It looks like Intel architecture is coming to smartphones, as LG Electronics and the giant American company have just announced a collaboration that would basically bring together Intel’s Moorestown silicon and the Linux Moblin v2.0 software platform. This was made public on Monday, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The future LG device, which is already being described as a smartphone, is expected to be one of the first Moorestown designs to appear on the market. Moorestown is the codename for the successor to Intel’s current Atom processor. Basically, the key to getting chips usually used in PCs into a phone is to reduce the power consumption below the Atom chip use today in Netbooks, according to some analysts. Intel mobile processors found in mainstream laptops have a thermal envelope of between 25 and 35 watts.

The Moorestown chip that LG will initially use will be a 45-nanometer chip, the same technology that Intel uses today on almost all of its processors, but it’s clear for everyone the company has to scale up in performance by moving to a 32 nanometer production process. Moorestown will also be used in MIDs or mobile Internet devices, which LG considers very important in their long-term strategy. LG prefers Intel mostly because of the high performance and Internet compatibility this would bring to their service provider customers.

However, for now, none of the companies gave a date for availability of the LG device, but it is expected to be launched soon after Moorestown is officially available on the market. According to Intel, the chip will be shipped in 2009 or 2010, though the second half of 2009 appears increasingly likely.

The new SOC processors for Moorestown are code-named Lincroft and consist of a 45-nanometer Atom with integrated graphics, video and memory controller. The platform’s I/O hub supports several wireless protocols and is code-named Langwell. Intel promises a 10x reduction in idle power consumption on Moorestown against the current generation of Atom-based MIDs. The new platform runs on a Linux-based operating system, Moblin v2.0, as previously mentioned. The next version of the Moblin OS was designed specifically to deliver a great PC-like Internet experience, while also supporting cell phone voice capabilities.

LG also launched a netbook, based on Intel’s Atom, in the fourth quarter of 2008, and has been supplying the mobile companion device to carriers and retailers worldwide. MIDs represent an emerging growth category in the industry, being designed to bring a PC-like Internet experience in pocketable devices. LG is also working with Ericsson in order to bring 3G network capability to its planned MID. It remains to be seen if the final product will have the desired success.