Intel to add Android 4.1 support for its Atom processors

Intel claims it will be adding support for Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) to the few smartphones and tablets on the market that use both Android and Intel's Atom processor.

John Callaham Neowin @JCalNEO · Jul 25, 2012 01:44 EDT · Hot! with 5 comments

We will see support for Android 4.1 added slowly to a number of smartphones and tablets in the coming months. That will include devices that will run on Intel's low powered Atom processor.

PCWorld.com reports that Intel has promised it is currently porting Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean, to the Atom chip. So far, only a few Android-based smartphones and tablets have that chip inside, and none of them are sold in the US. Intel would not say how long it would take to port Android 4.1 to the Atom chip, nor when the Jelly Bean update will be released to Atom-based devices.

While Intel still is number one in the desktop and notebook processor business, the tablet and smartphone industry is largely dominated by companies that have chips based on designs from ARM. At CES 2012, Intel announced that both Motorola (now owned by Google) and Lenovo would both release smartphones with Intel's Atom chip inside.

Intel still seems to be concentrating its efforts on making processors that will run on Windows 8. That includes another version of the Atom chip, code named Clover Trail, that could find its way inside some Windows 8 tablet devices this year.

Source: PCWorld.com