Intel convenes iPhone hitman summit

Intel may build its own iPhone. Or maybe not.

According to Silicon Valley gossip site Valleywag, Intel recently gathered a gaggle of gawking giga-geeks to garner gabble regarding its gadget goals. Apparently, Chipzilla hosted an "invite-only 'brain drain'" to solicit opinions on its plans for a new gee-whizzy smartphone based on Google's Android operating system.

Another wannabe iPhone killer? As a former US vice presidental candidate might say, "You betcha!"

Valleywag says that the geekfest's guest list included "A wireless exec from Disney," along with John Faith of MySpace Mobile, whose company provides an Android client "experience," and St. Alan Kay of "The best way to predict the future is to invent it" fame.

The gossip rag's anonymous source reported that the "design displayed at the summit also featured a 'shitload' of variable resistance sensors." Nothing like a shitload of sensors to fire the imagination of a gadget-hungry public.

Valleywag offered the opinion that Intel's "reason to gun for Apple's iPhone" is spurred by the fact that Apple "bought its own chip-design subsidiary, allowing it to bypass Intel's industry-standard processors."

An interesting analysis, seeing as how the iPhone is powered by an ARM-11 processor built by Samsung and a PowerVR MBX graphics core designed by Imagination Technologies. The PA Semi acquisition to which they refer won't be taking any bread from the mouths of Intel engineers' babes.

This is not to say that Chipzilla isn't - however foolhardily - looking into putting a shitload of sensors into an iPhone competitor or that the gathering didn't happen. ®