It might soon be time to take that netbook of yours out behind the shed and put it out of your misery. Or better yet, sell it on Ebay. That way you can use the funds to replace it with a dual-core netbook and do a little more than just basic computing tasks.

Not just yet, mind you, but later this year. Word on the Web is that Intel plans to release a dual-core Atom designed for netbooks sometime in the second half of 2010, and probably in the fourth quarter. There aren't a whole lot of details about the chip, but apparently it will haven a 10W TDP, up slightly from the 7W and 8W single-core Atoms found in current netbooks. The dual-core part will probably come clocked a little slower than today's single-core chips, a trade off we suspect most will be more than willing to make.

Should Intel go through with this, it would be a win for everyone involved. Intel's partners have long wanted to sell dual-core netbooks, primarily because consumers would love to have one, so long as battery life doesn't take a major hit. And for Intel, injecting a bit of performance into a form factor that badly needs it could go a long way in preventing a flurry of would-be netbook buyers from jumping ship and swimming over to tablet island.

Would you be interested in a dual-core netbook? Which would you rather have, a dual-core netbook or a handheld tablet?

A pair of Intel executives today outlined Intel's latest system-on-chip (SoC) products for embedded applications. The big news here is that an upcoming SoC product will be built around Intel's Atom architecture and, for the first time, let other companies create PCI Express compliant devices that connect directly to the chip, Intel said.

Code named Tunnel Creek, Intel envisions the upcoming SoC being used for in-vehicle infotainment and IP media phones. It's a highly integrated part that combines an Atom processor core, memory controller hub, and graphics and video engine all onto a single chip.

According to Intel, the GPU crams 50 percent more graphics performance than existing Menlow chipsets, and as a bonus, it's also smaller and cheaper to produce. Even still, things like hardware video encode acceleration and active noise cancellation DSP has been added in.

Look for Tunnel Creek to arrive by the end of the year.