After having bought PA Semi (and then apparently lost its personnel), Apple has gained all the engineers of Intrinsity (suggesting the latter's acquisition).
Since Intrinsity's expertise is part of what makes Samsung's ARM chip so effective – for example, by running at full speed at lowest-possible power – it's likely the move is intended to extend Apple's ARM design expertise so as to make its next chips even more outstanding. Since the main power eater in Apple's iPad is the touchscreen, it would seem that extending Apple's lead is about performance for a certain amount of silicon rather than about improving the chip's seemingly-negligible power consumption.
Improving battery life will be a combination of improvements to the touch screen (to decrease consumption) and to the batteries (to improve available power).
As an Apple investor, it's good to see Apple working out where the puck is going rather than laying back to bask in its apparent success. Some companies wouldn't be so focused on the next product when the current one was already out of stock before launch day.
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