Intel has announced a partnership with Google to optimise Android smartphone software for use on Intel's technology, aiming to kick-start the chipmaker's stalled push into the market for mobile devices.

Google will tailor all versions of its Android operating system to ensure that they run well on Intel technology, Google Senior Vice President Andy Rubin said.

Smartphones running on Intel's chips will go on sale in the first half of next year, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini told an audience at a developer conference in San Francisco.

By working with Google, whose Android platform is the most widely used mobile-operating system, Intel said it will be able to help prospective customers get phones to market more quickly.

The chipmaker has tried for more than 10 years to break into the phone market, which is growing more rapidly than the personal computer business.

"Good products on good platforms can still make a big difference in this industry and we hope to be one of them," Mr Otellini said. "We're off and running. Just watch this space."

The PC market now provides Intel with more than 90 per cent of its sales. Mr Otellini declined to name which phonemakers will use Intel's products, saying the companies will make the announcements themselves.

Bloomberg