Intel Working on Consumer ULV Processors (CULVs)

Like we mentioned in our 10 Mobile Trends for ’09, Or What I Learned at CES article, this year the market will see the arrival of affordable ultraportable notebooks. And Intel plans to push notebook manufacturers away from using its Intel Atom processor in 12 to 14 inch notebooks (like ASUS and MSI are doing) and towards  a consumer ultra low voltage (CULV) processor. Intel has announced its plan to produce  chips with performance and pricing that falls between the Atom processor and ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo options. According to Intel sources,  the package size of the processor will be 22 x 22 and will be found in notebooks that are less than 1 inch thick. Sources added that they are simply taking the existing ULV processors and tweaking it for the consumer segment. The lesson Intel seems to have learned:  netbooks are attractive, but still affordable thin notebooks with a larger screen and keyboard may be more attractive to some. AMD has seemed to learn the same thing with its Neo processor (or Yukon platform which is in HP’s starting at $599 dv2) and so has VIA with its Nano processor that is rumored to be in 12 inch Samsung’s NC20. No word on the timing of the CULV processor from Intel but we have to guess that it will be within the first half of this year as they have got to keep up with the market.