over the summer, Intel
purchased Infineon Technologies' wireless chip unit, the customers of which
include Apple, Nokia and Samsung.
Intel's current initiatives extend in a number of directions. In August, the
company signed a definitive agreement to acquire security company McAfee for about
$7.68 billion. That deal, which integrated McAfee into a wholly owned
subsidiary reporting to Intel's Software and Services Group, reflected Intel's
increased interest in software.
"This acquisition is consistent with our software and services strategy
to deliver an outstanding computing experience in fast-growing business areas,
especially around the move to wireless mobility," Renee James, Intel
senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services group, said
in a statement at the time. "McAfee is the next step in this strategy, and
the right security partner for us. Our current work together has impressive
prospects, and we look forward to introducing a product from our strategic
partnership next year."
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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