Is Intel About to Out-Muscle ARM? (INTC, ARMH, AAPL)

Rumors are cirulating today that Intel's

announcement of its newest three-dimensional Tri-Gate processor means that chip architecture by ARM

may soon become obsolete. According to

Intel is set to release a chip eight times as fast as ARM's most powerful chip, at two-thirds the size. Essentially, Intel is capitalizing on the element of building chips up versus out. The new chip will be smaller in area (22 nm versus 32 nm currently) but larger in height. This allows the new Intel chip to bunch transistors closer together, yielding two-fold power capabilities and significantly higher speed. The smaller chip architecture means that Intel's new chips will be able to penetrate the mobile computing market, perhaps giving Apple's

A-4 chip a run for its money. Though the 3-D chips are now nine years in the making, Intel mentioned making the chips available by the beginning of 2012. If Intel finally follows through with tri-gate, mobile computing may be radically different by this time next year. This article may include mentions of rumors, chatter, or unconfirmed information. Readers should beware that while unconfirmed information may be correlated with increased volatility in securities, price movements based on unofficial information may change quickly based on increased speculation, clarification, or release of official news.