Rumor: Apple buying into Intel’s latest UMPC platform hardware

Apparently Apple is getting into bed with Intel again this time hoping to make some noticeably smaller computing offspring. In fact the rumor is that Apple is going to be making use of the Silverthorne mobile processor and the other parts of the platform surrounding it.That not only gives weight to the idea of Apple making a new ultra-portable, but also the idea that Apple might finally be making a tablet PC. Granted, it might come out the other end a touch-screen UMPC running some subset of OSX, but I’d be happy either way.Then again, since you can ad WiMax quite easily to the platform, and since Intel was showing off a penny sized flash drive that could hold up to 16GB, we could be looking at the workings of the hardware for the next iPhone, or maybe the 3rd or 4th version of the iPhone. Regardless, its seeming ever more likely we’ll be seeing a 3G iPhone, a ultra-portable or UMPC, and/or a tablet pc from Apple next year.Apple to pick up Intel’s UMPC platform? [via macnn]