Partial schematic of Intel's CE4100 Atom platform using PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor
Fortune notes that Intel's forthcoming Google TV hardware platform to be found in Sony TVs and Blu-ray players and in a standalone set-top box from Logitech utilizes the same PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor used in the iPad.
GoogleTV is manufactured by Logitech and Sony and contains a System on Chip (SoC) designed by Intel. The iPad's SoC is an ARM design made by Apple (though manufacturing is outsourced to Samsung). However, both of these SoCs use a PowerVR graphics processor from a small UK-based company called Imagination.
The same graphics processor is also used in the iPhone 3GS and third-generation iPod touch.
Apple and Intel are both significant investors in Imagination Technologies, the company behind the PowerVR series of graphics processors, so it is not entirely surprising that both companies are tapping Imagination for their products.
Rumors and speculation, backed in part by a job posting earlier this year, have suggested that Apple is considering extending the iPhone OS to new platforms, possibly including the Apple TV. Hardware similarities between Google's television offering and Apple's mobile devices further reinforces the idea that such a transition could be relatively feasible.
