Chrome updated to make way for more Intel-powered Android devices

Google announced another update to Chrome for Android; it’s an update that current users won’t even notice, but may have larger implications for the mobile ecosystem moving forward. The update sees the release of a version of Chrome for Android that runs on Intel’s x86 chips. The timing is clear – Motorola’s RAZR I is shipping next month, and Intel Atom-powered handset couldn’t ship with Chrome preinstalled if the app can’t run on the hardware.

So why does this matter? Because it’s likely only the first of many “Intel Inside” mobile devices we will see this year, and in coming years. At a time when Texas Instruments is dumping its OMAP mobile CPU line because they can’t keep up with the pace of innovation in mobile computing, Intel is instead bringing the full force of their world-beating fabrication technologies to bear on the mobile market.

Intel seems poised to start making ever larger waves in the mobile realm, but if they don’t it will only be because ARM and Tegra-based CPUs can keep up with Intel’s aggressive CPU roadmap, which is seeing a die shrink every year right now. Regardless of who wrests the greatest amount of market share when it comes to mobile chips, customers will be the ultimate winners. For that reason alone we hope to see Jelly Bean optimized for x86 chips soon, and with any luck all future releases of Android will achieve more parity of release times - increased competition benefits us all.

source: Google