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    Intel Capital Invests $10M In Customized Android Distributions, Firmware Maker Insyde

    Robin Wauters

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    Robin Wauters is the European Editor of tech blog The Next Web and lead editor of Virtualization.com. He was a senior staff writer at TechCrunch until his departure in February 2012. Aside from his professional blogging activities, he’s an entrepreneur, event organizer, occasional board adviser and angel investor but most importantly an all-round startup champion. Wauters lives and works in... → Learn More

    Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
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    insyde

    Intel Capital, the chip maker’s investment arm, this morning provided some details about a recently made investment in Insyde Software, a publicly listed Taiwan company that specializes in system firmware based on Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) as well as customized Android distributions for OEM and ODM customers.

    Intel Capital injected NT$300 million, or roughly $10 million, into the company out of its recently announced $100 million AppUp fund.

    Intel and Insyde have long been working together, although we should note the software company also counts AMD, NVIDA and Microsoft among its technology partners.

    New is that there will be additional collaboration between Intel and Insyde Software on UEFI BIOS firmware and customized Android distributions for tablets, ultrabooks and other portable devices.

    The news comes after an announcement, made on September 13, 2011, that Intel had formed an alliance with Google for Android-based smartphones and tablets to be optimized for Intel’s chips going forward (read: early 2012).

    The investment by Intel Capital is the fourth since Insyde’s founding in 1998. The company supplies to OEM and ODM customers – including some of the world’s largest computer systems designers and manufacturers – that are deploying Windows and Android on Intel-based platforms.

    In addition to UEFI BIOS, working in collaboration with Intel’s Software and Services Group and its Netbook and Tablet Group, Insyde says it will provide “Android optimization, customization, and deployment services” for such partners worldwide.

    Related: Intel Capital Launches $300M Ultrabook Fund To Invest In Tablet Technologies


    Crunchbase

    Financial-organization: Intel Capital
    Website: intelcapital.com
    Launch Date: 1991

    Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10.8 billion in over 1,276 companies in 54 countries. In that timeframe, 201 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 317 were acquired or participated...

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