Otellini sees 3G, LTE tech in TVs, computers

Apple CEO Steve Jobs isn't at all worried about the Intel takeover of Infineon, the CEO of Intel suggests. Speaking with Fox Business TV, Paul Otellini says he called Jobs before making the acquisition. "Steve was very happy," he explains. "The industry was abuzz that this business unit was on the market, and there were a number of competing companies for it. I think they [Apple] are very happy that Intel won the bid."

Despite occasional problems Intel and Apple are close partners, necessitated by the presence of Intel CPUs in every Mac. In the short term, at least, Apple is also somewhat dependent on Infineon, as its chipsets are used in the iPad and iPhone 3GS for 3G reception. The latter company's acquisition by Intel may theoretically keep its technology within easy reach of Apple.

Intel has big plans for spreading cellular reception across different devices. It may show up not only in smartphones and tablets, but computers and TVs. "We look forward to a period in the not-so-distant future where all of these functions can be on a single chip. Intel has great capabilities and applications processors today, but bringing in the capabilities for 3G and ultimately LTE (Long-Term Evolution) onto the chip, that makes a lot of sense to us from an economic and power standpoint."

by MacNN Staff