In an intriguing announcement Intel says it will work with Mitubishi to produce chipsets for 3G mobile phones.

The intrigue largely comes from what's left unsaid, rather than the commitments. Cellular manufacturer Mitsubishi stop short of saying will produce devices, committing more cautiously to marketing 'chipsets and software' in Japan as a result of the agreement.

Nor is there any mention of StrongARM in the release, but it's obvious enough where a "high-performance, low-power" could come from. Mitsubishi was one of DEC's original licensees for StrongARM and has been a faithful licensee of ARM cores.

Which leaves the software question unanswered. Intel acquired two reference designs for CDMA and TDMA handsets when it acquired DSP Communications recently. We note that Symbian ported a version of its OS to StrongARM in the labs and continues to use it too as a reference platform, although licensees are committed to ARM7/9 or M-CORE processors.

Intel and Mitsubishi promise to have the chipsets ready in time for 3G's Japan launch. ®