Intel and Qualcomm to go Dual Core for Small Devices 

Both Intel and Qualcomm are announcing new dual-core processors for small devices, upping the performance potential for ultra-mobile computing.

Intel's dual-core Atom chip for Netbooks will allow ultrathin designs and draw only a little more power than the single-core Atom, Intel said.

(Credit: Intel)

Intel said Tuesday at the Computex conference in Taiwan that it has begun producing dual-core Atom processors for Netbooks, a product first for Intel. New Intel technology will enable "very, very thin form factors with dual-core Atom," Matthew Parker, general manager of Intel's Atom client division, said in a phone interview Friday. Parker said future Netbooks will get as thin as a half an inch (see photo).

Netbooks are small laptops that weigh less than 3 pounds and have screens that typically top out at about 10-inches diagonally. Parker said Intel specification guidelines will remain the same and have not been modified to accommodate larger designs, such as 12-inch Netbooks, as some have speculated.

Dual-core is all about better performance. 

READ MORE:    Cnet.com