Research In Motion (RIM) will switch to Intel's XScale mobile processor for its next generation of wireless devices, the company revealed at the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment tradeshow in San Francisco.

The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone is the first major customer for Intel's new XScale PXA9xx processors, codenamed Hermon. RIM will use the chips for a device made for the Edge high speed wireless network.

The first devices are slated for release later this year, according to RIM co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis.

He declined to mention which chips RIM uses for its current models, saying that the company uses a plethora of suppliers for different networks.

"We try to use best-in-class processors for all those technologies. Intel offers us the best platform moving forward," Lazaridis said at an event announcing the move.

RIM has used the Intel processors before. The BlackBerry 957 and 950 used an Intel 80386 processor that is better known for its use in desktop computers.

The Intel processor will enable new applications on the BlackBerry, said Lazaridis, including the ability to present a PowerPoint presentation and increase browsing speeds.

"As we've gone beyond email, we realised that we need the extra horsepower so we can grow beyond that," said Lazaridis.

BlackBerry is the best selling PDA in the market, with more than three million active users. The device was initially used mostly for email, but has since expanded the applications that it enables.

Recent data from analyst firm Gartner put the firm's share of the PDA market at 23 per cent. The study did not include the Palm Treo, which Gartner categorises as a smartphone.

RIM's commitment is an important win for Intel, which has been slowly ramping up its line of mobile Xscale processors.

"We felt for some time that handheld devices are going to require some compute performance. That is why we were going into this space," said Sean Maloney, general manager of Intel's Mobility group.