Can't see nVidia helping much
As nVidia are touting an an ARM11 based offering - the APX 2500 - as their alternative to SIlverthorne, it doesn't seem overly likely that they're going to be throwing money at Montalvo anytime soon.
Montalvo, Montalvo, Montalvo. Few chip start-ups without an actual product on the market have received so much attention. Those who know exactly what Montalvo Systems is up to remain sworn to secrecy. Still, some information has leaked out of the company's hidden lair, revealing that Montalvo hopes to release a low-power x86 …
Yes, but having an x86 compatible chip would be a nice option as it would allow real Windows/Linux (or even Slowaris!!!) to be run, which means all those nice client/apps that are already available to run on existing notebooks can be run on smaller handhelds or sub-notebooks without the expense and hassle of a recompile/rewrite. Now, all those lovely sub-notebook devices have funky displays, often of the touchscreen type, which means clever graphics capability can be a great differentiator, hence a team-up with nVidia could make sense. Also, given the ATi-AMD team-up, nVidia would be smart to keep all avenues open, even eye-wateringly expensive ones like Montvalo!