Intel buys open source firm

IT SEEMS INTEL CEO, Paul Otellini, was being understated when he told analysts last night chip sales were "a little better than we expected" thus far in the second quarter, because the firm has just splashed out on a new acquisition: OpenedHand Ltd.

OpenedHand, which describes itself as a "team of talented and creative people passionate about open source and embedded devices," is a London based firm that also has offices in Paris and Helsinki.

The firm claims to be passionate about all that is open sauce and proclaims a firm "commitment to cutting edge research and development".

Chipzilla will apparently be sucking OpenedHand into its Open Source Technology Center, the department currently chipping away at developing Intel's own, Atom optimised, Linux platform, Moblin.

Intel appears to be welcoming OpenedHand with open arms, apparently promising the new acquisition it can continue to work on finishing current projects like Clutter and Matchbox, which may just find themselves incorporated into Moblin too.

Intel is not the first tech giant to take an interest in the little open source firm, with OpenedHand having already worked on projects for Nokia, One Laptop Per Child, OpenMoko, iRex, Access, STMicroelectronics and Vernier.

Otellini didn't say how much his firm had paid for the dollop of open sauce to go with its chips, but did re-affirm PC sales had "bottomed out" and were recovering slowly.

The CEO's optimism seems to have had an effect on shareholder confidence, with Intel's stock rising almost three per cent in after hours trading to $15.64, despite the widespread belief that the firm will be hit with a huge EU fine today for antitrust violations. µ