Intel juice to drive RIM's next Blackberry

Posted on 28 Sep 2005 at 13:08

Research In Motion (RIM) has plumped for Intel's chips for the next generation of Blackberry handhelds, the beloved devices of busy corporate executives.

In future, RIM will adopt the Intel XScale architecture and use its PXA9xx cellular processor, codenamed 'Hermon'. The architectural shift will enable the devices to work on high-speed EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) wireless networks. This further evolution of GPRS should enable broadband-like bandwidths.

'We chose the Intel PXA9xx cellular processor because it provides us with the increased processing horsepower we need for future wireless applications, without compromising battery life requirements,' said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. 'The combination of Intel's XScale technology with RIM's wireless firmware and BlackBerry applications is groundbreaking.'

For its part Intel welcomed the boost for its XScale technology. 'RIM has consistently demonstrated incredible innovation, not only in product design, but also in creating entirely new market segments for mobile devices,' said Sean Maloney, general manager of Intel's Mobility Group. 'The demand for powerful processing performance at extremely low power levels in handheld devices is growing very rapidly.'

With the recent news of Palm opting for Windows Mobile 5.0 as its platform of choice, the corporate marketshare for handhelds is increasingly being dominated by RIM and Microsoft.