Silverthorne deal hints at 3G iPhone

Apple is forming closer ties with Intel and will begin rolling out a variety of products based on an upcoming Intel processor that has been designed to work with mobile devices, according to reports.

According to Apple Insider, Apple is planning to use the processor, codenamed Silverthorne, in multiple products "currently situated on its 2008 calendar year product roadmap". Silverthorne is central to Intel's efforts to capture a greater share of the mobile-device market.

Apple Insider claims that the most likely candidates for Silverthorne are a 3G iPhone and any new tablet computer.

The inclusion of an Intel processor in the much-hyped iPhone would in some ways mark a change of heart for Apple.

Last year, Intel's director of Team Apple, Deborah Conrad, ruled out putting an Intel processor inside Apple's iPod. "I don't think you're going to see anything soon," Conrad told reporters. But when it came to future devices, Conrad added: "That's where we get very, very excited."

Intel plans to release more details of Silverthorne at the Intenational Solid State Circuits Conference in February.

Apple could offer no comment on the reports at the time of writing.