Nvidia has been pretty tight with Via, the scrappy maker of low-power chips for tiny laptops and mobile internet devices, to the point of sparking rumors Nvidia wanted to buy 'em. But Taiwanese rag Digitimes says their buddy-buddy relationship is just leverage for Nvidia to muscle its way into Intel's Atom platform.

Supposedly, if Nvidia's IGP chipsets is allowed to support Atom, then Nvidia is donezo with Via. It'd be a major blow for relatively tiny chip company that would simultaneously bolster Atom's position in the low-cost market. I have to admit I like the idea of cheap Atom notebooks with Nvidia chips, but the setup for more Intel hegemony is unnerving, to say the least. [Digitimes]

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