Intel Planning New Processor for Mid-Range Ultra-Portables

Look out AMD, you're not the only one with an eye on ultra-thin notebooks. AMD last week officially launched its Athlon Neo chip, which the company says will fulfill "a significant market opportunity that lies between the less-capable mininotebook and higher-priced ultraportable notebook segment." That strategy could work in AMD's favor if Intel would be contend to ride the success its Atom processor in the netbook market, but Intel has no such plans to lie dormant.

Citing Intel sources at CES, CNet says the chip maker plans to release new processors based on the Core architecture for lower cost ultraportables sometime this year. These chips won't compete with the Atom line, and like AMD's Neo, will target ultra-thin laptops in the $700 to $900 range. The new CPUs will essentially be tweaks of Intel's existing ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processors, CNet reports, such as the SU9300 and SU9400, both with a TDP of just 10 watts.

Could ultra-thin laptops be the next 'big' thin in mobile computing? Hit the jump and sound off.