Confirming a rumored partnership, RIM announced that its next-generation Blackberry will use an XScale PXA9xx Intel processor. The company said it ultimately decided on the chip, codenamed Hermon, because it would not compromise the Blackberry's battery life. RIM is the first major customer of Intel's new XScale processor chips. Although RIM has used Intel processors in past versions of the Blackberry, the company would not comment on which processors the current Blackberries use.
Intel's processor coupled with embedded EDGE technology will enable RIM to move into new markets with its next-generation Blackberry. Insiders were disappointed that the announcement did not address rumors that Intel is using RIM's battery technology or that RIM is developing another device codenamed Electron.
For more details on the next-generation Blackberry:
- take a look at this story from vnunet