p>Next-generation cellular telephones may have Intel Inside, thanks to a development partnership announced this week by the world's largest chip maker. The San Jose-based manufacturer said it will work with Japanese cellular carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc., to jointly develop next-generation microchips for mobile phones.

Intel (Quote, Chart) spokesman William Giles confirmed that the company is working with NTT DoCoMo on cellular phone technology, but declined to provide further details of the efforts. The partnership was first reported in the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Intel is not the only processor company looking for a foothold in the telecommunications space. As cellular telephone handsets become more complicated and processors are called upon to perform more complex tasks, firms such as Texas Instruments (Quote, Chart), Samsung, NEC , and Hitachi (Quote, Chart) have all announced desires to enter the mobile phone industry.