Intel to Push Android Netbooks?

Intel, which makes the Atom processor found in many netbooks, is stepping up its efforts to provide Google (News - Alert) Android netbooks, extending use of Android from mobile smart phones to PCs, says VentureBeat.

 

Such an effort could yield Android (News - Alert) netbooks as early as this year, but 2010 remains a more likely scenario, VentureBeat says. As Android is derived from Linux, one can view the move as yet another example of the Linux operating system getting more traction in the PC market.

 

Some users might continue to prefer Linux-powered machines. The unknown is whether the Android Market might prove attractive enough to sway consumer decisions, and whether the larger addressable market will spur more developers to choose the Android Market as a place to put their apps.

 

Netbooks are, after all, designed specifically as mobile devices. As such, they provide many of the same attractions as smart phones for end users, developers and application providers, namely open platforms. Linux historically has held that very same position, but Android hopes to add the "secret sauce" of an extensive retail end user applications environment and an arguably easier end user experience.

 

Irrespective of their own sense of where Android advantage or threats may lie, increased use of netbooks should be a net positive for sales of mobile broadband connections.