Intel plans a CES coup: Android and Windows in the same computer
The PC industry isn't doing so well. Sales have dramatically slumped, despite the industry’s efforts to tempt consumers with Windows 8 tablets and transforming touchscreen laptops. But next week, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas may be the launching pad for a new push — a new brand of computer that runs both Windows and Android.
Sources close to the matter tell The Verge that Intel is behind the idea, and that the chipmaker is working with PC manufacturers on a number of new devices that could be announced at the show. Internally known as "Dual OS," Intel's idea is that Android would run inside of Windows using virtualization techniques, so you could have Android and Windows apps side by side without rebooting your machine.
If that idea sounds familiar, it might be because you've seen it before. In June, Samsung announced the Ativ Q, a Windows 8 hybrid laptop that could launch a full-screen virtualized instance of Android by tapping an app on the homescreen. Coincidence or no, the name of that app was Dual OS. Asus also appears to be building a Dual OS computer: the name popped up in an FCC filing for a new tablet, which the company also appears to be teasing in a recent YouTube video.
