TAIPEI, Taiwan – Intel Corp. announced Thursday it will join the Taiwanese government in setting up a Linux software center in Taiwan to help better market locally produced laptops and mobile Internet devices to the world.
The announcement by Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini came after two leading Taiwanese computer makers launched “nettops” and “netbooks,” cheap and extremely portable laptops with wireless Internet access capabilities.
Both Taiwan-based Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer have adopted Intel’s latest Atom chips in their laptops, ranging from $300-$1000. The products allow their customers to choose between the Linux-based and Microsoft’s Windows operating systems. Linux is a freely distributed operating system
Otellini told reporters the software development center is being set up as part of Intel’s efforts to help Taiwan maintain its competitive edge in the field.
“The center’s engineers will provide training and consulting … to accelerate the adoption of mobile technologies,” he said. “These efforts aim to reduce the time to market for shipping Intel Atom processor- and Moblin-based systems.” Continue reading…