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Centrino 2 will replace the existing Centrino platform in the second quarter, and use Intel's 45m Penryn technology with clock speeds up to 2.8GHz and thermal envelopes between 25 watts and 35 watts.

Centrino 2 will also come with integrated Blu-Ray support and integrated Wi-Fi and WiMax, though Intel will allow these to be supplied by third parties.

Centrino 2 will also replace the X3100 graphics chipset with the GMA X4500, something it says will triple performance. The company also announced that some Centrino 2 platforms would feature the same tiny chip packaging recently seen in the MacBook Air.

Centrino 2 will be available in two flavours; the Centrino 2 for consumer laptops and Centrino 2 vPro for business models.

Atom

The announcement follows

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the launch of the Atom brand aimed at mobile internet devices and low powered mobile offerings such as the Eee PC, a category Intel has decided to dub the "netbook" and one which it believes could account for 15 million unit sales by 2011.

The Atom is built on Intel's 45nm technology, and will offer clock speeds up to 1.8GHz, with a thermal design power of between 0.6 and 2.5 watts. It's about the size of a penny.

The Atom will come in two brands, the Atom and the Atom Centrino with the former aimed squarely at mobile internet device and the latter at budget laptops.

To ensure that the Atom finds its way into the products it's targeting, the chip giant has imposed some strict form factor specifications on companies wishing to use it. Primarily, their device must feature a screen no larger than 6in and a thickness of around an inch.

The two announcements follow hot on the heels of AMD's unveiling of its answer to the Centrino platform, the Puma - revealed to PC Pro in an exclusive briefing.