We got more proof that dual-core Atom Pine-Trail M is coming. We are talking about the mobile Atom that got introduced in January in single-core form, and later this year Intel will finally loosen the grip and allow its partners to make dual-core netbooks.

The demand is certainly there as many customers and partners would be delighted to sell such systems. Netbooks of the future will also be limited to 10.2 screen format, but Intel might change its mind in the future.

The dual-core netbook Atom platform should have a 10W TDP, which is not so bad considering that single-core systems have 7W to 8W TDP. You will get a lot of performance with dual-core but the frequencies will be higher on the single-core side.

The launch date of the dual-core Atom is sometime in the second half of 2010, most likely only in Q4 2010 but at this time, Intel is not ready to reveal this information.

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Intel dual-core Atom netbooks on their way