Intel Cedar Trail-M Netbook Platform Delayed

The past days saw news about Intel's CPU lineup, most of which was encouraging, but there seem to be some less than fortuitous changes of plans on the horizon, particularly in regards to the upcoming netbook platform.

Recently, Intel has either given updates or was the subject of reports concerning its existing and upcoming CPUs.

Prices for Sandy Bridge-E chips were uncovered, for instance, as was the intent to ship such high-end units without coolers. The company also claims to have fixed the firmware of 320 Series solid state drives.

Meanwhile, the mobile market has not slipped out of the company's field of vision, although news is not as optimistic, and this refers to more than the fact that Ultrabooks aren't getting any cheaper.

It is Digitmes that now brings new tidings, in regards to the upcoming netbook platform known as Cedar Trail-M.

Until prior to the report, the 1.86 GHz Atom N2800 and 1.6 GHz N2600 ($47 and $42) were expected to make a showing as early as next month (September, 2011).

Now, however, the new ETA (estimated time of arrival) is November, because of issues encountered with the graphics driver.

Apparently, said driver has not passed Windows 7 certification, according to sources from notebook makers. The D2700 ($52) and D2500 ($42) for nettops will also be delayed.

As far as makers of entry-level laptops are concerned, the delay will not be disruptive because AMD's entry-level chips can cover the segment in the meantime (and netbooks aren't a mainstream product anymore anyway, in some players' view at least).

It will be interesting to see what showdown, if any, occurs between them new Atoms and whatever new APUs are being prepared by AMD.

The Sunnyvale, California-based CPU and GPU maker may have released some chips for the A-Series, but it is also finishing up the E-450 and, most likely, one or more peers as well.