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Intel to guarantee Android updates within 2 weeks of Google's release

By Dr. Jimmy Tang - on 10 Sep 2014, 1:04pm

Intel to guarantee Android updates within 2 weeks of Google's release

Douglas W. Fisher, corporate vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group for Intel Corporation announcing the Intel Reference Design for Android program at this morning's IDF keynote.

In a move by Intel to further expand its footprint in the Android space and attract more ODMs/OEMs to the x86 camp, Intel announced its plans to simplify the OS certification process for its hardware.

Announced at IDF’s keynote today, the Intel Reference Design Program for Android aims to make it even easier for OEMs/ODMs to bring budget Android tablets based on Intel Architecture to market. This is achieved by providing a single binary image for Android to OEMs/ODMs that use a pre-qualified set of components or complete BOM specification. This does not only significantly increase the speed with which their OEMs/ODMs can create and ship new products, but it reduces engineering costs to a large degree as well.

But unifying the OS image is not the only thing that Intel is promising its partners. Intel is further committing itself to increase the speed at which users will have access to the latest Android release. In order to close the gap between an OS release to actual deployment, Intel is ensuring that users will receive patches within 2 weeks of release from Google.

However, this program is limited only to partners that build their tablets using Intel’s reference design. This sounds like good news to a lot of OEMs/ODMs since it will simplify the complex process of getting their OS certified. But, it doesn’t seem like it would create variety for consumers as it would mean that most Android devices based on Intel architecture may end up looking like one another due to the limited set of components in the standard reference design.

Still, Intel remains committed to investing in this program, and will guarantee to provide updates to devices for as long as 2 years after its launch. It’s a bold promise Intel is making that even some of the major Android device manufacturers (in the ARM architecture camp) are not ready to commit.

Could Intel succeed in persuading manufacturers to ditch ARM processors by dangling a large carrot like this? Only time will tell, but whatever might be the outcome, we believe that in the end, everyone wins with this arrangement – including Google.

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