Apple has bought another chip maker Intrinsity in the event of gaining an edge over its competitors with the fastest mobile chip.

Apple has acquired a small Austin, Tex., company called Intrinsity, known for making zippy versions of a computer chip often found in mobile devices. The deal, which closed late last month and was confirmed by Apple on Tuesday, shows the company continuing to try to gain an edge in the mobile device market by purchasing technology and chip experts.
It is the second time in two years that Apple has purchased a small chip company to gain critical technology for making a faster processor that uses less energy.

According to analysts, said apple's mobile products will be able to handle tough jobs like playing video better than competing gear while devouring less battery life.

Ever since Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, unveiled the iPad in February, analysts in the technology industry have been obsessed with its innards. Chip analysts, in particular, zeroed in on the A4 chip that Apple credited with giving the iPad better battery life and more speed than similar devices.
The widespread speculation has been that the A4 chip relied on technology from Intrinsity to get its added processing power.

The speed of mobile device chips are typically measured in megahertz, and one of the more popular chips on the market usually runs at about 650 megahertz. Intrinsity’s engineers found a way to crank that speed up to 1000 megahertz, which happens to be the same speed as the A4 in the iPad.

Intrinsity has been working with a division of Samsung that manufactures chips on this speedy product. The same division of Samsung built the A4 chip for Apple, according to Chipworks, a firm that reverse-engineers and analyzes technology products.

By acquiring Intrinsity, Apple would be able to keep that 350 megahertz edge to itself.

Apple’s strategy of creating a custom chip for mobile devices runs counter to its approach in computers in which it purchases chips from Intel.

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